Sesame Street Apple of the Month Program Launched at Hannaford

WENATCHEE, Wash. – Hannaford Supermarkets will ring in 2007 with a new program partnering the 158-store chain with Stemilt Growers Inc., producers and packers of Washington state apples, and with Sesame Workshop®, creators of Sesame Street.

Each month a Stemilt apple variety will be highlighted in Hannaford stores, featuring a character from Sesame Street who has a fun message for kids about apples. The program is designed to interest kids in trying different apple varieties.

The year begins with Grover, who’s starting it off super, super-sweet with a snack of juicy Fuji apples. In February, Elmo and Zoe are the characters of the month who tout their love for Pink Lady apples and their tummy-tickling properties. And in March, even Oscar the Grouch loves the green goodness of a Granny Smith apple. April, May and June each have their own assigned apple and Sesame Street character.

“This is a fun way to attract children and parents to different apple varieties in the produce section,” said Will Wedge, Director of Produce Merchandising for Hannaford, based in Scarborough, Maine. “We are very excited to have Sesame Street characters encouraging kids to eat more apples.”

Wedge said Hannaford has sought opportunities in recent years to promote better diet and health for consumers through its store programs. In September Hannaford rolled out its highly publicized Guiding Stars rating system which measures the nutritional value of nearly all 27,000 food-and-drink items in its stores based on a one-to-three-star assignment protocol. The system was designed in response to consumer feedback indicating that shoppers have difficulty discerning which foods are the most nutritious. Foods with three stars, which include apples and nearly all other fresh produce items, are considered nutritious selections and ones that consumers should eat often.

Hannaford also is a partner for the second year with FOODPLAY, a live theatre troupe for children, which travels to more than 100 elementary schools in Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, New York and Vermont each year encouraging kids to make good nutrition choices. Children received booklets to track the fruits and vegetables they ate by applying stickers to the passport pages from each fresh produce item consumed.

The Sesame Street “Apple of the Month Program” uses a similar approach by encouraging children to collect stickers from each apple variety and place them on a special activity sheet. Children are also encouraged to learn about the unique traits of the apples on the sheet.

“Many children, and even some adults, hesitate to broaden their apple selections from what they are accustomed to eating,” said Stemilt Growers Marketing Director Roger Pepperl. “This program will pique the kids’ interest and make it easier for parents to convince their children to try something new.”

Sesame Workshop also works to encourage better health in children through its “Healthy Habits for Life” initiative, said Maura Regan, Vice President and General Manager of Global Licensing. “Healthy Habits for Life” is a program started by Sesame Workshop in 2004 promoting health, nutrition, physical activity, and education to preschoolers and their caregivers.

“We’re thrilled to be part of a campaign that encourages children to try different kinds of healthy foods and in this case, Elmo red and Oscar green apples ,” Regan said. “All the Sesame Street friends will be delivering messages about the wholesome and nutritious value of this delicious fruit.”