Partake Foods connects with consumers through tour

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Partake Foods connects with consumers through tour

24 May 2023

Annie Hollon

Annie Hollon is a journalist, copywriter and social media strategist from the Dallas, Texas area. She found a love for magazine writing during her time at the University of Alabama where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts, double majoring in public relations and English. Beyond writing, you can find her expanding her library, attempting to teach herself the guitar and trying new hobbies.

NEW YORK CITY — Partake Foods, known for its allergy friendly products, is connecting with consumers across the US with its Partake It On The Road summer tour.

Prior to COVID-19, the brand was very active with events and store demos. Laura Gross, VP of marketing at Partake Foods, shared that the team had to get very creative to continue sharing the brand’s products.

“We heard from our community and our consumers that they really enjoyed when we were out in the field,” Gross shared. “And frankly, we learned so much from engaging with our community understanding what their needs and desires are. We base our product development on consumer-led insights, so it’s really important that we’re out in the community.”

After recently returning to in-person events in January, the summer tour, designed to get Partake products in the hands of consumers in key markets, is a culmination of the work conducted by teams in areas across the US. The tour consists of eight events throughout California, Georgia, Florida and Texas.

“It’s summer and folks want to be outside, and we want to be where they are,” Gross said.

At these events, Partake is brandishing two of its products: its Crunchy Chocolate Chip Cookie and Classic Graham Crackers, the brand’s latest innovation hitting Target shelves nationwide on June 4.

“We’ll have both of those products out on the road so folks can experience not only our original flavor, but also our newest innovation,” she said.

As a smaller CPG brand, Partake had to be particular about where it hosts its activations outside of New York and New Jersey where the company is rooted.

“As a small brand, there’s only so much we can spend in terms of dollars since we don’t have a huge marketing budget,” Gross explained.

For example, the Georgia events follow the brand’s placement in Kroger stores in the Atlanta area as well as a recent launch in Publix. Similarly, Gross shared that the brand has new doors in Houston and a presence in H-E-B, making Texas a critical stop. Lastly, Southern California has the largest footprint of distribution for Partake, which accounts for half of the tour event locations.

“The plan is to make sure we’re staying nimble and in touch with our community,” she said. “So, the ‘24 tour could be totally different cities depending on where the community is wanting us to show up. For this year, we’re focusing on making sure we’re landing in those markets.”

Overall, the reception has been positive and being in the community provides the Partake team with important insights.

“We find having those conversations out in the community are a really great way to get consumers excited about not only trying but adopting the brand and bringing us home to their pantry.”

In addition to the events, Partake is also partnering with local nonprofit organizations such as #HashtagLunchBag in Atlanta and The Birthday Party Project in Dallas. This continues the brand’s mission such as fighting food insecurity and creating opportunity for women and people of color interested in the food and beverage CPG space.

“We are connecting with these communities to distribute our products but we’re also making sure that we’re showing up and contributing to our mission in those communities as well,” Gross said.

The full list of events is as follows:

Seltzerland Plantopia | Los Angeles | May 13
Sweet Auburn Springfest | Atlanta | May 13-14
International Red Sneakers Day | West Palm Beach, FL | May 20
Veg Fest SCV | Santa Clarita, CA | June 3
Vegan Street Fair | Atlanta | June 17
Street Food Cinema | Los Angeles | July 8
Vegan Vibez Fest | Houston | July 15
Street Food Cinema | Los Angeles | Aug. 12

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