By: Haley Pierce, Manager, FMI Foundation
This past National Family Meals Month, held in September, saw retailers, wholesalers and suppliers to the food industry unite with one mission: to encourage one more family meal per week.
Organizations from across the food industry made a commitment to more family meals, encouraging community gatherings with chosen family members, innovative recipes from nutritionist and dietitian influencers and donations to school-based food pantries and feeding programs. Beyond the registers, one food retailer donated $200,000, funding one million meals to families facing hunger, and yet another major retailer generated nearly $300,000 to summer feeding programs for students facing food insecurity. Another fantastic case study? A retailer donated 5,000 family-size meals through community giveaway events, directly impacting their local community.
While inspiring families to cook and connect is always a valiant goal, food suppliers took this in earnest, forging national partnerships with retailers to promote affordable, convenient meal solutions to the busiest and cost-conscious among us. Suppliers and stores under one banner even contributed to a successful protein-powered campaign, drawing from a timely food trend and encouraging mealtimes with protein-based or infused ingredients as a central focus.
From over 6.7 million impressions for one multi-channel marketing campaign to over 138,000 customers reached with live online cooking videos and in-store family meals-focused magazine features, our Gold Plate Award winners and honorable mentions illuminated the industry and certainly went for the gold for this year’s awards.
Check out the Gold Plate Awards page to see this year's food retailers, suppliers and community members highlighted in this year's awards program. Join us in celebrating the inspiring Family Meals campaigns and activations from our award winners and honorable mentions!
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