With the end of the 2023 Texas 1015 season, the South Texas Onion Committee reported that this year saw a busy April through mid-July, and STOC promotions of the 1015a exceeded goals.
An Aug. 4 release from the Committee said this season resulted in “another record-breaking marketing program this spring and early summer focusing on increasing brand awareness and sales of the Texas 1015 Sweet Onion.”
STOC noted that “although excessive and heavy rains did damage some fields, yields were plentiful, and demands were met, thanks to the hard work of Texas farmers and farm workers – not to mention the rising popularity of the Texas 1015 has resulted in a nearly 40 percent increase in acreage planted this year.”
The Committee launched its “most comprehensive campaign to date including live, print, digital, television, and in-store promotions throughout the season, aimed at retailers, consumers, and trade,” the release added.
The 1015 promo season kicked off with a Virtual Field Tour at the Viva Fresh Expo, where 184 participants, primarily retailers, “had a first-hand look at the field and the process that goes into delivering the sweetest Texas 1015 sweet onions.”
Dante Galeazzi, manager of the South Texas Onion Committee and President of Texas International Produce Association, commented, “The virtual field tours are always popular and “get back to the dirt” by providing a valuable look inside the operations that deliver our nation’s first sweet onion to market each year. Because the tour is live, it is like visiting the operation for yourself and creates great dialogue between our Texas farmers and the stores that will eventually offer Texas 1015 sweet onions to consumers.”
Consumer-focused promotions for the season included a social media campaign that had a nearly 15 percent increase in followers from 2022; a sweepstakes with more than 260,000 unique entries and 1.3 million engagements; and a food influencer recipe program and contest that featured seven influencers and bringing more than 600 live votes.
“New to consumer promotions this year and greatly amplifying promotion reach were an Instacart ad campaign and story segments published by Texas food legend David Elder of KSAT12’s Texas Eats on television, social media, and digital,” the release said.
Rounding out this year’s consumer promotions was the “highly anticipated, and always popular TX1015 Restaurant Week.” The event was hosted in the Rio Grande Valley and included seven restaurants highlighting local fare that featured Texas 1015 sweet onions.
Designed to increase awareness around the Texas 1015 season and availability, the campaign worked to integrate Texas retail promotions and trade advertising. STOC partnered with three retailers to promote sales with in-store and digital promotions and a season-long ad campaign in popular trade publications.
“The proof is in the numbers. This year’s robust campaign successfully reached audiences directly, through social media, through retail, and through trade – and it left an impact,” remarked Galeazzi.
For more information, crop reports, updates, marketing tools, videos, recipes, and everything Texas 1015 sweet onions, visit tx1015.com, where you can sign up for the Texas 1015 newsletter to stay up to date and follow STOC on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Pinterest.
Mark your calendars for more Texas 1015 sweet onions in March 2024.
