Wholly Guacamole 'Single-Serves' Its Consumers

Fort Worth, Texas — Fresherized Foods has expanded the marketing focus for its Wholly Guacamole dips beyond parties and taco night. “There is a huge wave of consumer trends telling us that people are using avocados and guacamole in so many other ways,” says Jennifer Sawyer, manager, marketing and PR. “They’re using guacamole on their sandwiches, on salads, as a dip with pretzels and vegetables, as well as with chips.”The product is all-natural and gluten-free with no preservatives. And while it can be frozen, it doesn’t keep long in the refrigerator once opened. Thus, the company began making a concerted effort in 2013 to market its new 100-calorie Minis. Although the company has sold 2-ounce pouches for a few years, the new packaging consists of single-serve mini cups.Furthermore, research shows that kids are eating guacamole more often. For Wholly Guacamole’s target demographic of women/moms between the ages of 30 and 50, the minis offer a nutritious on-the-go option for them as well as their children. “These mini packets are much more kid-friendly,” says Tara Murray, senior marketing manager. “We’ve had a lot of great response so far because they’re much cleaner, more convenient and much more conducive for lunch boxes, whether moms are sending them to school with their kids or taking them to work in their own lunches.”Wholly Guacamole prides itself on a strong interaction with its consumers. Calling social media an “amazing force out into the consumer world,” Sawyer says the company relies heavily on dialogue through Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and its website. The company has also worked with bloggers.Part of a company-wide repackaging effort for all of its products, the Minis have been highlighted throughout the year, with a strong emphasis on back-to-school. In particular, an online “OMGuac” campaign running last August through September featured a photo contest and awarded $100 gift cards and a cooler full of Wholly Guacamole to three winners. Serving a small test market, the campaign comprised advertising, a video series in which the company partnered with supermarket dieticians, and a digital coupon. “[The photos] gave us a glimpse of how it’s being used in people’s kitchens, on the go and at their desks at lunch,” Sawyer says. “People loved [the prize] because there might have been flavors in there they didn’t realize we had. They came back to our page and posted pictures of their prizes.”While Wholly Guacamole has partnered with various retailers on in-store promotions, Murray says for its larger, fully integrated quarterly programs such as this, there’s no retailer customization. “Our goal as we move forward is household penetration and frequency,” says Murray. “We’re constantly working to get more people to know us through our brand awareness campaigns, and the coupon helps us increase the frequency of people buying our products because we know, once they try it, they will buy it again.”Partnering with News America Marketing, New York, Wholly Guacamole employs tearpads and coupon dispensers near its product in-store – generally in the produce or deli sections. “It’s relatively difficult to have any big promotion in these areas,” Murray says. “And because our product has to be refrigerated, it’s also very challenging to set up a big lobby display.” The company does seek co-marketing partnerships with other food companies.Fresherized Foods handled the packaging and creative for the single-serve packaging in-house.

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