“Banana Badass,” brilliant marketer, mother, fair trade and organic advocate, team player and, most recently, The Packer’s 2024 Produce Marketer of the Year — Equifruit Vice President of Sales and Marketing Kim Chackal is a force in fresh produce.
Chackal, who joined the Montreal-based Fairtrade International-certified banana company in 2014, has continued to expand her role in the last decade, and in September 2023, the then director of sales and marketing became an owner in the company alongside Equifruit President Jennie Coleman.
“Jennie and I were just talking about this — looking back, it's been a terrific year,” said Chackal. “We really complement each other very well. We're that safe space for one another to think reasonably, to be honest, and to have good communication. I really couldn't ask for a better professional situation.”
Anyone who’s been to a produce show where Equifruit is an exhibitor knows to expect the unexpected from the woman-owned and -operated company that dons utilitarian jumpsuits and yellow Crocs, while bringing shark paraphernalia and “extra” to every event.
Earlier this year, the organic, fair trade banana company launched a “Bananity Fair"-themed booth at the Organic Produce Summit in Monterey, Calif., which invited attendees to strike a series of cover-worthy poses prompted by audio playing inside a see-through booth.
Equifruit's Madison Hopper strikes a pose at Organic Produce Summit 2024. (Photo: Jennifer Strailey)
The booth design is an all-time favorite for Chackal and one the company will reprise for this year’s International Fresh Produce Association Global Produce and Floral Show in Atlanta.
“I think what was so successful about Bananity Fair — and to my knowledge, it hasn't been done in the produce industry before — was that people reacted to something brand new,” said Chackal. “And it offered up an experience that people could have together in a group.
“People were laughing and smiling, which is contagious — energy is contagious,” she continued. “And not only did you have the people inside the Bananity Fair booth having a great time and a memorable experience, but you also had the people gathered to watch the experience who were so delighted.
“We're just trying to create this relaxed, non-pushy, non-preachy atmosphere, where we hope you see the amount of energy that we put into a 10-by-20-foot booth and will give us the chance to bring your banana section into the 21st century,” she said.
In Equifruit’s approximately two-decades-long history, its marketing strategy wasn’t always this magical ratio of delight to serious messaging.
“Equifruit has been beating this drum that bananas shouldn't be so cheap for almost 20 years now,” said Chackal. “In our earlier efforts to get that message across, we were received with a bit of pessimism and a bit of encouragement, but nothing groundbreaking.
“Once we rethought our strategy on marketing and put forth this more cheeky, fun tone, that's when we started to see the wheels turning,” she continued. “You can have the best intentions to improve the world, but if you can't equip the retailer with the tools they need to grow the program and to drive the category, then you'll just get patted on the head, but you're not going to move product.”
Equifruit’s consumer-facing marketing strategy at retail is equally impossible to ignore.
“Once we started to focus on the needs of the retailer, that's when things started to shift for us,” said Chackal. “We also accepted that we needed to have more succinct messaging for the consumer. We needed to clearly articulate the value proposition, which is that we're trying to pay banana farmers fairly through Fairtrade International certification, and we're trying to be a brand that is making the world a better place through our B Corp certification and by contributing to diversity and inclusion in the workforce by being women owned.
“We want to be the change that you want to see in the world,” she added. “And the ultimate goal of our marketing efforts is to be impossible to ignore — to get people to stop, pay attention and learn that the banana industry is on fire and not enough people are doing anything to fix it."
When it comes to marketing support that helps retailers capture the all-important few seconds of shopper attention they have in the produce aisle, Equifruit’s strategic branding helps put the focus on fair trade bananas.
“In-store, we work with a variety of retailers from independents to the largest grocery store on the planet, and they all have their own parameters and their own ideas of how you merchandise in their store," said Chackal.
“What we've seen be the most successful is when the consumer can interact with our packaging and our POS material and the more the better,” she added, pointing to the brand’s success at Costco.
“For anybody who works with Costco, you know that you can't do any point-of-sale material. Your case and your product — the packaging on your product — is your marketing," said Chackal.
“We've been partnered with Costco Wholesale Canada for three years now, and when we first started with them, our bananas outperformed the previous organic banana supplier at a higher price point,” she continued. “And I think it's not just the quality of our bananas, the sweet, creamy taste of the bananas, but also the packaging around our organic bananas and our cases are so eye catching that it piqued the curiosity of the [Costco] consumer.”
Cases of Equifruit bananas tell a story at a New York Costco. (Photo courtesy of Equifruit)
As a result, Equifruit has grown its banana program with the retailer and is now in two-thirds of Canadian Costcos and is moving into Costco U.S., says Chackal.
“You need to invest in marketing directly on your product and make sure your packaging is clearly communicating your values and your value proposition,” she said. “So, whether you're looking at our little sticker on a banana that says, ‘I'm a total fan girl of fair pay,’ or you're reading one of the silly messages on our organic bananas, like ‘the only banana to binge watch,’ we're starting a conversation with you, and we're letting you know that we're paying banana farmers fairly. And if the consumer can understand that, it's really all they need to get on board.”
How does Equifruit develop marketing campaigns that break through the noise in the industry, at retail and with consumers?
“The process involves a lot of giggling and Googling — in that order,” said Chackal. “We like to think of ourselves as a pretty nimble brand and that's a result of our size. We’re able to brainstorm ideas, do a quick Google search to understand the legal ramifications of what we're doing to make sure that we don't go to produce jail and then just have fun with it.”
And while Equifruit will remain nimble, it’s marketing team is poised for growth over the next several months, says Chackal.
“Marketing is such a huge part of our brand. It's something that we intentionally want to invest in because it's absolutely critical to supporting sales,” she said.
The Packer will present the Produce Marketer of the Year award to Chackal at this year’s IFPA show, an award she says she’ll accept on behalf of the entire Equifruit team.
“Equifruit’s marketing is a team effort,” Chackal said. “And I think that when you reward creativity and thinking outside the box, it just fosters a team environment where there are no stupid or silly ideas, and we all feed off of each other's ideas to create experiences that are memorable and fun and allow us to really stand out in the industry.”
Source Website: https://www.thepacker.com/news/industry/kim-chackal-named-produce-marketer-year
By JENNIFER STRAILEY September 23, 2024
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