2015 Goals Surpassed By Produce For Better Health Foundation

Hockessin, Del. –  For Produce for Better Health Foundation, 2015 was highlighted by excellent media (print and digital) and social media impressions, strong traffic to our consumer website, significant and varied industry support and involvement, and a successful introduction of the new Formula 5 university marketing competition.  Ongoing outreach to health professionals, implementation of two grant programs, and the development of four research reports rounded out the year at PBH.  Ultimately, a record high percent (49%) of moms say that the Fruits & Veggies—More Matters® brand motivates them to eat more fruits and vegetables, compared to just 24% in 2007.  Highlights include:

Media:  The year was again particularly strong for media and social media impressions.  Nearly 44 billion media impressions were generated through print and electronic PR and communications efforts surpassing the 2015 goal, 34% higher than 2014, and almost 4-fold higher than 2013.  Facebook likes surpassed goal for the year (Q4=719K), 67% more than 2014.  The year ended with Twitter followers up 22% Q4=53.5K), Pinterest likes up 17% (Q4=10.8K), and Instagram followers up 467% (Q4=6.4K) over 2014.

Web:  Also noteworthy is continued strong growth in visits to the FruitsAndVeggiesMoreMatters.org consumer website.  The year ended with an average of 350K web visits/month, 18% higher than the prior year average.  There were nearly 15K new ‘opt-in’ participants for e-communications, 18% over 2014, for a total of 96K opt-ins by the end of 2015.

Industry:  The year ended with 72 Industry Role Models, 17 Champions, and 6 Supermarket RD’s of the Year, demonstrating significant industry support and involvement.  PBH continued to work with our retail partners and supporters including seeking ongoing support from retailers (current and prospects); hosting Business Exchange Roundtables with buyers and supermarket dietitians at the PBH 2015 Consumer Connection Annual Conference; maintaining outreach to independent retailers, including attending/exhibiting/speaking at the National Grocers Association conference in February; and hosting 22 RD’s at the PBH 2015 Supermarket RD Program at Fresh Summit. 

Health Influencers:  PBH’s outreach to roughly 20,000 educators and health professionals continued throughout 2015. This included the marketing of education materials on our websites, including monthly pre-drafted social media posts, and 2 webinars. Two issues of the Fruit & Veggie Connection Magazine were also released.  The new Store Tour Training Grants were awarded to 18 universities in 2015. They will train 400 nutrition/dietetic students who, in turn, will give tours to 4K fellow millennials and local community members.  Six Role Models and 2 Champions were identified among the public health community for 2015. 

Research:  PBH awarded grantees to two university researchers to test marketing of fruits and vegetables.  These concluded and will be presented at the 2016 PBH Annual Conference. Four reports were also completed in 2015:

• State of the Plate Report: 2015 Study on America’s Consumption of Fruit & Vegetables
• 2015 Gap Analysis: How Federal Spending Falls Short of Addressing Public Health Needs,
• Dads’ vs. Moms’ Attitudes Related to Fruit & Vegetable Consumption and
• National Action Plan to Improve Health Through Increased Fruit & Vegetable Consumption, 2015 Report Card.

PBH’s 2015 Annual Conference was very successful in terms of reviews, attendance, and sponsorships.  The Formula 5 marketing competition among university students was a highlight and 7 colleges (29 teams), have submitted proposals for 2016’s competition.  Winners will be selected at PBH’s 2016 annual conference, April 4-6, 2016 in Scottsdale, AZ.

“I am very pleased with the results PBH was able to deliver and achieve in 2015, especially in the areas of media, our work with the industry, research, and for our websites,” says Elizabeth Pivonka, President and CEO of PBH. “I’m looking forward to sharing additional detail for these results, along with the results of our two market research grants, during our upcoming annual conference, April 4-6 in Scottsdale, Arizona.”

About Produce for Better Health Foundation

Produce for Better Health Foundation (PBH) is a non-profit 501 (c) (3) fruit and vegetable education foundation.  Since 1991, PBH works to motivate people to eat more fruits and vegetables to improve public health.  PBH achieves success through industry and government collaboration, first with the 5 A Day program and now with the Fruits & Veggies—More Matters public health initiative.  Fruits & Veggies—More Matters is the nation’s largest public-private, fruit and vegetable nutrition education initiative. To learn more, visit www.PBHFoundation.org and www.FruitsandVeggiesMoreMatters.org. Follow Fruits & Veggies—More Matters on Facebook or Twitter.

PBH is also a member and co-chair of the National Fruit & Vegetable Alliance (NFVA), consisting of government agencies, non-profit organizations, and industry working to collaboratively and synergistically achieve increased nationwide access and demand for all forms of fruits and vegetables for improved public health.  To learn more, visit www.NFVA.org.

Source: Produce for Better Health Foundation