As part of its broad and diverse influencer engagement strategy, the Produce for Better Health Foundation (PBH) is bringing more than 40 retail, foodservice, culinary professionals, health and wellness experts as well as lifestyle bloggers to its Consumer Connection Conference this year, held in Scottsdale, AZ April 13-16, 2020. The PBH Consumer Connection Conference is the only event that unites industry leaders with this array of high-caliber influencers to create meaningful relationships that foster actionable solutions for consumers to eat and enjoy more fruits and vegetables every day.
“The power of influencers who make a difference in inspiring consumer behavior change is real, and PBH’s Consumer Connection Conference brings this to life for our members,” says Katie Toulouse, Marketing and Communications Director for PBH. “Sponsors of this year’s conference will have the opportunity to meet one-on-one with consumer influencers who are fueling retail sales, curating foodservice menus en masse, and driving people to choose fruits and veggies first.”
In addition to retail, foodservice and culinary experts, PBH has nearly doubled its Fruit and Vegetable Ambassadors in Action (FVAA) class for 2020-2021 with 24 consumer-facing influencers who have agreed to promote and advance the Have A Plant™ Movement as well as fuel PBH’s digital ecosystem with unique and inspiring content, in-kind, for one full year starting in April at the conference.
“As PBH enters the next phase of our transformation, we are thrilled to grow our network with such a passionate group of ambassadors who are on the forefront of driving consumption of fruits and vegetables through the Have A Plant™ Movement,” says Wendy Reinhardt Kapsak, president and CEO of PBH. “It takes a village to create a movement, and the time is now for the industry to embrace an all-hands-on-deck approach as we attempt to solve for what we believe is a true fruit and vegetable consumption crisis.”
This year’s PBH FVAA influencer network is made up of a unique group of culinary, agriculture, fitness, health, school foodservice and lifestyle professionals—all passionate about promoting fruits and vegetables for happier, healthier lives. They have significant digital and social reach and engagement on at least one social media platform, collectively reaching nearly 200,000 on Instagram alone; they are content creators who feature produce every day; and they are enduring produce performers who are thought leaders contributing to a greater community. They are the 2020-2021 PBH Fruit and Vegetable Ambassadors in Action.
Meet the PBH 2020-2021 FVAA Class!
1. Valerie Agyeman – Flourish Heights (Washington, DC)
2. Joan Salge Blake – Dr. Joan Salge Blake – SpotOn! Podcast (Boston, MA)
3. Leslie Bonci – Active Eating Advice (Pittsburgh, PA)
4. Kristen Carli – Mostly Green (Scottsdale, AZ)
5. Neva Cochran – Eating Beyond the Headlines (Dallas, TX)
6. Beau Coffron – Lunchbox Dad (Edmund, OK)
7. Stephen and Elise Compston – Straight Outta Compston’s Kitchen (Reno, NV)
8. Andrew Dole – Body Fuel (Castle Rock, CO)
9. Mandy Enright – Food + Movement (Jersey Shore, NJ)
10. Abbie Gellman – Culinary Nutrition Cuisine (New York, NY)
11. Cara Harbstreet – Street Smart Nutrition (Overland Park, KS)
12. Dayle Hayes – School Meals that Rock (Bozeman, MT)
13. Kelly Jones – Kelly Jones Nutrition (Philadelphia, PA)
14. Kristina LaRue – Love and Zest (Winter Park, FL)
15. Andrea Mathis – Beautiful Eats and Things (Pinson, AL)
16. Megan McCarthy – Healthy Eating 101 (Atlanta, GA)
17. Nicole Rodriguez – Enjoy Food Enjoy Life (New York, NY)
18. Sarah Schlichter – Bucket List Tummy (Washington, DC)
19. Kelli Shallal – Hungry Hobby (Phoenix, AZ)
20. Lori Taylor – The Produce Moms® (Indianapolis, IN)
21. Jonathan Valdez – Genki Nutrition (New York, NY)
22. Manuel Villacorta – Manuel Villacorta (San Francisco, CA)
23. Elisabeth Watkins – Farm Girl Chef (Reno, NV)
24. Liz Weiss – Liz’s Healthy Table (Boston, MA)
In addition to the PBH FVAA, the following retail and foodservice companies are currently slated to be at the PBH Consumer Connection Conference as well:
Retailers:
• Albertson’s
• Big Y Foods, Inc.
• Coborn’s, Inc.
• H-E-B
• Schnuck’s Markets
• ShopRite/Inserra Supermarkets
• Sobey’s, Inc.
• The Kroger Company
• Wakefern Food Corp.
Foodservice/Culinary:
• Chris Martone, Foodservice & Culinary Consultant
• Culinary Institute of American (CIA) Healthy Kids Collaborative
• Compass Group
• PF Chang’s
• Shaping America’s Plate, Inc.
• Sysco Corporation
• University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Registration is now open for The Consumer Connection Conference. For questions or more information on how to sponsor the event, email PBH’s Member Engagement Director Sharese Roper at sroper@pbhfoundation.org.
About the Produce for Better Health Foundation
Produce for Better Health Foundation (PBH), a nonprofit 501(c)(3), is the only national organization dedicated to helping consumers live happier, healthy lives by eating more fruits and vegetables, including fresh, frozen, canned, dried and 100% juice, every single day.
Since 1991, PBH has invested decades into developing trended insights on attitudes toward all forms of fruit and vegetable consumption, in addition to campaigns and partnerships with government, food industry stakeholders, health professionals and other thought leaders to collaborate, facilitate and advocate for increased intake. Campaigns included first, the 5-A-Day program, and then, the Fruits & Veggies—More Matters public health initiative. While five fruits and vegetables each day is great advice, and more will always matter, PBH’s new behavior-based call-to-action is Have A Plant™. Rooted in behavioral science, PBH’s transformative Have A Plant™ movement is an invitation that will inspire people with compelling reasons to believe in the powerful role fruits and vegetables can play to create happy, healthy and active lives.
Be sure to join the Have A Plant™ movement and get new recipes, snack hacks, meal ideas and other tips from chefs, registered dietitians, as well as food and wellness experts by visiting www.fruitsandveggies.org. Follow us on Facebook @fruitsandveggies; on Twitter @fruits_veggies; on Instagram @fruitsandveggies; on Pinterest @fruits_veggies; and on LinkedIn at Produce for Better Health Foundation. And remember to #haveaplant.
