California walnut retail program expands for American Heart Month

The California Walnut Board is launching its fourth consecutive American Heart Month campaign in February. The 2021 campaign includes walnut displays and promotions in more than 10,000 stores across the United States – a more than a 40% increase from last year – and is anticipated to surpass the incremental sales volume attained each year since the inaugural two-market program in 2018.

“We’ve been pleased with the success of our American Heart Month efforts, which have grown tremendously over the past three years and continue to expand this year,” said Jennifer Olmstead, marketing director, domestic public relations at the California Walnut Board. “At a time when cardiovascular health is top-of-mind for many Americans, we’ve worked closely with this year’s retail partners and our participating walnut handlers to share the heart health benefits of walnuts through impactful, customized programs that fit their specific needs and speak directly to their customers.”

The program showcases the heart health benefits of walnuts through a wide range of custom signage and displays, value-added offers, social media activities, and advertisements with local television and radio tags highlighting the participating retailers.

This year’s offerings from California Walnuts also include new recipes, videos and a social media playbook provided to all retail partners, offering guidance on how to communicate the heart health benefits of walnuts while tailoring content to their own social media channels.

The 2021 campaign builds on the success of the 2020 program, which included 23 chains operating 7,300 stores and resulted in sales lifts of 50% or more among participating retailers.