With nearly a century of corporate history, veteran pork processor Johnston Packers now serves more than 450 local retailers, butchers and restaurants from its family-run Chilliwack facility. But despite its sterling reputation, the Johnston team wanted to do more to satisfy the growing consumer craving for information, connection and community.

“It is increasingly important to reach consumers and share more about our farms and the BC pork industry as a whole,” explains assistant manager, Bonnie Windsor. “We wanted to educate consumers and chefs about our industry including our food safety regulations, and encourage them to support local butchers, grocers and retailers that carry BC pork products.”

Fortunately, their recent Buy BC initiative presented them with a unique opportunity to increase consumer awareness while fostering more collaboration across their sector.

With project funding to develop an assortment of marketing materials including videos, truck wraps, in-store promotions and nearly 20,000 recipe calendars, Johnston’s was able to support retailers in engaging shoppers and sharing the stories of local farms.

For Bonnie, the most effective outreach should elicit a laugh, like their new slogan: “You either like bacon…or you’re wrong,” or a truck wrap featuring an image of a chicken telling viewers to “eat more pork.”

“We often get feedback from consumers who see our trucks on the road and tell us how much they love them and find them funny and entertaining,” says Bonnie. “We feel we have been successful in drawing attention to BC pork with our humorous approach which has created a connection with the consumer.”

Now that brand recognition is on the rise, with sales climbing in both the fresh and value-added product categories, Johnston’s plans to capitalize on this momentum and leverage their new tools at consumer-facing food events, such as the annual Barn Burner BBQ in Yarrow.

“The Buy BC Program has enabled us to support our industry and enhance sustainability across the entire value chain of BC pork, from farmer to retailer to consumer,” Bonnie declares. “All of the activities completed in this project will continue to educate and promote BC pork, processors, retailers, and farmers for years to come.”

Funding support provided by the BC Government’s Buy BC Partnership Program. (BBC123)

A taste of something special awaits shoppers at the UBC Farm’s weekly farmer’s market. In addition to a diversity of local foods at your fingertips, you can also uncover your local food economy firsthand; on any given visit, customers can tour the campus’ working farm, meet farmers-in-training, learn about indigenous food sovereignty, and explore on-site innovative agricultural research.

“The UBC Farm Farmers’ Markets are part of the Centre for Sustainable Food Systems, a unique research, teaching and community engagement centre,” explains sales manager Matthew Delumpa. “We view the market as a venue to inspire, educate and nourish consumers while supporting the health and competitiveness of BC’s sustainable ag sectors.”

Offering local, farm-fresh seasonal produce and eggs from the UBC Farm and other local farms, as well as local meat, baked goods and prepared foods from Lower Mainland producers and processors, there are nearly 60 different local vendors participating in the market each year. And for those seeking a festival experience, the Saturday market also offers food trucks, alcohol and crafts, while local musicians entertain the crowd.

But despite a bounty of appealing options, one element was curiously absent considering the market’s location within a school – students!

According to Matthew, while the market commands a loyal following from the surrounding community, on-campus awareness among the student population has been surprisingly but consistently low (at least outside of the Faculty of Land and Food Systems).

“This was the main gap that we identified, where we have students just down the road that have no idea they have a farm in their backyard,” he says. “We also wanted to promote the new discount available through the Alma Mater student society’s coupon program to help students access fresh, local food.”

But with help from the Buy BC program the UBC Farm was ready to give it the old college try. With project funding to support a dedicated project coordinator and marketing specialist, they launched a targeted campaign to increase student recognition and drive on-campus visitors and sales.

“Our two posters reached students in 443 campus locations, promoted Facebook posts reached 1,440 people over 19 days, six digital signs appeared on more than 50 campus screens and our 5,000-subscriber newsletter has seen an increased unique click-rate since publishing the redesigned template,” reports Matthew.

So far this has translated into a 20 percent increase in market customers (including a 50 percent increase in customers identifying as Millennials/UBC students).

“Our recent promotional efforts have increased on-campus exposure and as a result our sales figures have risen and the UBC Farm produce subsidy is used widely, 1,845 times to be exact,” shares Matthew, adding that their farmers’ market team has received numerous student testimonials noting that they heard about the UBC Farm produce subsidy through Buy BC communication material.

And with the significant turnover every new semester brings, the UBC Farm team is especially grateful to have all the marketing tools in place to attract new arrivals each time.

For those graduating or leaving campus, Matthew is hopeful the buy local message continues to hit home.

“Beyond the immediate impacts to the market, we believe that the increased promotional effort supported by Buy BC will lead to positive changes in purchasing behavior and attitudes towards the local food economy,” he says.

Funding: $9,035 through the BC Government’s Buy BC Partnership Program. (BBC021)

When appealing to millennial shoppers, you better have an irresistible message ready to share across multiple online channels. Though an increasing number of British Columbian consumers of all ages have rallied behind the “Buy BC” hashtag, millennials present a unique, almost paradoxical challenge when it comes to food, as Fraser Valley Specialty Poultry (FVSP) discovered firsthand.

When the fifth-generation family farm delved into millennial trends, they found that while consumers under 35 spend significantly less time cooking than other generations, they are surprisingly some of the healthiest eaters as well as the inventors of food trends like the “farm-to-table” movement.

“These are potential customers who like the convenience of eating out but value the healthy aspect of home cooking and are deeply curious about every aspect of their meals,” summarizes FVSP president Ken Falk, adding that many younger shoppers have also expressed insecurity about preparing fresh poultry products themselves.

The fact that millennials also represent the heaviest users of modern technology and mostly glean product information online presented another obstacle for FVSP, given their more traditional marketing approach.

But fortunately for the Falks, funding support was available through the Buy BC Partnership Program to help enhance their local marketing efforts. Project funding allowed them to pursue the elusive millennial demographic by launching the “Cook Poultry Like A Pro!” initiative, an online campaign promoting BC poultry while offering consumers a unique educational opportunity.

With the help of a professional marketing firm and five local chefs, FVSP produced a video series featuring simple chicken, duck, goose and squab recipes on their new Buy BC landing page and social media platforms, as well as online contests where participants voted for their favorite recipes and posted their own creations. Eight highly influential food bloggers were also enlisted to create and share additional online content with tens of thousands of followers, 90 percent of whom are millennials.  

Project funding also enabled FVSP to broadcast their message on CTV (reaching more than 800,000 viewers daily), as well as conduct in-store demonstrations, distribute recipe cards, and develop Buy BC-branded marketing and promotional materials. By the end of their six-month project they had significantly increased sales revenue and formed agreements with 12 new restaurants and 20 new retailers.

“Having support to extend our online reach and elevate our brand was the key to connecting with this particular demographic and expanding our business,” explains Falk. “This is the generation whose current concerns and desires will guide the future of the food industry.”

Funding: $44,757 through the BC Government’s Buy BC Partnership Program. (BBC032)