Good Foods Plays (College) Ball to Promote Healthy Snacking

Dip and good-for-you product maker Good Food is using college football to promote healthier snacking.

The effort involves Brighter Bites, a nonprofit that creates communities of health through fresh food, with the goal of changing behavior among children and their families to prevent obesity and achieve long-term health. During the 2020 college football season, Good Foods will contribute to Brighter Bites for each sack made by the Arkansas Razorbacks, Minnesota Gophers and Wisconsin Badgers throughout each game, in a campaign called Sack Hunger.

Good Foods said that it intends to drive broader awareness of Brighter Bites by partnering with these three programs in a campaign that will assist in generating much-needed funds to the organization.

“We couldn’t have asked for a more generous or reputable organization to partner with,” said Heather Penn, Good Foods’ charitable board chairwoman. “Brighter Bites perfectly aligns with our mission and values as a family-owned business to encourage and create accessibility of good food for people in need.”

The Sack Hunger campaign with Good Foods is overseen by Winston-Salem, North Carolina-based Learfield IMG College, the athletics multimedia rightsholder for Arkansas, Minnesota and Wisconsin. Fans at the respective universities will notice visibility for the campaign through game radio broadcasts, social media messaging and in-venue presence, managed by Learfield IMG College’s local teams (Arkansas Sports Properties, Gopher Sports Properties and Badger Sports Properties).

Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin-based Good Foods teamed with the Wisconsin Badgers last season in the first-ever Sack Hunger initiative as part of a robust commitment to support ending childhood hunger through various education and charitable efforts.

“We’re proud and thankful to continue working with Good Foods this season and extend the campaign to the Razorbacks and Gophers programs, particularly during a year where many more families are struggling due to the current economic challenges brought on by the pandemic,” said Scott Silvestri, VP and general manager for Madison-based Badger Sports Properties.

Houston-based Brighter Bites delivers fresh fruits and vegetables directly into families’ hands. “By giving kids access to fresh, nutritious food and showing them how to make the most of it, we help turn healthy habits into something even better: healthy lifestyles,” said founder Lisa Helfman.

The new program launches as recent research shows how consumers are turning to healthier snacks during the pandemic. Two-thirds of American adults are snacking at home more, and nearly three in five are choosing better-for-you snacks and meal solutions more often than they would have prior to the pandemic, according to a survey conducted online in July by The Harris Poll on behalf of CVS Pharmacy, a subsidiary of Woonsocket, Rhode Island-based CVS Health, No. 6 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2020 list of the top food retailers in in North America. The survey also showed that nearly half of Americans (48%) indicated that they've been surprised to discover better-for-you snacks and meal solutions at a drug store that they would not have expected.