Posts Tagged “Organics Unlimited”
By Organics Unlimited
SAN DIEGO – The GROW Fund, a nonprofit program developed by Organics Unlimited, partnered with Produce for Kids to encourage families to take a pledge to pack healthier lunch items during the back-to-school season. For each pledge, GROW by Organics Unlimited and other sponsor brands collectively donated $1 to Feeding America to provide meals for families in need.
Through its Power Your Lunchbox campaign, Produce for Kids collected 21,674 pledges, surpassing its goal of 20,000. Thanks to the campaign sponsors’ donations, Produce for Kids was able to donate enough funds to Feeding America to provide 238,414 meals.
“As a company that grows and sells organic bananas, we provide healthier eating options for individuals and families,” said Mayra Velazquez de León, president of Organics Unlimited and GROW. “We are proud to partner with Produce for Kids and take part in the Power Your Lunchbox campaign, giving our support to children’s health initiatives.”
This is the third year Organics Unlimited has partnered with Produce for Kids, a company that encourages families to eat healthier by providing recipes, expert advice and tips from other parents. The campaign encourages families, teachers and dietitians to take the pledge to eat a healthier lunch.
The Power Your Lunchbox campaign took place from August 8 to September 23, 2016. The campaign consisted of promotion through social media, parent and food bloggers, e-newsletters, media placements and a NatureFresh Greenhouse Tour visiting 36 grocery stores and nine schools to create awareness and encourage people to sign the pledge. The campaign had a total reach of 145 million impressions.
Organics Unlimited participated directly to the campaign through social media outreach, including a Twitter party promoting healthy recipes and facts. The #PowerYourLunchbox Twitter Party on August 17 gave an opportunity for the organization and sponsors to interact with parents and inform them of healthy lunches and lifestyles. During the Twitter Party, there were over 3,761 tweets and more than 14 million impressions. Organics Unlimited alone earned 2,500 impressions.
“We created the GROW Fund to enrich the lives of our farming communities through various education and health programs,” said Velazquez de León. “Although that is what the GROW Fund strives towards, we think that it is equally important to promote a healthier lifestyle towards people in the United States. We believe growing organic bananas is better for the environment, employees and is the healthier option for consumers.”
GROW shares information about eating and environmental sustainability on Facebook and Twitter. GROW also provides healthy recipes for families and retailers on the Organics Unlimited website.
About Organics Unlimited
Organics Unlimited is a San Diego-based distributor of organic tropical fruit from Mexico and South America, providing its traditional label as well as the GROW label. Its fruits are USDA certified organic for the U.S. and Canada through Organic Certifiers. For more information on Organics Unlimited and GROW, visit OrganicsUnlimited.com, or call 619.710.0658. Check out the latest blog post from Organics Unlimited, or find Organics Unlimited on Facebook, Twitter or YouTube.
by Organics Unlimited
Organics Unlimited is pleased to announce the 10th anniversary of its nonprofit program, GROW. Throughout the month of September, Organics Unlimited will execute a special GROW Month campaign in order to raise awareness of the social responsibility program and inspire more distributors, retailers and consumers to become involved.
Since 2005, GROW has raised nearly $2 million to advance the rural Mexican and Ecuadorian communities surrounding its organic banana farms. With each box of GROW organic bananas sold to retailers and distributors, a portion of the proceeds go to the GROW fund. These donations are managed and distributed by the International Community Foundation and are used for youth educational scholarships in Mexico, clean water programs in Ecuador, dental and vision care in Mexico, micro-loans for small businesses and more.
Mayra Velazquez de Leon
“In celebration of the 10th anniversary of GROW organic bananas, we have released a new GROW banana label that features the special hashtag #GROWTURNS10,” said Organics Unlimited President and CEO Mayra Velazquez de Leon. “We hope this limited-time GROW label will inspire consumers to become more involved with the social responsibility campaign and share how their GROW purchases are making a difference in the lives of others.”
Consumers can join in GROW Month throughout September and help raise awareness of the humanitarian work of GROW by purchasing GROW organic bananas and sharing the hashtag on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Tips for how to share the #GROWTURNS10 message – such as organic banana recipes, inspirational stories of GROW scholars, crafts for children and more – are available at GROWbananas.org.
By Organics Unlimited
SAN DIEGO – Organics Unlimited is launching GROW organic bananas on the east coast, it was announced today by company president Mayra Velazquez de Leon. All distribution will be handled by Four Season Produce in Lancaster County, Pa. who receives and ripens the bananas for markets in the mid-Atlantic and northeastern parts of the country.
“We want to be involved in supporting the communities in our banana growing regions,” said Four Seasons General Manager Jason Hollinger. “Our company is a major supporter of Fair Trade, but we realize that there are different ways to support the workers and their families. We’ve added GROW to give our customers another option for buying good, quality organic bananas that also have a way to give back to others.”
Started in 2005, the GROW program has now provided over $1 million of support for programs in Mexico and Ecuador that promote education, dental, vision care and safe water. “We’re excited with the growth we’ve seen in the program and to have the GROW organic bananas available in the east,” said Mayra Velazquez de Leon, president of Organics Unlimited. “In the past few years, we’ve seen a major increase in interest from our customers, which has allowed us to expand funding to additional programs and promising young people.”
From 2012 to 2013, GROW support increased by almost 150 percent. This year, GROW has raised over $200,000 in funds to help continue efforts in social responsibility. All funds come from the purchase of GROW bananas in the US. Each box of fruit has a surcharge of $.60 that goes directly to the fund. Proceeds from the funds go to Children International in Ecuador and Project Amigo in Mexico to help build opportunities for workers, their families and communities.
GROW retailers also benefit from the merchandising support available through the Organics Unlimited website. While materials are available year round, the celebration of GROW Month in September provides a special consumer focus that expands shoppers awareness of the added benefits of buying the GROW label. Of interest to consumers this year will be an increased selection of personalized stories about the impact that GROW has made on their lives.
About Organics Unlimited
Organics Unlimited is a San Diego-based distributor of organic tropical fruit from Mexico and South America, providing its traditional label as well as the GROW label. The company is USDA certified organic for the U.S. and Canada through Organic Certifiers. For more information on Organics Unlimited and GROW visit OrganicsUnlimited.com, GrowBananas.org, or call 619.710.0658. Check out the latest blog post from Organics Unlimited at OrganicOdes.com or find Organics Unlimited on Facebook, Twitter or YouTube.
About Four Seasons Produce
Four Seasons Produce, Inc. is a full-service wholesaler supplying organic, local and conventional fresh produce to organic markets, food co-ops, independent retailers, chain stores, juice bars and other produce buyers in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast. For more information, visit FSProduce.com or call 800-422-8384.