Retailer uses app to introduce growers to consumers
Retailer uses app to introduce growers to consumers
To help customers understand where their produce comes from, the Great Basin Community Food Co-op in Reno, NV, is launching an innovative app that allows shoppers to virtually connect with the producers of their food. Launching in-store later this month, the Meet Your Farmer app is the first-of-its-kind for a U.S. grocery store — designed to increase awareness and appreciation of local food.
The Meet Your Farmer App will feature 25 producers local to the Reno area sharing their love of farming with consumers. With facts about their history, farming practices and produce, these growers will connect with individuals to tell a story not only about the produce, but also the farmers working behind the scenes to deliver fresh, healthy foods to the store.
The Great Basin Community Food Co-op will launch the Meet Your Farmer app in-store on Sept. 19.
The free app will enable shoppers to connect with local farmers simply by pointing their smartphones at Meet Your Farmer signs throughout the store. An introduction video from that farmer will instantly play on their smartphone or tablet. Shoppers will be able to meet their farmers and see where their produce was grown.
Steve Cook, creative director of NEON, a Reno-based marketing agency, is the architect of the idea. “I went on a farm tour and saw how people really enjoyed getting to know their farmers and seeing how their food was produced,” he said in a press release. “It set me off thinking of ways to use new technology so it could be done easily in-store by potentially thousands of people.”
Even as consumers become increasingly conscious about where their food comes from and how it is produced, he continued, few will ever have the chance to visit a farm or interact with those who bring their food to market. Meet Your Farmer will connect shoppers to their local producers right in the produce aisle.
“We are excited to be the first grocer to incorporate this technology,” Amber Sallaberry, general manager of the Great Basin Community Food Co-op, said in the press release. “It reinforces our emphasis on local food and community, and our core belief in complete transparency about what we sell to our customers.”
