Two FMI Gold Plate Winners Collaborate for National Family Meals Month 2018

By: Allison Febrey, Assistant, Health & Wellness/FMI Foundation/Food & Product Safety, Food Marketing Institute

What do Coborn’s grocery stores and American Heart Association’s (AHA) Healthy For Good ™ program have in common? Both are National Family Meals Month 2017 Gold Plate Award winners! This year, they are joining forces to take their family meals programming to the next level by collaborating on a pilot program to deliver heart healthy recipes and meal plans in-store to support consumers in enjoying simple, nourishing meals at home. 

The goal for AHA’s Healthy For Good™ consumer campaign is to support simple, healthy decisions while creating sustainable habits. Messaging is upbeat and solution-oriented and focuses on four aspects of optimal health that can easily be incorporated into retail health promotions: Eat Smart, Add Color, Move More, and Be Well. This compliments Coborn’s already robust National Family Meal Month™ programming.

For National Family Meals Month, Coborn’s spotlighted their Supermarket Registered Dietitians in a variety of ways. To help solve the quintessential “what’s for dinner” question, Coborn’s dietitians released their newest Meals in Minutes cookbook. This cookbook features 20 family-friendly recipes that are all under 30 minutes or less. For in-store inspiration, Coborn’s provides almost all of the ingredient they need for the one recipe, all in one spot, through in-store displays. Their dietitian team also conducted in-store cooking demos live on Facebook and in-store to help draw more excitement for National Family Meals Month.

A collaboration between AHA and Coborn’s represents an opportunity to encourage more healthful and frequent family meals starting in the store—where many food decisions are made. The September 2018 pilot will field test AHA’s Healthy For Good™ Retail Activation Toolkit. This toolkit includes educational messaging, resources, and recipes. 

In addition, the Minnesota Beef Council is participating in the pilot and assisting with the in-store recipe demo that features an American Heart Association® Heart-Check Certified recipe,Ground Beef and Pasta Primavera recipe. 

Healthy For Good™ messaging and Heart-Check certified recipes will be featured through a combination of activities that may include Facebook Live, media segments, blogs, in-store displays, recipe demos, social media posts, and in-store broadcast messages. The Toolkit also includes a Healthy For Good™ 7-Day Dinner Menu Plan with Shopping List.  

For more activation ideas, check out the National Family Meals Month™ retailer, supplier and community collaborator toolkits and remember to submit your program for a Gold Plate Award by October 31, 2018.