SAN FRANCISCO, CA - Have you ever wanted to step foot in a real, live potato growing field? Well, now all of us who aren’t lucky enough to be potato farmers will get the chance to wake up and smell the potatoes! This week, Side Delights® unveiled a new program that’s wielding cutting-edge virtual reality (VR) video and podcast-based technology as a means of inviting consumers to step into its very own potato fields and understand the importance of the concept, “Grown Where it Matters.”

“‘Grown Where it Matters’ engages and immerses consumers in the farm where their potatoes are grown,” said Kathleen Triou, President and CEO. “The program’s digital and in-store communications are designed to educate shoppers about where their potatoes are grown, the passion that the farmers have about growing fresh quality potatoes, and the hope that these types of farms will carry on for the next generation.”

According to a press release, locally grown products are a $20 billion industry—a number that’s only increasing as more and more consumers take an interest in growing practices, harvests, packaging, and the role of sustainability in the production cycle. Within the potato category, Side Delights has found that local, organic, and knowing your farmer are all trends that can help drive sales. As a result, the company is engaging with consumers through the powerful marketing tool of storytelling—and what better way to tell its story than through immersive 360° VR videos and a podcast series?

“Potatoes taste best when they reflect the true sense of the soil where they are grown,” continued Triou, before noting that the Side Delights brand is sourced from farms in eight geographically diverse growing areas located near some of the largest population centers in the U.S. Thus the “Grown Where it Matters” concept further connects the Fresh Solutions Network® (FSN) farmers with their regionally relevant market and deepens the relationship that shoppers have with Side Delights potatoes—relationships that will only grow stronger as Side Delights narrates the history and heritage of its farms, sustainability practices, passion, and more within its new VR program.

The program first launched with a grassroots PR marketing effort, the “Adopt a Potato Farmer” food blogger program. Now, Side Delights is aiming to introduce its program to a broader audience, with plans to unveil the tech via social media, a 2020 digital ad campaign, and in-stores with POS like Kwik Lok tags and eye-catching potato display cards that encourage shoppers to experience the 360° virtual farm tours and podcast interviews on Side Delights’ website page.

And, if you find yourselves at PMA Fresh Summit in a few weeks, you can check out Side Delights’ newest program at booth #3940. Attendees can enjoy a sneak preview of the VR videos with 3D goggles(!) so be there or be square!

For more of the latest rolling down the produce pipeline ahead of PMA, stick around ANUK.

Side Delights