YAKIMA, Wash. – FirstFruits Marketing of Washington (FirstFruits) ends its fifth annual Take a Bite Out of Hunger™ program at select retailers with a collective donation of 330,000 pounds of apples to local food banks. This brings the total program donation to approximately 1,250,000 pounds over five seasons.
FirstFruits created Take a Bite Out of Hunger™ with the goal of helping feed the underserved while bringing attention to the problem of food insecurity in the United States. In its fifth year, FirstFruits continues to partner with retailers and wholesalers to make fresh apple donations. Donations are made in a retailer’s name to local food banks with the retailer contributing the cost of freight. This year’s participating retailers and wholesalers included Ahold, A&P/Pathmark, Dave’s Marketplace, C&S, Charlie’s Produce, Grocery Outlet, Haggen, Harvey’s, Super1 Foods, Roundy’s, Stater Brothers, The Grocery People and United Supermarkets.
“The Take a Bite Out of Hunger program continues to grow every year thanks to the continuous support and dedication from our partners,” said Keith Mathews, CEO of FirstFruits Marketing of Washington. “Their participation is not only about the donation but also about getting people educated and engaged about the issues surrounding hunger.”
Hunger isn’t just about being hungry. It’s about food insecurity, or not having regular access to safe, affordable and nutritious foods. According to Feeding America, food insecurity exists in every county in America. In 2013, 14 percent of all U.S. households were food-insecure. Of those, 32 percent were children.
The Take a Bite Out of Hunger™ program provided full retail support with campaign-themed polybags and merchandisers, point-of-sale cards and ad slicks. A quick response (QR) code on collateral links to a video about hunger. At the conclusion of the program, local press was also invited to cover the food bank donations.
###
FirstFruits Marketing is a collaborative apple marketing company owned by growers. These growers share a commitment to producing high quality fruit while balancing the demands of purpose, people, planet and profit so that a portion of profits can be donated to non-profit missions supporting the underserved. For more Information, visit www.firstfruits.com.
Source: FirstFruits Marketing