2009 Q3 Newsletters

September 2009 Member Email (Sent Sept 17, 2009)

Dear Whole Grains Council members,

We're writing to you this month fresh from the AACCI Annual Meeting in Baltimore, where I spoke this week about whole grain marketing, and also participated in the meeting of AACCI's Whole Grains Working Group. It's always important to us to make sure the Whole Grains Council is solidly grounded in science, so we relish this annual opportunity to catch up on the latest news from the grain science community. How appropriate that this meeting usually takes place during Whole Grains Month!

SAMPLING OPPORTUNITIES FOR WGC MEMBERS

We occasionally get requests for help in obtaining whole grain samples, from health and educational organizations who want to use the samples to promote the benefits of whole grains. We pass these requests on to WGC members who have asked to be included on our Samples List. Here's the way the Samples List works:

You tell us you'd like to be on the List.
When we get sample requests, we send an email to all companies on the List.
YOU decide if this opportunity meets your marketing needs or not - and send off some goodies OR simply ignore the request. There's NO obligation.
Meanwhile, we email back to the requesting organization, and tell them we've put the word out, and that they may get samples. We don't give them the names of companies on the List, and we don't promise them any results!

Here's a recent example. Lori Tubbs, RD, Human Performance Nutritionist with Navy Special Forces, contacted us about a support program she was running for surviving spouses of servicemen who died in the line of duty. She asked for samples, and we spread the word. After the program she wrote to express her thanks:

What a huge response with whole grain vendors providing samples to the Warrior's Survivors conference! The ladies loved the products and thank you for the help and support. There were huge discussions on whole grains and I used many of the handouts on your website as references and educational materials.

We only get about one or two sample requests a month, but those we do get are often constitute a great opportunity to support a good cause while introducing your products to people who may not be aware of them. Email Molli King (mking@oldwayspt.org) if you'd like to be added to the Sample List and made aware of such opportunities.

CONTEST COUNTDOWN - FINAL TWO WEEKS

There are only two weeks left in the Whole Grains Month photo contest we're running for consumers. This contest has definitely caught the imagination of the press, with coverage on websites as diverse as Woman's Day, Essence, Supermarket News, and About.com.

We'd like to thank the many WGC members who posted the contest on their websites and FaceBook pages, or Tweeted and Blogged about it - as well as our wonderful prize donors. Our Grand Prize is a personal chef to cook a week's worth of dinners; our first prize is a library of great whole grain cookbooks; and these winners and 45 others get a whole grain pantry of delicious products.

You can see all the prizes - and some of the creative entries to date - on our contest website. It's clear from the photos (including the one pictured here) that many of our entrants feel passionate about a wide range of WGC members' products. Take a look and see if your products are represented. If they're not -- get the word out today to your customers, so that your company can join the photo gallery on the contest website. Email Cynthia Harriman if you'd like a copy of the contest logo to use in getting the word out.

(WGC members aren't eligible to win, but their friends and neighbors are! Spread the word if anyone you know would like to win the services of a personal chef to cook a week's worth of dinners. Chef Paul Lynch and Chefs Mary and Joel Schaefer can't wait to get cooking for our Grand Prize winner.)

WAY TO GO, INDIAN HARVEST!

Speaking of getting the word out about WGC activities, a big thanks goes out to Indian Harvest Specialtifoods, a WGC member selling grain blends to the foodservice community.

Indian Harvest is promoting the 2009 Whole Grains Challenge, our October awards program for restaurants and foodservice, by including our attractive case insert in every order they ship. Indian Harvest spotted this idea in last month's member newsletter and ran with it, to put their customers in line for great PR and prizes for serving delicious whole grains.

Our 2009 Whole Grains Challenge for foodservice runs during the month of October - see details online. If you're selling to the foodservice community, you may want to follow Indian Harvest's example and get your customers involved in this third annual program. Contact Kara Berrini (617-896-4880) for more information about the Whole Grains Challenge.

WHAT DID I MISS? WHAT DID I MISS?

We realize our monthly member email may hit your inbox just when you're on a crucial deadline and may not get your full attention. We hear from members all the time who say, "I wish I'd realized you were doing that..." or "Gee, that would have really fit with our marketing goals."

We'd like to remind all our members that our monthly newsletters are always archived on our website in the For Members corner of our website. (Since you're reading this online now, you know where that is!) Make it a habit to go there once in a while and skim recent communications from us, to see if you've missed any great promotions. While you're there, take a look at some of the other For Members links, too, to make sure you're making the most of your Whole Grains Council membership. We value your partnership and participation.

Best regards from all of us at Oldways and the Whole Grains Council,

Cindy
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Cynthia Harriman
Director of Food and Nutrition Strategies
Oldways / The Whole Grains Council
603-436-1608 direct
617-896-4820 main office

August 2009 Member Email (Sent August 20, 2009)

Dear Whole Grains Council members,

It's only a bit more than a week until Whole Grains Month kicks off on September 1. We hope that all of you have special plans in place for emphasizing whole grains during September. Drop us a line - we'd love to hear how your company is celebrating Whole Grains Month!

But what about us? Much of this month's newsletter will focus on how the Whole Grains Council will be celebrating - so read on, below!

"I LOVE MY WHOLE GRAINS" CONTEST STARTS TODAY!

The centerpiece of this year's celebration is our photo contest, dubbed "I Love My Whole Grains." Both the WGC and our parent organization, Oldways, believe strongly in using positive examples to generate momentum and change. We think the hundreds of photos that will be uploaded to the "I Love My Whole Grains" contest -- all showing people enjoying their favorite whole grains -- will inspire everyone around the world to try new whole grain options.

Our Grand Prize? We'll send a personal chef to the winner's home to prepare a week's worth of dinners. Imagine a week off from cooking... with the usual take-out and leftovers replaced by savory, delicious dishes created by Chef Paul Lynch or Chefs Joel and Mary Schaefer. Two first-place winners will receive a library of whole grains cookbooks to inspire them, and 45 other winners (plus our top 3 winners) will receive over 20 different whole grain food samples from WGC member companies. With prizes like these, we expect to be buried in photo entries.

Link to the contest, from your website! Linking will increase the chances that your products will be pictured in the contest photo gallery - for great, free visibility. Plus, linking is a quick and easy way to show that you're doing something special for Whole Grains Month, without developing more content on your own. It's simple: Just email Cynthia Harriman requesting the contest graphic, and place it on your website, with a link to the contest at http://photocontest.wholegrainscouncil.org. We're hoping ALL members of the WGC can set up a contest ink to help us spread the word. The contest site is live now, so the sooner you link, the more attention your products will get.

A big thanks to our prize donors: Chefs Mary and Joel Schaefer and Chef Paul Lynch; for our cookbook library, Lorna Sass, Robin Asbell, Judith Finlayson, Peter Reinhart, Jesse Cool, Oldways, General Mills, King Arthur Flour, and Tiffany Haugen; for whole grain foods, Annie's, Arrowhead Mills, Barbara's Bakery, Barilla, Bimbo, Bob's Red Mill, ConAgra Mills, Corazonas, De Wafelbakkers, Dr. Kracker, Essential Eating, Flowers Foods, FritoLay, Frontier Soups, Goose Valley Wild Rice, Kashi, Mestemacher Bread, Nature's Path, Nestlé, Riviana, and Shiloh Farms.

VIDEO-A-DAY PROJECT

Another way we're combining fun and education for Whole Grains Month is by posting a new whole grain video each day during the month of September. Cooking demos will dominate, but we'll change things up a bit with a mix of amateur and professional presentations, a variety of grains, and a variety of attitudes, with videos gathered from all over the web. Thanks to members who sent us their own videos for possible inclusion.

Want to get your daily fix during September? The videos will be on the WGC website on our "Celebrate Whole Grains Month" page, starting on September 1. Visit every day, for something new!

WG CHALLENGE FOR FOODSERVICE IN OCTOBER

October is still over the horizon, but we're already getting inquiries from schools, family restaurants, workplace cafeterias, and other foodservice venues asking how they can participate in our third annual Whole Grains Challenge. We haven't even opened up our online registration form, but interest in the Challenge has been growing steadily since the start of the summer.

What is sparking all this advance excitement? It could be that the Challenge is a completely unique awards program for dining establishments across America that offer at least one whole grain option every day during October 2009. It could be that last year's Challenge attracted major players, like Restaurant Associates/Compass, shown above accepting a 2008 Challenge award.

Or it could be the prizes that so many of our generous Members have pledged. As of today, roughly 20 Members have pledged over 170 cases, boxes, and bags of their delicious whole grain products. For those of you targeting the foodservice market, the Whole Grains Challenge offers an unparalleled opportunity for product visibility, placing your whole grain products directly into the hands of dining directors, managers, and chefs - in other words, the decision makers responsible for serving whole grains to customers.

We're still accepting prize pledges for this year's Challenge, so if you have a great new product that would be perfect for Quick Serve restaurants, or are hoping to open up new accounts in Healthcare dining, or want your products to go to winners in all 10 categories, contact Kara Berrini (617-896-4880) today!

And don't forget to spread the word about the Whole Grains Challenge by including our case insert in shipments to your foodservice clients. You can download our attractive Whole Grains Challenge Case Insert by clicking here (832K PDF).

UPCOMING WGC APPEARANCES

Whole Grains Council staff look forward to the opportunity to meet WGC members -- and to educate the world about whole grains -- at industry events. September and October will be busy months for our outreach efforts, with the following plans:

Tufts Friedman Nutrition Symposium, September 10-12, Medford, MA - Cynthia attending
Gluten Free Culinary Summit, September 12-13, Hyde Park, NY - Kara speaking on Gluten-free Whole Grains
FMI Consumer Affairs Seminar, September 12-14, Baltimore, MD - Cynthia attending
AACC International Conference, September 13-16, Baltimore, MD - Cynthia speaking on Whole Grains in the Marketplace
Expo East, September 24-26, Boston, MA - Cynthia & Kara attending and visiting WGC members
FNCE, October 18-20, Denver, CO - Oldways and the WGC exhibiting. Visit us in Booth #431.

If you'll be at any of these events, drop Kara an email, so we'll know to look for you!

BE A GUEST WGC BLOGGER

Got something to say about the wonderful world of whole grains but find it doesn't quite merit a press release? Maybe you've discovered a new whole wheat breading for the abundance of zucchini in your garden and are looking for a perfect venue to share it with the world. Or maybe you learned about some new milling technique that you think is super cool (in that fantastic grain geek kind of way). Entries in the WGC blog range from humorous to historic, from fun-loving to fact-packed.

We at the WGC are always happy to welcome guest posts for possible inclusion on the WGC's blog. Former WGC chair Jeff Dahlberg was our first guest blogger, writing on June 26 about a wonderful science project sponsored by the Sorghum Checkoff Program. If you'd like to follow in Jeff's footsteps as a guest blogger, just email Kara to get the ball rolling and then get ready for your 15 minutes of blogosphere fame!

July 2009 Member Email (Sent July 23, 2009)

Dear Whole Grains Council members,

It was great to see 20 of our member companies at the School Nutrition Association show in Las Vegas earlier this month. Kara and I enjoy going to trade shows because it gives us a chance to see your new products and meet some of our email-and-phone friends in person for the first time.

A special thanks to Barilla, who sponsored a whole grain seminar in which I took part, to Mars Food for inviting us to partner in their cooking demo and deliver information about the WGC, and to ConAgra, who graciously allowed us hand out WGC school resources at their cooking demo. It's gratifying to see that WGC members are really making a difference in making whole grains more available to schools.

"I LOVE MY WHOLE GRAINS" CONTEST

Last month we said a few words about the consumer contest we've planned for Whole Grains Month in September. Plans have firmed up now for a great event that will draw nationwide attention to whole grains and to the Stamp. There are two ways member companies can get involved:
(1) contribute prizes, for great product visibility, and
(2) help us promote the contest with a link on your website.

Here's how the contest works: Consumers take a photo of their favorite whole grain food, and upload it to our website, where website visitors can browse the photo gallery and click on the photos that inspire them to eat more whole grains. At the end of September, we'll use a combination of these "people's choice" clicks and our own judgment to pick the best photos, and award prizes to 48 winners.

The Grand Prize? A week's worth of delicious whole grain-inspired dinners cooked in the winner's home by an award-winning chef. Thanks to WGC Culinary Advisors Paul Lynch and the husband-and-wife team of Joel and Mary Schaefer, who have offered their services as chefs. Two second-prize winners receive a library of wonderful whole grain cookbooks from Lorna Sass, Robin Asbell, Judith Finlayson, Tiffany Haugen, General Mills, King Arthur Flour, Peter Reinhart, Jesse Cool and Oldways.

These top three winners and 45 third-prize winners also receive a selection of great whole grain product samples and coupons. So far, we have the following retail prizes:
· Bob's Red Mill: 48 packages of steel cut oats
· Corazonas: 48 packages each, of 2 flavors WG chips
· Flowers Bakery: 96 free coupons for bread (2 per winner)
· Dr Kracker: 48 tins of Classic 3 Seed Krackers
· Mestemacher: 48 scenic tins of Mestemacher Bread
· Riviana: 48 packages each of several brands of brown rice
· Arrowhead Mills: 48 boxes of pancake mix and coupons
· FritoLay: 48 bags of SunChips
· Essential Eating: 48 bags of sprouted 100% WG pretzels
· Barbara's Bakery: 48 cartons of Shredded Oats

Would you like YOUR products to be part of the prize package, too? Email Cynthia Harriman today with a description of what you'd like to donate, and a product photo that we can post on the contest website. If you act quickly, you can still take part.

Our programmers are working on the conference website now. It will launch to the public on August 20. At that time, we'd LOVE to have as many WGC members as possible post the contest logo on their websites, with a link to our contest website. It's a great way for you to offer a special Whole Grains Month activity to jazz up your website offerings.

WELCOME MOLLI KING TO THE WGC!

As membership and programs of the Whole Grains Council continue to grow, we've brought on a new staff member to help serve the public and our members.

Please join us in welcoming Molli King, who is working with Kara on Product Registration approvals, fulfilling promotional materials, and taking on a myriad of other daily tasks that keep the WGC humming. Molli comes to us from New York City, where she recently earned a degree in Communications from NYU. Her upbeat attitude and love of good food will stand her in good stead at Oldways and the Whole Grains Council. You can reach Molli at mking@oldwayspt.org or 617-896-4832 if you'd like to say hello.

3rd ANNUAL WG CHALLENGE FOR FOODSERVICE

We're running our third annual Whole Grains Challenge in October this year. As many of you may recall from the first two years, this is our awards program for foodservice outlets that offer at least one whole grain option every day for a month. Foodservice operators compete in ten categories, from fine dining and quick-serve to schools, workplace, and healthcare. You can learn more about the 2009 Whole Grains Challenge, and see a list of last year's ten category winners, on the WGC website.

For those of you targeting the foodservice market, the Whole Grains Challenge offers yet another opportunity for product visibility. Pledging prizes to the Whole Grains Challenge program gets your products in front of the specific foodservice segments you're trying to reach - which could open up important new accounts to you. Donate to all ten categories, or just to the ones most important to you, such as schools, or healthcare.

A big thanks to members who have already committed foodservice prizes for the Whole Grains Challenge, including Aunt Millie's, Bob's Red Mill, Caravan, ConAgra Mills, Corazonas, Dessert Innovations, General Mills, Goose Valley, Indian Harvest Specialtifoods, NRG Bars, Quaker, Riviana, Rustic Crust, Schwan's Foodservice and Vie de France. Click here for details on prizes.

You can also help spread the word about the Whole Grains Challenge, by including our case insert in shipments to your foodservice clients. You can download our attractive Whole Grains Challenge Case Insert by clicking here (832K PDF).

Okay. Don't get confused. We've got two great programs going on here. To get involved in the Whole Grains Challenge foodservice contest, contact Kara Berrini (617-896-4880); for the consumer "I Love My Whole Grains" contest, contact Cynthia Harriman as described above.

NEW WGC CONSUMER NEWSLETTER

July marked the launch of our new WGC newsletter for whole grain lovers, called "Just Ask for Whole Grains." Every month, we'll send subscribers a tasty recipe, information on new whole grain studies, product news, and an update of new information on the WGC website. If you'd like to be on the mailing list for our consumer newsletter, just click here.