A new British Leafy Salads Association (BLSA) PR and marketing campaign is to launch a national grow-your-own salad scheme for primary schools in spring 2012.
The project, run by specialist food PR agency Ceres, will target the young parent demographic
with a consumer-facing website and an active social media plan, as well as the school scheme that is scheduled to run the length of the three-year initiative.
The organisers claim it is the only British bid to secure the EU funding made available to the fruit and vegetables sector across Europe following the E. coli crisis earlier this year.
The BLSA secured €139,728 in co-funding from the EU, which will provide 50 per cent of the money needed for the campaign. The total is being match funded by the BLSA, which represents 37 salad growers, packers, prepared salad companies and allied industry companies from across the UK.
The BLSA has previously had trouble raising the necessary cash to cover promotional campaign costs from the leafy salads industry.
BLSA spokesperson Jayne Dyas said: “More than 90 per cent of the UK claim for compensation from the EU for salad businesses hit by the E. coli crisis was from UK leafy salad growers. This match funding will now allow us to deliver an effective, three-year integrated campaign to communicate positive messages around the taste, health, versatility and provenance that leafy salads offer and ultimately have a positive effect on consumer purchasing behaviour.”
The grow-your-own salad scheme will complement the National Curriculum and aims to reinforce to schoolchildren and their parents where their food comes from. Ceres’ director Kathryn Race said: “Educating children about what they eat is something the industry should continue to support. We aim for the primary school scheme to make a difference.”-
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