Stop & Shop, Birds Eye Hosting ‘Day of Play’

Stop & Shop Supermarket Co. and Birds Eye Vegetables are inviting families to the Boston Children’s Museum on Saturday, Aug. 17 to “play with their veggies” as part of Birds Eye’s summer-long national campaign to encourage children to eat more vegetables.

Taking place outside the museum from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., the event shows kids how fun eating veggies can be and inspires families to make mealtimes at home more enjoyable. Activities include pitting carrot against broccoli in a stationary bike race, creating a veggie self-portrait on a plate, meeting Nickelodeon characters SpongeBob SquarePants and Dora the Explorer, and taking home a free gift bag full of kid-friendly veggie meal ideas.

Event participants have the opportunity to enter on site to win a trip to Nickelodeon’s 10th annual Worldwide Day of Play this fall to meet Jennette McCurdy, star of Nickelodeon’s hit show “Sam & Cat” as well as the celebrity face of the campaign. Additionally, families can enter online on Birds Eye’s website or Facebook page by sending in photos of how they make veggies fun.

The Birds Eye-Nickelodeon partnership is in its second year. In 2012, the nationwide program resulted in a 20 percent increase in incremental volume for Birds Eye over 2011.

Meanwhile, Stop & Shop customers who provide proof of purchase of any one Birds Eye product by showing their Stop & Shop receipt get 25 percent off museum admission for their whole families. The discount is valid only on the date of the event.

“Stop & Shop is committed to providing health-and-wellness resources to its customers, and events like this one with Birds Eye and Boston Children’s Museum are a great way to bring these resources directly to our customers,” noted Julie Menounos, nutritionist for the Quincy, Mass.-based banner. “This is a fun event for kids and families to play with their veggies and learn wellness tips to keep them healthy this summer.”

The program also is part of Birds Eye’s collaboration with Partnership for a Healthier America (PHA), which is working with the private sector and PHA Honorary Chair Michelle Obama to end childhood obesity within a generation. “This year's program is about getting kids to try new vegetables by making dinnertime fun for them,” said PHA chief marketing officer Drew Nannis. “We know that when kids are involved in the dinner process, they are more likely to want to eat what they helped create. Birds Eye is showing not only that companies can be a positive, proactive part of making the healthy choice easier for kids, but also that they can be profitable while doing it.”

This summer, Birds Eye launched the Recipe Ready product line, which offers ingredient-ready, fresh frozen vegetable assortments for popular meals, including fajitas, beef stew, pasta primavera, stir fries and grilled items.

“When families eat dinner together more often, children receive many benefits, including better eating habits,” observed Rodrigo Troni, SVP of marketing at Birds Eye, a portfolio brand of Pinnacle Foods Inc. “We believe our product and programs are helping make a difference.”