US (CA): Retailers earn awards from Avocado commission contests

The California Avocado Commission (CAC) announced the winners of its advertising and display contests for 2013. CAC conducted the contests concurrently from May 1, 2013 through September 11, 2013, to encompass the period of American summer holidays that included Mother’s Day, Memorial Day, Father’s Day, Flag Day, Fourth of July and Labor Day. Save Mart Supermarkets earned the top spot in CAC’s advertising contest and Food Town store number seven in Houston claimed the grand prize in the display contest.

“Retailer advertising and display support is a vital component in the promotion of California avocados,” said Jan DeLyser, CAC vice president of marketing. “We develop retailer incentive programs to encourage that support and to thank those retailers who are strong supporters of California avocados.”

The ad contest encouraged retailers to merchandise and feature California avocados, resulting in 162 ads during the contest period, with 112 featuring the Hand Grown in California logo. That logo identification helps shoppers know the country of origin of the avocados the retailer is promoting. Recent research conducted by Bovitz Inc. indicates that in CAC’s advertising markets the number of shoppers who check for country of origin on avocados has grown significantly in the last two years, from 30 percent in 2011 to 45 percent in 2013.

Retailers registered for the CAC’s advertising contest earned points for every California avocado ad they ran during the qualification period. They also received bonus points for using the Hand Grown in California logo and for ads during key American summer holiday promotion periods. Save Mart Supermarkets in California accumulated 172 points. Phoenix-based Sprouts Farmers Market came in second place with 162 points. Along with Lucky Supermarkets (NorCal), Bashas’ Supermarkets (Phoenix), Cardenas Markets (SoCal), Jons Marketplace (SoCal), Safeway (NorCal), Stater Brothers (SoCal) and Vallarta Supermarkets (SoCal), they earned the “tier 1 prize” of an Apple iPad® Mini ($400 value). Seventeen retailers were awarded prizes.

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