Harris Farm Markets makes it easier to buy local in new ‘Love Local’ campaign via Liquid Ideas

Today more than ever, people want to know where their food comes from and how far it has travelled before landing in their shopping basket.

So this spring, to assist NSW growers and help reduce shoppers’ carbon footprint, Harris Farm Markets is introducing a new Love Local section, making it easier for customers to find and buy truly local products, sourced from within 150 kilometres of each store. The Love Local initiative is being supported by a new campaign via Liquid Ideas.

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Special Group worked closely with the Harris Farm marketing team to develop the campaign strategy, messaging and identity ahead of it being rolled out across all the key retail communication channels and retail POS elements. Liquid Ideas played a key role in developing the PR strategy and the supporting Love Local short film.

Harris Farm Markets is introducing the initiative in a bid to educate shoppers on the benefits of buying from within their local area and supporting the grass-roots Local Food movement.

Reasons to buy local:

• Good for local farmers and communities: Buying food that is grown within 150km of the store keeps food dollars in the community and local farmers in business. Harris Farm Markets aims to give their customers the choice of supporting their local economy by purchasing truly local food and produce.

• Good for the environment: The average food miles travelled by an Australian shopping basket is 70,000km[1], the equivalent of almost twice around the world.  Harris Farm Markets aims to give its shoppers the chance to dramatically reduce the carbon footprint of the food they eat by buying food that has travelled less than 150km.

• Good for your tastebuds: Once local produce is picked it can be on your plate in a day or less, meaning local farmers allow the fruit to properly ripen and mature before picking, increasing the flavour and allowing nutrients to fully develop.

• Supports agricultural diversity: Large-scale commercial farms are tuned to servicing the major supermarkets and their requirement for a limited and specific range of fruit and vegetables. Local growers are often made up of smaller farmers who grow a range of heirloom varieties, adding diversity to the produce grown.

The Love Local range includes fruit and vegetables, local dairy, spreads, eggs, bakery and other grocery items.

Says Tristan Harris, co-CEO, Harris Farm Markets: “We believe it’s about time local meant local again, not just Australian-grown like the other major supermarkets advertise. So we wanted to put a stake in the ground by defining local food as food that’s grown within 150km of each of our stores, to give our customers a choice to buy local and support their community.”

“We’re aiming to honour our responsibility as a grocer to educate our shoppers on the real stories behind where their food comes from, and how they can support their local economy by buying truly local.”

Giovanni Pilu, founder and head chef of Pilu at Freshwater thinks the Love Local range is a fantastic initiative which will start a necessary conversation on supporting truly local farmers and producers.

Says Pilu: “I’m a big believer in buying truly local produce, because it’s fresher and tastier, so that’s what I stock in my restaurant every day. It’s time for shoppers to put more thought into the food they consume and the story behind that food.”  

Kicking off from 12 September, each weekend for three months Harris Farm Markets will hold a pop-up market stall outside each store. Customers will be able to meet one of the local growers and hear their story, while enjoying a 100 per cent truly local slider.