CORAL GABLES, Fla. — Turbana and long-standing retail partner, Food City, announced the success of their joint summer event, “World’s Largest Pineapple Display.” The record-breaking interactive promotion leveraged social media, in-store activations and a show-stopping display that housed 18 tons of Fyffes Gold pineapples, supplied by Turbana.
Breaking the world record that was set by Reasor’s Foods of Bixby, Okla. on October 31, 2012, the Food City produce team used 14,700 pineapples to erect an exhibit inside the Euclid Avenue Food City in Bristol, Va. The team worked through the night to debut their massive creation on the morning of Tuesday, June 30, when the store opened at 6 a.m.
The two companies didn’t stop there. In an effort to fully immerse shoppers in the record-breaking experience, Turbana and Food City launched a social media campaign across Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest, which reached over 14 million people within four days. The World’s Largest Pineapple Pinterest Board was created, and a pineapple “Twitter party” gave 120 participating shoppers an extra way to connect with their favorite retailer, while sharing summer pineapple recipes with seven nationally recognized food bloggers, Food City and Turbana.
Throughout the social media campaign, over 5,000 shoppers within the Food City market area connected with the retailer and Turbana through one-on-one personal interactions across Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest. In store, shoppers snapped “selfies” in front of the display throughout the event and posted pictures with the hashtag “#pineappleworldrecord” to win free Fyffes pineapples for the rest of the summer.
Mike Tipton, director of Produce and Floral Operations, said, “The store had a tremendous week in sales, and extra excitement with the customer interaction surrounding the Fyffes pineapple display.”
During the promotion, store traffic increased by more than 10 percent compared to the same week last year, and pineapple sales were at an all-time high.
“At Turbana, we strive to go above and beyond in our involvement with our retail partners and their communities. K-VA-T and Food City share in this philosophy, which is one of many reasons why we consider them to be such a strong and dependable partner. The WLPD event presented a fun and unique platform to encourage consumer interaction, increase community engagement, and showcase a record-breaking display with top-quality product. We would like to thank Food City for their support, especially Mike Tipton, Director of Produce and his entire staff for their efforts. Mike's vision and our mutual dedication for each other's business allowed us to execute this event, top to bottom,” stated Scott DiMartini, Vice President of Sales at Turbana.
Turbana and Food City will continue to work together in an effort to bring exciting shopping experiences to the tri-state area of Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee while building recognition for Turbana and its Fyffes branded pineapples located in Food City stores within the area. For more information regarding Turbana and Fyffes, visit www.turbana.com. For more information on Food City, visit www.foodcity.com/.
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About Turbana
Established in 1970, Turbana Corporation is a leading importer of fresh produce in North America, including bananas, plantains, pineapples and ethnic tropical fruits. Turbana is proud to have been the first organization to bring Fair Trade Certified bananas to North America. A pioneer in sustainability and social consciousness, Turbana has developed the farming communities in the banana and plantain-growing regions over the past 45 years through its social foundation, Fundauniban. Turbana gives a portion of every purchase to Fundauniban, contributing to the $250 Million the foundation has invested in social and economic projects for education, housing, infrastructure, and environmental protection since 1987. Additionally, Turbana invests in its communities across the US, helping them build sustainable and healthy practices. Turbana is owned by Uniban, the world’s largest grower-owned banana company and the world’s largest producer of Fair Trade Certified bananas and plantains, and Fyffes, one of the largest produce importers and distributors in Europe. For additional information, visit www.turbana.com.
About Food City
Headquartered in Abingdon, Virginia, K-VA-T Food Stores, Inc. (Food City’s parent company) currently operates 106 retail food outlets in the tri-state regions of Southeast Kentucky, Southwest Virginia and Northeast Tennessee.
Source: Turbana
