A friend of mine in the Kansas City area forwarded me a screen cap from an email he got from Wal-Mart Stores Inc. promoting itself as a leader in local produce. “No one sells local like Walmart,” the ad says.
While I have no doubt that Wal-Mart sources a lot of local, the email featured a beautiful bowl of cherries.
What's wrong with this picture?
Am I somehow missing the local cherry deal in Kansas City?
This wasn't actually an ad for local produce. It was an ad for Wal-Mart's online grocery, but that misses the point.
If you're going to promote local, your marketing department needs to make sure they're synched up with the right materials.
What's a more relevant local angle in the Midwest this time of year?
Tomatoes.
Watermelons.
Sweet corn.
Zucchini (although the back yard growers might beat you to this one…National Sneak Some Zucchini Into Your Neighbor's Porch Day is August 8).
It's hard for me, as a Texan, to tell you what's going to be relevant in Buffalo, N.Y., or Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, this time of year, so I'm relying on y'all to speak up.
Here's some great examples of promoting local produce, courtesy of the retailer social media pages I follow:
From Big Y in Massachusetts
New Season Market in Portland, Ore.
And Lunds & Byerlys in Minnesota
