What happens to 850,000 pounds of blemished peaches in New Jersey? They usually end up in landfills, that is, until Campbell Soup developed a unique public-private partnership with the Food Bank of South Jersey. In 2012, Campbell Soup Company engaged employees to manufacture a shelf-stable peach salsa with the blemished peaches donated by South Jersey farmers. The salsa would be sold through the Food Bank, farmers’ markets and local retailers and become a sustainable revenue stream for the Food Bank to help grow its nine hunger relief programs and serve the growing food insecure population. Campbell’s donated product costs and engaged hundreds of employee volunteers to make and package the salsa. Bellevue was tasked with helping Campbell’s announce the partnership with the Food Bank to produce Just Peachy salsa, generate positive media coverage and raise awareness of the product in South Jersey estimated to raise $100,000 for the nonprofit.
In collaboration with the Food Bank of South Jersey, Bellevue arranged a press conference at Campbell’s manufacturing facility in Camden to unveil Just Peachy, offering tours of the pilot plant with a “behind-the-scenes” look at how the salsa is made and packaged by employee volunteers. The event also provided free tastings of the peach salsa to all who attended.
The announcement resulted in an abundance of news coverage about the program, including local, regional and national media which garnered more than 1.5 million media impressions and totaling more than $53,000 in ad value. The campaign also resulted in accolades from community leaders and elected officials hailing Just Peachy as a unique product that developed with support from both private and public partnerships