Selah, WA – In 2017 Rainier Fruit is running ahead with their continued partnership with the Boston Athletic Association as the official apple of the Boston Marathon.
What began in 2016 as an effort to promote organic apples to a health focused crowed has grown into a multi-year campaign focused on delivering healthy fruits and health focused messages to consumers around the U.S.
Andy Tudor, VP of Marketing & Business Development for Rainier Fruit remarked, “The whole Boston Marathon experience is deeply rooted in history, but it’s also steeped in community.” Tudor continued, “That level of community involvement and excitement creates a sense of loyalty and brand recognition uncommon in today’s consumer marketplace.”
This year’s Boston Marathon on April 17th will mark the 121st running of the Boston Marathon but Rainier Fruit will take part in the entire Boston Marathon experience creating multiple points of contact with the more than 30,000 runners and 500,000 spectators, along with the general Boston community that participate in the race weekend.
Key efforts surrounding the Boston Marathon weekend include retail partnerships that include in-store displays and promotions at national and regional retailers, hotel hospitality, media events, athlete events, sponsorship of the BOSTON Documentary and other Boston Marathon sponsor collaborations.
New this year is a partnership with local Boston Whole Foods Stores to support the Martin Richard Foundation on One Boston Day. One Boston Day was born in 2015 as a way to commemorate the spirit of Boston Strong after the devastating aftermath of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings. Rainier Fruit, along with Whole Foods will each donate a portion of all sales of Rainier apples on One Boston Day to the Martin Richard Foundation which works in memory of Martin Richard, a local Dorchester, MA youth who died during the bombings. His family through the foundation has helped him spread his message of ‘No more hurting people. Peace’, and create a legacy of togetherness, teamwork, fairness, sportsmanship, inclusion and simple acts of kindness.
In addition to the many locations where Rainier Fruit is available to athletes and spectators throughout the weekend, Rainier Fruit is spreading its message online through social media and a company blog where they are profiling the stories of employees, runners and everyday people. Those profiled who are making a difference in their own lives, their family’s lives and in their communities. The blog also includes informational content from brand ambassadors including running coach Laura Norris of This Runner’s Recipes and Boston Marathon Race Director Dave McGillivray.
“Our sponsorship of the Boston Marathon started out as an effort to promote our products to active lifestyle consumers in one of the largest market regions in the U.S., but it has grown into a culture that epitomizes so much more,” said Tudor. “The stories we are hearing from our employees, from our customers and from our fans are about health, wellness, overcoming hardship, committing to service, maintaining perseverance and more. These people inspire us to continue to grow the highest quality, healthiest fruits possible because that’s what it means to be Wholesome to the Core,” concluded Tudor.
Rainier Fruit will giveaway more than 40,000 pounds of Rising Star apple varieties during the 4 day Boston Marathon weekend. Varieties available to athletes and spectators will include top performing Honeycrisp, Jazz®, Pink Lady® and Rainier’s proprietary Lady Alice®.
Rainier Fruit is a multi-generation, vertically integrated fruit company based in Selah, WA. For more than 100 years, Rainier Fruit has cultivated a culture of stewardship that extends from their orchards to their communities that has made them an industry leader in the production of apples, pears, cherries and blueberries.
Source: Rainier Fruit