Produce For Kids Expands Into Healthy Family Project
To widen its goal of creating a healthier generation, Produce for Kids’ consumer-facing brand will become the Healthy Family Project. The Produce for Kids brand will remain focused within grocery retail, partnering with produce companies on in-store campaigns all year round. Along with Produce for kids, the Healthy Family Project umbrella will encompass the Food Rx, Power Your Lunchbox and Mission for Nutrition brands.
“We are excited to expand into the healthy-lifestyle space in a way that will allow us to extend our effectiveness for current and new produce partners,” said John Shuman, founder of Produce for Kids and president of Reidsville, Georgia-based Shuman Farms. “We will remain rooted in helping our retail partners and sponsors connect with their shoppers while making a difference.”
The Produce Marketing Association’s virtual Fresh Summit event, occurring Oct. 13-15, will be the first opportunity for Healthy Family Project to introduce the new family of brands structure. A Food Rx demo is scheduled to take place at Healthy Family Project’s Fresh Summit Marketplace page, featuring digital partner National Watermelon Promotion Board. The food-as-medicine-inspired video series, hosted by registered dietitian Julie Harrington, focuses on the role that food plays in overall health and often includes a health-conscious brand partner.
“Although Fresh Summit looks different this year, we believe it was the right space to announce our expansion,” noted Shuman. “I had a goal 20 years ago to bring the produce industry together to give back, and now as we pass $7 million raised, I realize there’s no limit to the impact we can make as an organization in the healthy living space.”
As well as the Food Rx demo at the Marketplace page, Delta, British Columbia-based Village Farms will post a new “Serious Snacking with Village Farms and Healthy Family Project” in-the-kitchen video on its Fresh Summit Marketplace page.
The expansion was driven by the overall growth in all areas of Produce for Kids’ business over the past two years, according to the Orlando, Florida-based organization, which has added several new retail partners and health-conscious brand partners, as well as growing its social media, website and podcast.
This past summer, the Produce for Kids website, now known as HealthyFamilyProject.com, received a makeover ahead of the expansion. Shoppers looking for a specific Produce for Kids in-store campaign can now find their neighborhood grocer on the homepage and go right to that retailer’s dedicated page. Among the other site updates was a new robust searchable recipe index. The Healthy Family Project blog, covering a broad range of issues, and podcast are also featured prominently throughout the website, along with a Produce Tips section with information on how to select, prepare and store more than 60 commodities.
