HOUSTON – Brighter Bites, a national nonprofit that delivers fresh fruits and vegetables directly into families’ hands, is thrilled to announce another year of partnership with Zespri™ Kiwifruit as a key partner for the current 2023-2024 school year. This partnership will have impact on all 11 programming cities this year.
“We are excited to continue our partnership with Brighter Bites! Together, we are passionate about promoting healthier choices and supporting communities that can use a little extra help,’ said Jeanne Wilson, Head of Marketing, North American Market for Zespri Kiwifruit. “We’re cooking up some creative ways to make kiwifruit a staple in households. It’s not just about the fruit; it’s about creating real, lasting change in the way people eat, and we’re thrilled to be part of that journey.”
To build on the partnership this summer, Zespri Kiwifruit employed a marketing campaign at Gelson’s stores in Los Angeles and together Zespri and Gelson’s, through their Making Change donation program at checkout, contributed one dollar each to Brighter Bites for every kiwi pack sold. The campaign was successful in empowering shoppers to participate in a worthy cause through their purchase while increasing brand visibility for Brighter Bites, Zespri, and Gelson’s.
“We are thankful for a partner like Zespri Kiwifruit!” said Melissa McDonald, Director of Development at Brighter Bites. “We’ve had the pleasure of working with their team for the past year and they have been instrumental in providing a more nutritious variety to our program.”
In addition to the summer campaign, Zespri made a monetary donation and committed to volunteer days to support Brighter Bites’ mission to help support Brighter Bites in its mission to create communities of health. This generous donation will be used to continue Brighter Bites’ efforts in providing a variety of fresh produce to families across the country. To create excitement within the classroom, Brighter Bites and Zespri have also announced their second kiwi-themed art contest. Students will submit artwork inspired by the life of a kiwi, and the prize winners are to be announced in January.
“This year, we’re excited to lean into National Farm to School Month to encourage kids to learn where healthy foods come from and tap into their creative side by creating some kiwi-inspired art!” said Wilson. “We’re hoping this little challenge will inspire kids to learn more about kiwifruit and ultimately create healthier habits for life!”
To learn more about Brighter Bites, visit brighterbites.org, or follow the organization on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter or YouTube.
About Brighter Bites
Brighter Bites is a nonprofit that creates communities of health through fresh food with the goal of changing behavior among children and their families to achieve long-term health. Brighter Bites is an evidence-based, multi-component elementary school, preschool, and summer camp program that utilizes reliable access to fruits and vegetables, nutrition education, and consistent exposure to recipes and messages that feature fresh food. Since 2012, Brighter Bites has provided over 60 million pounds of produce and millions of nutrition education materials to more than 1 million individuals (including teachers) in Austin, Bakersfield, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, New York City, Salinas, San Antonio, Southwest Florida, and the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan area. To learn more about Brighter Bites visit www.brighterbites.org.
About Zespri™ Kiwifruit
Zespri TM is 100 percent owned by current and former kiwifruit growers and has a global team of 850 based in Mount Maunganui, New Zealand and throughout Asia, Europe and the Americas. Our purpose is to help people, communities and the environment thrive through the goodness of kiwifruit, and we work with 2,800 growers in New Zealand and 1,500 growers offshore to provide consumers with fresh, healthy and great-tasting Zespri TM Green, Zespri TM SunGold TM and Zespri TM Organic Kiwifruit. Zespri TM is committed to sustainability, with areas of improvement identified right through the supply chain including our pledge that by 2025 we will use 100 percent reusable, recyclable or compostable packaging, do more to help the environment, and to become carbon positive by 2035. Please visit zespri.com/en-US.
