Whole Grain Sampling Day

What if there were one day when, everywhere you went, there were opportunities to try delicious whole grain foods?

You'd stop into the cafeteria at your workplace, and you'd be offered a taste of quinoa salad. You'd visit the supermarket, and one of those friendly hairnet-ladies would ask if you'd like to try a new whole grain pretzel. Your teenager would duck into a quick-serve restaurant, and they'd ask, "Would you like that on a whole grain wrap, instead of the usual bun?" In the park downtown, a food company would be passing out granola bars to joggers. At dinner, as you serve whole grain pasta to your family, your fourth-grader would report about the whole grain pizza in her school lunch.

That's what happened on April 4th, 2012, when the Whole Grains Council held its first-ever Whole Grain Sampling Day. Our goal, at the end of the day, was to have people everywhere saying, "That was great! Where have you been all my life?"

According to a 2009 survey by Kellogg's, 36% of consumers said "because I enjoy the taste" when asked for their reasons for eating more whole grains.  That's up considerably from a 2006 Harris Interactive survey where 13% cited taste as a purchase motivator. You've come a long way, whole grains. Today, most people have only to try a new whole grain to realize they like it.

Participating Whole Grain Sampling Day Partners

Here are some companies that have made a commitment to Whole Grain Sampling Day by offering whole grain sampling opportunities, discounts, or other good deals on April 4th:

Oldways and the Whole Grains Council
We wanted to set the tone and inspire others by doing something very cool ourselves, so we commandeered a "Duck Boat" from Boston Duck Tours for the day on April 4th. We went tootling around Boston, handing out whole grain samples, "Just Ask for Whole Grains" buttons, and other goodies all over the city. Several WGC members, like Dr. Kracker, Jovial Foods, HomeFree Treats, Mary's Gone Crackers and MuffinTown, sent us samples to hand out to the adoring crowds.

Check out our blog to see what actually happened!

More Boston Events
Our Duck Tour idea got other Boston-area groups so excited that they also made plans. Other partners participating in Boston were North End Market Tours, who shared whole grain gift bags with treats from Jovial Foods and Goose Valley Rice and gave guests whole grain shopping tips. Massachusetts General Hospital served whole grain salads in their Eat Street Café, and Brigham & Women's Hospital showcased whole grain menu offerings and tastings along with health benefits from their RDs. Local cookie makers Immaculate Baking baked up treats for a nearby children's organization.

Very Very Cool Flash Mob from Grains for Health Foundation
We thought our Duck Boat was pretty cool (and it was) but the very creative Grains for Health Foundation in Minneapolis came up with something that may top them all: a flash mob in front of the student union at the University of Minnesota's campus during lunch hour. Food science and nutrition student volunteers danced up a storm, then handed out an information flier on whole grain benefits and free samples of whole grain foods donated by MOM Brands, formerly Malt-O-Meal, and Kraft Foods, to onlookers. Grains for Health also coordinated local supermarket tastings.

Compass Group and Morrison Management
A leading food management company serving six million diners daily, Compass Group has had a long-standing commitment to serving and promoting whole grains to their customers. On April 4th they offered tastings in a variety of settings including corporate cafes, healthcare facilities, public and independent schools. "Tastings are a great way to reduce the fear of the unknown that some customers have when trying a new food. We use this strategy often to introduce new healthful foods. We are excited to participate in the first Whole Grain Sampling Day," said Deanne Brandstetter, MBA, RD, Vice President Nutrition and Wellness.

Chef Cary Neff, Vice President of Corporate Culinary Services for Morrison Management Specialists says, "Whole Grain Sampling Day is an everyday occurrence for us. As culinary policy, all Morrison healthcare accounts provide at least 2 whole grain offerings each day and our signature concept, Flavors 450, features whole grain tasting on a daily basis."

A Compass/Eurest account in NJ reported back to us that they served samples table-side and reached 42% of their lunch crowd. "Samples were amazing.. The key is talking the crowd up... can't just display!" A Morrison/Touchpoint account in ID distributed 300 samples, and told us "the red quinoa salad with chicken was very popular."

Verizon
Verizon offices nationwide have received awards for their health and wellness programs. Kelly Zanczewski, Health & Wellness Coodinator in Basking Ridge New Jersey says, "Our cafes on a national level are participating in this event."  At her location 3,000 employees had the opportunity all week long to taste free samples of grains and make meal selections at their whole grain bar in the caefteria.

Kelly reported back to us, "We had a great day! The other cafés nationally who have a health and wellness center also did whole grains events."

McDonald's
McDonald's – which uses the Whole Grain Stamp to promote its growing number of whole grain options – tweeted about whole grains on April 4th and offered coupons for its oatmeal to some of its Twitter followers.

Arby's
Arby's also participated in Whole Grains Sampling Day with social media promotions. "We see this as a great opportunity to highlight the whole grain options available on every sandwich at Arby's," said Jo Ann Herold, Vice President of Brand Marketing for Arby's.

Auntie Anne's Pretzels
Auntie Anne’s Pretzels got a head-start on Whole Grain Sampling Day by test-marketing two whole grain pretzels at selected stores from January 8 through April 7 and offering a BOGO (Buy One Get One) Coupon [download coupon]. Their Honey Whole Wheat Pretzel offers a full serving (16g) of whole grain and is available at these Auntie Anne’s stores, while their Apple Caramel Stix, also made with whole grain dough, are available at these participating stores. 

Nature's Own Bread
WGC member Flowers Foods celebrated by talking up whole grains on Facebook and Twitter before and during April 4th, and offering coupons for Nature's Own 100% Whole Grain Loaf on coupons.com.

Mestemacher Bread
Samples of Mestemacher Bread Portion Packs, imported by Carl Brandt, Inc. were given away at a multitude of locations, including

• New York City: Agatha & Valentina, Zabar's, Grace's Marketplace and Garden of Eden
• Ardsley, NY: DeCecco
• Poughkeepsie, NY: Adams Fairacre Farms
• Franklin Lakes, NJ: Market Basket
• South Orange, NJ: Eden Gourmet
• Ridgefield, CT: Ancona Market
• Southbury, CT: Southbury Foods

Also, FreshDirect, a home delivery grocery service included samples in delivery orders and Hands-on Grain, a cooking school, sampled Mestemacher bread and educated about whole grains.

Steiner Foods Distributors, New Rochelle, NY serves each of these profitable businesses.

Rex Healthcare, Raleigh, NC
Chef Ryan Conklin of Rex Healthcare showed his organization's leadership in healthcare food (see their blog!) with an ambitious plan, which he described for us beforehand:

• We will create a sampling area outside our café, where we will sample, for free, some of the items already on our menus like Wheatberries, Quinoa, Farro, Bulgur, Barley, and Brown Basmati Rice. Our chef who normally prepares these dishes for us will be available for Q & A with customers about cooking techniques of these specific items. We will also have a Registered Dietician on Hand to talk about the benefits of eating whole grains with our customers. Our Café serves approximately 3500 customers daily.

• We serve about 1000 patient meals daily as well, and we will be delivering to each of them a card with information about the benefits of eating whole grains on their individual trays as well.

• We will also be marketing this in our “Daily Blast”, which is an email newsletter sent to over 5000 co-workers daily, promoting our whole grains sampling on April 4th, as well as talking about some of the benefits of eating whole grains.

Ellie Krieger, USA Weekend magazine
Ellie Krieger, cookbook author, TV personality and WGC Culinary Advisor planned to feature a whole grain pasta salad in her April 6-8 column "CookSmart" in USA Weekend magazine. Ellie promoted Whole Grain Sampling Day through social media.

Silvia Nena
Certified Fitness Nutrition Coach Silvia Nena shared a Whole Grain Roasted Vegetable Burrito (in both non-vegetarian and vegetarian/vegan versions) on her website on April 4 and promoted the day in social media.

Skogen's Festival Foods Supermarket, Wisconsin
Festival Foods planned a demo stand, sampling their new EatWell whole grain deli salads. They also shared information on how to select and cook whole grains throughout the day.

Hy-Vee Supermarkets
Hy-vee supermarkets in several communities planned to sample whole grains and educate customers about their benefits, including:
** March 27, 12-3 pm, in Davenport IL, with dietitian Rebecca Beaudoin, RD, LMNT
** April 4, 11am-1pm, in Iowa City, IA
** April 4, 3-5pm, in Omaha NE, with dietitian Kristen Decker, RD, LD
** April 5, 3-5pm, in Milan IL, with dietitian Nina Struss, RD, LD/N

Mariano's Fresh Market, Chicago Area
Mariano's Fresh Market, in the Chicago area, planned seven cooking demonstrations and tasting sessions on whole grains at five of its stores:
** March 14 + April 4, 7:30-8pm, Arlington Heights
** March 18, 11:30am-12pm, Palatine
** March 21 + April 11, 2-2:30pm, Roscoe & Weatern
** March 28, 4-4:30pm, Vernon Hills
** March 31, 11-11:30am, Lakeshore

ShopRite, Little Falls, NJ
ShopRite Store #205 in Little Falls went all out for Whole Grain Sampling Day. Store Dietitian Laura Becker, MS, RD, reports that they planned to hand out coupons and samples from Kashi, Bob's Red Mill, Tinkyada, Nature's Earthly Choice, and Village Harvest Rice. The store's hot foods department was also preparing some special items for sampling.

First Alternative Co-op, Corvallis, WA
On April 4, First Alternative Co-op planned whole grain demos at two store locations, 1007 SE 3rd St. and 2855 NW Grant Ave, both in Corvallis, Oregon. Their bulk department carries many different whole grains! Come see what our demo staff can create!

Aleece's Pita Chips
Partnering with markets in the Peoria, Illinois area, Aleece's shared samples of their whole grain pita chips.

Biscotti Brothers
Biscotti Brothers is including a free package of their delicious whole grain Cranberries Blueberries and Oats Granotti with each internet order placed through April 6, 2012.

Flourish Baking Company
Flourish Baking Company, in Scarsdale, NY, scheduled a special sampling of their delicious vegetable pot pies on April 4th. Visitors were invited to stop by their production kitchen and shop to taste their pie crust, which is made of a blend of seven whole grain flours mixed with extra virgin olive oil and expeller-pressed safflower oil.

Luke Paper Company
The Wellness Coordinator at this Maryland-based manufacturing company planned to host a sampling for employees and include information about the health benefits of whole grains.

Cooking Light
Cooking Light magazine is making "Go For More Grains" its featured focus for the entire month of April, and encouraging its readers to "Enjoy three servings of whole grains per day." Whole Grains is one of 12 Healthy Habits that Cooking Light is featuring throughout the year; look for lots of great whole grain tips and recipes on its website throughout April.

Heritage Wheat Conservancy
Eli Rogosa of the Heritage Wheat Conservancy is offering a free 5-lb bag of organic einkorn whole grain or a free 4-lb bag of organic einkorn flour to the first three chefs who agree to serve einkorn on Whole Grain Sampling Day, and to send us comments and a photo of your recipe. Einkorn, an ancient wheat with a unique light, rich taste, is twice as high in protein and many trace minerals as modern wheat, and delicious! Contact Eli directly and click here for einkorn recipe suggestions.

Home Farm Store at Ayrshire Farms in Virginia planned to celebrate by making ALL of their sandwiches on whole grain breads and offer additional options, like whole grain salads and pilafs.  Visit their gourmet shop and have a whole grain lunch!

Marion's Smart Delights & Whole Foods
The whole grain and allergy concious baking compnay, Marion's Smart Delights has partnered with Whole Foods Market to offer samples of their Gluten-free, Kosher and Allergy-Friendly cookie and muffin mixes.  Samples were available at the Old Town Alexandria, VA location from 1 - 4 p.m. on April 4th.

Indian Harvest
Minnesota-based Indian Harvest, supplier of specialty rices, exotic grains and heirloom beans, planned two great initiatives:
• On the retail side, they planned to donate whole grain products to 23 local grocery stores in Bemidji and in Minneapolis/St. Paul, so the stores can sample to their customers on April 4.
• On the foodservice side, they used Facebook to reach out to their foodservice base during March, asking them to plan creative promotions for April 4. They offered to supply a free 12-pound case of whole grains to the five with the most creative, interesting, or widest-reaching ideas.

Manufacturers and Supermarkets Working Together
Several WGC member companies – ConAgra Mills, Mestemacher Bread, Attune Foods, Cookiehead Snacks, Biscotti Brothers, Muffin Town, Y.E. Distributers and Chabaso Bakery –  stepped forward and offered to work with supermarkets on sampling events. A number of supermarket chains – Giant Eagle, Walmart, ShopRite, Byerly's, Hy-Vee, Mariano's Fresh Market, an online grocer – FreshDirect, PLUS a cooking school called Hands on Grains asked to be matched with suppliers, to promote whole grains and offer free samples.

Tell us what you did!

If you work with a restaurant or company that participated in Whole Grain Sampling Day but you're not on our list above, email Karen Mansur with your events and offers, and we'll add you to the list above.

Don't worry if you can't pitch in exactly on April 4th! If your restaurant has a prior catering commitment on Wednesday, for instance, go ahead and celebrate on Tuesday or Thursday.  The spirit of Whole Grain Sampling Day can spill over into any day that week, as the graphic above illustrates. It's the party that never stops!