Redwood City, Calif (October 27, 2010) — ZESPRI and UMass Dining partnered in a dualpronged promotion that introduced student diners to kiwifruit, while providing a fresh and nutritious option for boosting consumption of fruits and vegetables. During “Kiweek”—September 13-16, 2010—UMass Dining staff offered 11 kiwifruit dishes on breakfast, lunch and dinner menus: smoothies, parfaits, Bahn mi sandwiches, turkey sliders, gazpacho, green salads, shrimp tempura, condiments and desserts. To supplement menu exposure (UMass Dining serves 13,000-14,000 meals each day.), UMass students staffed sampling stations, distributing kiwifruit halves and spifes (a spoon-knife utensil used for eating kiwifruit), nutrition information and kiwifruit tattoos.
ZESPRI laid a solid promotion foundation with a kiwifruit orientation session for UMass culinary staff, which covered kiwifruit cultivation, handling tips and menu versatility. A side-by-side tasting of GREEN and GOLD ZESPRI Kiwifruit helped chefs appreciate each variety’s characteristics before they moved to a demonstration of the upcoming week’s recipes.
ZESPRI and UMass spokespersons declared the promotion an unqualified success. Kiwifruit flavor, fruit appeal and versatility were a pleasant surprise for most students, observed Martha Monaghan, special events manager for UMass Dining. “Our students loved the kiwi menu choices.” “’Kiweek’ at UMass Dining dovetailed with our Director’s challenge to encourage customers to double their consumption of fruits and vegetables and supported our ‘Stealth
Health’ program.” Karen Brux, ZESPRI Manager for North America, was equally enthusiastic. “This ZESPRI promotion at UMass stands out as one of our best promotions in this market. The kiwifruit recipes were real crowd pleasers, the signage drove participation, and students educated one another about the unmatched taste and nutrition of kiwifruit.”
ZESPRI extends its nutrition outreach to other school dining segments this season. Sampling kiwifruit at K-12 schools, ZESPRI introduced students and parents to kiwifruit as a hand-held snack, and as an edible tool for teaching good nutrition, connecting healthy eating behavior to better learning results.
Source: Zespri
