State Agriculture Commissioner, Richard A. Ball, announced in September that New York State Grown & Certified farms will be getting a promotional boost with the launch of a new marketing campaign. The campaign highlights New York’s diverse array of specialty crops and encourages consumers to “Look for the Label” to find New York State Grown & Certified products, such as fruits, vegetables, herbs, honey, maple, and more at retailers across the State.

The campaign was designed by Paperkite, a marketing firm in Cooperstown, NY, and featured a great deal of digital media as well as traditional media. Advertisements were placed on all social media platforms: Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, TikTok, Snapchat, Spotify, and YouTube. The traditional side of the campaign utilized radio advertisements, sponsorships, and billboards across the state to promote Grown & Certified products.

The purpose of the campaign was mostly to promote local farmers and farm-to-table food being purchased in New York. Because of this, the actual farmers were the faces of the campaign and were utilized in many of the advertisements. This was a smart move on the marketers’ side as it appealed to the consumers’ love of the “every man.” It also humanizes the products being sold and reminds people that they are buying from their own neighbors, not a major corporation.

However, there are some improvements that could have been made to the campaign. For example, the fact that it started in September, the end of the farmer’s market and summer produce season, was an interesting place to begin. It should have been started in the winter/early spring months to render excitement from consumers and have them prepared to buy local produce once it was available in the summer.

Additionally, the campaign was limited to those farmers paired with Grown & Certified and only they were promoted, which neglected the rest of the population of farmers in New York. The campaign could have been larger if it just encouraged buying local and not just certain brands. When one small farm wins, they all win, which is why the campaign should have been expanded.

It will be interesting to see how this campaign carries into the summer months of 2023 and what changes are made to consumer habits. Pennsylvania would do well to have a similar campaign to promote local farms as most of the state is agricultural – more so than New York. Fams such as Way Fruit Farm and other Centre County businesses would majorly profit from a government-funded campaign such as this one.

Read more about the New York State Grown & Certified Campaign here.