This holiday season, Healthy Family Project and Lowes Foods partnered with 21 health-conscious brands for the first-ever Season of Sharing, providing 525,000 meals to local Feeding America food banks, according to a news release indicating that every dollar donated to Feeding America helps secure at least 10 meals on behalf of member food banks.
The campaign, focused on giving back while providing shoppers with healthy recipe inspiration, featured signs in more than 81 Lowes Foods stores near partner food brands. The signs included QR codes leading shoppers to a free bi-lingual e-cookbook with holiday-inspired recipes and nutrition tips highlighting campaign partners. Products were prominently featured in Season of Sharing-themed weekly ads for the length of the campaign, the release said.
“It is important to us at Lowes Foods to look for ways to make the largest possible impact in our community. For this campaign, that meant expanding outside of produce to include health-conscious brands throughout the store,” Patrick Eisinger, produce category manager at Lowes Foods, said in the release. “We are extremely excited to provide 525,000 meals to local Feeding America food banks.”
In an effort to generate a buzz internally at Lowes Foods, store employees were encouraged to submit photos of their store's signage for a chance to win $100, plus $100 for the charity of their choice. Throughout the campaign 136 photos were submitted through the submission portal; one winner from each participating store department will be selected — dairy, meat, produce and center store.
Health-conscious food brands supporting the Lowes Foods Season of Sharing campaign included Bolthouse Farms, Chobani, Chosen, Crispy Green, Fresh Express, Garden Fresh Gourmet, Fresh Gourmet, Health-Ade, Honest Kids, Hormel Natural Choice, Litehouse, Little Potato Co., Nasoya, New York Apple Association Inc., Natural Delights, Shuman Farms, Southmill Champs, Teddie All-Natural Peanut Butter, Uncle Matt's Organic, Wholly Guacamole, and POM Wonderful.
In addition to in-store awareness, campaign sponsors were featured in a Giving Tuesday Healthy Family Project hosted Instagram Live where viewers were able to shout out their personal favorite charities for multiple $100 donations. Partner brands were also highlighted across Healthy Family Project social media platforms throughout the campaign, the release said
"We were thrilled to venture into this new initiative of cross-merchandising with departments beyond produce," said Trish James, vice president Healthy Family Project. "While our foundation lies in produce, it's crucial to acknowledge other wholesome items throughout the store that complete well-balanced and nutritious meals for families."
Forty-four million people in the U.S. are food insecure, including 13 million children, according to the release, which cited a recent USDA report. The produce partners aligning with this campaign are making an impact in Lowes communities to fill this need through meals, the release said.
For more information about the Lowes Foods Season of Sharing campaign, visit healthyfamilyproject.com.