Produce goes viral: Smart social media strategies for retailers

If anyone knows the power of social media, it's Evan Ehlers. 

In 2018, as a college student in Philadelphia, he realized that he had lots of unused meal swipes remaining on his dining hall card. Rather than let all that food go to waste at the end of term, Ehlers collected the meals and drove around the city donating them to people in need. The experience inspired him to launch Sharing Excess, a nonprofit dedicated to rescuing and distributing food that would otherwise go to waste. 

To help spread the word, Ehlers pitched his story to Beast Philanthropy, a charity-focused offshoot of MrBeast — the most-watched YouTube channel in the U.S. 

Channel creator Jimmy Donaldson loved the concept and agreed to collaborate with Ehlers on a video to share with Beast Philanthropy's 24 million subscribers. Since November 2023, the Sharing Excess video has garnered nearly 20 million views. 

Along with generating an outpouring of support for the nonprofit — which counts Trader Joe's, Target, The Giant Co. and Misfits Market among its food retail partners — the viral video caught the attention of entrepreneur and philanthropist Tony Robbins. In April 2024, Robbins pledged a grant to expand Sharing Excess operations on a global scale. 

For another YouTube video, MrBeast partnered with Safeway to create a simulated market for a “Survive in a Grocery Store” giveaway challenge. The video has tallied more than 200 million views since December 2023.

While most social media efforts will never see such extraordinary results, there are many ways that produce retailers can use social platforms to engage with consumers and boost their brands.

Produce Market Guide spoke with Ehlers and other social media experts to explore content strategies, tips and best practices to help companies take their digital marketing efforts to the next level. 

Lighten up to attract attention

Steve Lerch, president of Story Arc Consulting in Washington, D.C., and a former Google executive, points out that social media marketing is all about grabbing attention. 

Rather than posting about data, nutrition or even prices, he noted, smart brands are taking a more creative approach with content that is fun, sentimental or edgy. The idea is to get consumers to stop scrolling and engage — even if it's only for a few moments.

“We convince ourselves as businesses that we need to be all buttoned up and polished and professional,” he said. “But what happens when we do that is, we sound exactly the same as the other 50 companies we're competing with.”

Instead, Lerch recommends that retailers loosen up in their social media posts. 

“I don't think there's a customer base that exists that doesn't like stuff that's funny or silly or weird,” he said. 

So, he says, why not take the opportunity to film employees goofing around in the produce section? 

“Where social media is going these days, being less serious actually makes you more popular and more relatable to the everyday consumer,” Ehlers said.

Follow the trends

Creating compelling content isn't just about doing something original; it's often a matter of identifying and capitalizing on popular trends. 

“If any sort of trend has anything to do with food or shopping, like posts about making only one trip to the car when carrying in your grocery bags, that's something you can use,” Ehlers said. “You could do a funny photo or video of a kid walking with 50 grocery bags saying something like, ‘I'm not making two trips!' Things like that connect. If it's coming from a retailer and people connect it with that brand, it just elevates your recognition.”

Lerch is another follower of trendspotting. 

“Identify the things consumers are already paying attention to — the things they're talking about and the things they're sharing,” he said. “If you can create content that's relevant or adjacent to those interests, it becomes more relevant to consumers in their daily lives.”

It's even OK to steal other companies' ideas — as long as you're not infringing on copyrights.

“Hop on YouTube, hop on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and look at what some other people have pushed out and get some ideas,” Lerch said. 

For inspiration, he suggested that retailers check out the Meta Ad Library. The online database allows anyone to search paid ads by keyword or brand across the tech company's platforms.

Pick your platforms

While retailers need not be on all social platforms, experts recommend posting content on more than one channel to reach different audiences.   

“Work at least two social platforms, because you don't want to lose everything you've built in an algorithm change,” said K.C. Cornwell, social and digital director at California Grown and founder of the California Pomegranate Co. digital strategy agency. 

California Grown uses Facebook, Instagram and Threads, along with Pinterest, YouTube, X and TikTok. The organization creates a mix of content for all the channels, from recipes to crop facts to information about agriculture and sustainability.

“We also share grower and regional features, so consumers can see the people producing their food, wine and flowers,” Cornwell said. “The difference is really how we platform the content for each channel.”

To get as much mileage as possible from well-performing content, California Grown will often repurpose it for different platforms. 

“Our motto is shoot once, edit endlessly,” Cornwell explained. “For instance, the same recipe will appear on our website in a blog post, in a social toolkit for retail partners and on printed recipe cards in-store, in short-form vertical videos on Instagram and TikTok, and in longer-form videos for YouTube and Facebook.”

Sharing Excess primarily uses Instagram Reels for video content and posts major company announcements on LinkedIn. One recent Instagram video featured a 20-palette load of “sweeties” — also known as pomelos — that came in for distribution. 

“Not only were we able to let people know we were rescuing this great food, we could also say, ‘Hey have you ever heard of this fruit before?' That was interesting and engaging,” Ehlers said.

Misfits Market in Delanco, N.J., focuses most of its social media efforts on Instagram. The online retailer also uses Facebook for more community-focused content and dabbles in TikTok.

“There's been a shift on Instagram from static content to video, and we're starting to see that the carousel, multi-image assets aren't performing as well,” said Amanda Hawkins, director of content and brand strategy for Misfits Market. “We're always testing and learning.”

With its focus on finding a home for imperfect produce and surplus foods, Misfits Market often creates content related to eliminating food waste. For example, recent videos encouraged consumers to make use of the dregs at the bottom of the peanut butter jar and to transform carrot tops into pesto. Photos of funny-looking produce also attract eyeballs, said Hawkins, along with storage tips for keeping produce fresh.

“You want people to engage with your content but ultimately become a customer,” Hawkins said. “So how can we get people excited to add new things to their grocery boxes, to find inspiration in the kitchen, to use things in a new way? That kind of content performs well for us.”

Try TikTok

Many traditional companies dismiss TikTok because they think the platform is just for younger demographics. However, Ehlers thinks it offers retailers a chance to stand out. 

“If they get on the app and just be authentically themselves trying to grapple with these Gen Z trends, they actually become very popular,” he said. “There are many instances of car dealers coming on TikTok and literally just dancing in front of the camera, and that video blows up and gets 10 million views.” 

While the vast majority of those views came from users who couldn't interact with the car dealer's business, he added, the post had such a huge reach that it still amounted to thousands of relevant customers.

“When the kids love something, it becomes like a ladder of influence. The parents are always monitoring what their kids are watching or they're talking about it at dinner,” Ehlers said. “It will ultimately bubble back up to a consumer that is relevant for their demographic.” 

Not only that, Lerch said, Gen Z isn't the only demographic watching TikTok videos. 

“The average 60-year-old, 50-year-old, 40-year-old, 30-year-old — you name it — uses more TikTok today than they did five years ago,” he said. “If you can attach yourself to something your customer likes, who cares if you think it's silly? Why wouldn't you want to be a part of that journey?”

Ride the algorithms

Creating compelling content is crucial, but it also pays to know how the algorithms work. 

“Every platform has a different algorithm for what content gets served when, but at the end of the day, every social media platform has the exact same goal,” Lerch said. “They want people to spend as much time on the platform as possible, because in doing so, they will see as many ads as possible.”

How platforms measure that isn't complicated, Lerch said. 

“At its core, it's how much time consumers spend engaging with the content. Do they share it so that other people get to look at it? Do they comment? If people like it, the algorithm's going to like it,” he said.

Understanding which formats the platforms prefer can also give companies an edge. 

“Meta created Reels to compete with TikTok, so they're really prioritizing Reels over the regular static content,” Ehlers said. “When the Reels are posted, they get shown to a larger audience because they're prioritized by the app.” 

Posting frequency makes a difference as well, he added, especially if there's a particular message the company wants to convey.

“You've got to just keep doing it and keep doing it and keep getting that ring in people's minds,” Ehlers said. “So, by the third time you do it, people are like, ‘Oh yeah, you're the ones who do the [produce] box giveaways. I keep seeing that on my feed. That's super cool.'  Keep on posting and eventually you will ride the algorithm, and something will pop — especially if you're already
a known brand trying to stay relevant.”