This past winter, New Jersey was lucky not to have the record snowfalls that many in the Northeast and across the country experienced. However, we had extremely cold stretches followed by wet periods in late winter and early spring. Thankfully, fields have warmed and dried and Garden State growers are busy working to bring you another great season of Jersey Fresh fruits and vegetables.

The New Jersey Department of Agriculture’s “Another Great Season” marketing campaign enters its third year. This campaign features ads that promote the finest fruits and vegetables and the farmers that bring the goodness to market day after day.

Based on consumer research that indicated high levels of awareness in southern New Jersey but lesser awareness in the north, we focused our marketing in the northern New Jersey and New York areas in 2014. We did see an uptick in awareness and we intend to continue that strategy for 2015. Television spots will be run out of the largest, most-watched station in New York City during the local news and other talk shows when many people are watching. These spots feature a farmer preparing to work the fields, up-tempo music, quick cuts of the many products offered in New Jersey and people enjoying Jersey Fresh produce. These television ads will run during the height of the Jersey Fresh summer harvest season from late June through August.

The Department also will be employing radio ads in an effort to increase our reach. Radio is a must in reaching consumers and encouraging them to visit their nearest retail outlet for fresh produce. The New Jersey Department of Agriculture will be utilizing NJ 101.5 and several smaller stations to reach drivers when they are in their cars and likely to stop for some Jersey Fresh, either on their way to the shore or on their way home. Radio ads will cover a large part of the state and will continue through the summer.

The Jersey Fresh brand continues to grow via social media. We are seeing new followers each week with higher levels of interaction with the brand. We have launched “Jersey Fresh Love,” a new social media campaign, which asks people to document where they are finding Jersey Fresh produce and what they are doing with it.

The Department has implemented a print ad campaign using a cornucopia of fresh fruit and vegetable photography exhorting retailers to “Turn Customers Into Fans” during our great growing season. The ads will appear in several regional and national trade publications, including The Produce News from April through November.

Consumer research shows that people are happy to buy Jersey Fresh at the supermarket, if they can easily find it. These studies have shown that people are more likely to buy and more likely to pay more for produce identified as locally grown. And it doesn’t get much more local than Jersey Fresh. Therefore, the New Jersey Department of Agriculture is producing several types of point-of-purchase materials for retailers that they may use to identify the great New Jersey agricultural products they offer. Some of the POP materials produced include Jersey Fresh price cards in two sizes, vinyl and polysatin banners featuring the same images as the print ads, aprons, hats and bin wraps featuring large Jersey Fresh logos and small Jersey Fresh logo labels. NJDA staff also will conduct visits to retailers to provide POP materials.

The New Jersey Department of Agriculture staff will continue to attend industry trade shows and conventions to promote the state’s agricultural industry because reaching retailers on a one-on-one level remains a priority in the marketing process. Staff recently returned from the Canadian Produce Marketing Association show in Montreal. Other events include the United Fresh/FMI show next week in Chicago, the New England Produce Council show in Cape Cod in September, the Produce Marketing Association show in Atlanta in October and the NY Produce Show at the Javits Center in New York City in December. Additionally, the New Jersey Department of Agriculture co-locates its annual State Agricultural Convention with the Vegetable Growers Association of New Jersey trade show in Atlantic City each February.

We continue producing an annual consumer Awareness & Purchase Report to track whether people recall the advertising and the brand and to discover new or oncoming trends in the marketplace. Conducted in late-September toward the end of the growing and marketing season, the Department, with assistance from a marketing research firm, conducts this study involving surveys of more than 800 consumers from across the New Jersey/New York/Pennsylvania region. Consumers will be asked questions on a variety of topics including advertising impressions and recall, locally grown, social media usage and food safety, to name a few. Based on the results of this study, marketing strategies will be adjusted, as needed, for even greater effectiveness in 2016.

We hope you will join us in having “Another Great Season” of Jersey Fresh!

Joe Atchison, NJDA Agricultural Marketing Coordinator.