2024 - Your Commission at Work

YOUR COMMISSION AT WORK

A YEAR IN REVIEW FY 2023-2024

WWW.NCSWEETPOTATOES.COM

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IN THIS ISSUE

To help you keep up with everything the Commission does on behalf of our growers, we’ve created this magazine to communicate the yearly activities of the NC Sweetpotato Commission. This is the fourth year of providing this magazine, and we hope that, within it’s pages, you will get a glimpse of the diversified activities the Commission is engaged in on YOUR behalf, all with the goal of increasing consumption of North Carolina Sweetpotatoes. Big things are happening in the life of our industry and we’re honored to advocate on your behalf to tell your story.

03 MESSAGE FROM OUR EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

06 ASSESSMENT 101 Why have I received an assessment invoice?

08 MARKETING & PROMOTIONS

39 RESEARCH

44 FINANCE

Website www.ncsweetpotatoes.com

Executive Director Michelle Grainger michelle@ncsweetpotatoes.com Communications Specialist CoCo Daughtry coco@ncsweetpotatoes.com Finance & Operations Specialist Cindy Vanderhoof cindy@ncsweetpotatoes.com

INDUSTRY COLLABORATIONS 47

50 BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Intern Grayson Braswell intern@ncsweetpotatoes.com

51 NCSPC FOUNDATION

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The North Carolina Sweetpotato Commission, Inc.

The North Carolina Sweetpotato Commission, Inc. is a non-profit corporation with more than 350 members representing the state’s producers, packers, shippers, and other supply chain partners. The Commission’s mission is to market the North Carolina sweetpotato industry and increase consumption of this tropical vegetable through education, promotional activities, research, and advanced horticulture practices among its growers. Thanks to the six sweetpotato farmers that chartered the Commission in 1961, the organization has maintained North Carolina’s ranking as the number one sweetpotato-producing state in the United States since 1971. The state’s hot, moist climate and fertile, sandy soil make it ideal for cultivating sweetpotatoes. Its innovative, progressive producers also play a vital role in its success. More than 98% are part of family operations, and they farm with the intention of future generations continuing their legacy. These producers also recognize the value of agricultural research and collaborate with research institutions in the state and beyond to push the boundaries of what is possible – from increasing yield and improving pest resistance to minimizing waste by ensuring year-round shelf stability.

Preserving the past by sweetening the future.

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Your Commission at Work

On behalf of the North Carolina Sweetpotato Commission, a few thoughts from Executive Director, Michelle Grainger

Your NC Sweetpotato Commission has been busy since our last publication, and we are proud to highlight many of our efforts in this edition of the 2024 Assessment Magazine. Whether this is your first time receiving our magazine or your fourth (as the first was published in 2021), it is meant to provide you with examples of how we have utilized your acreage assessment fees to further promote our favorite superfood! The Commission’s mission is to increase consumer consumption of the NC Sweetpotato through promotions, marketing, research, advocacy and honorable horticultural practices. Throughout this magazine, we have highlighted activities that are representative of each of these areas of focus. As a reminder, the Commission’s fiscal year runs July 1 – June 30 and our Assessment Magazine highlights activities between the period of time. In these pages, you will find details about our numerous promotional and market research activities in not only our own country but in the UK, France, and Germany. As this is one of our largest areas of focus – not to mention budget expenditures, there are quite a bit of updates and activities to cover! One of our biggest efforts has been our investment in trade-related research activities – not only investing in trade, retail, and consumer research, but creating partnership programs on both continents around this critical element of increasing consumer consumption. This strategy is a long play and not one that’s meant to change movement of volume or consumer consumption overnight, BUT with the type of data

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we have been able to collect through these efforts, our strategies going forward can be all the more informed and intentional. Leading to what we feel will impact the movement of volume and consumption in the upward trajectory. Not to worry, even with this focus on trade, our efforts in consumer awareness, education, inspiration, and sweetpotato fun have not waned and I would even say, we’ve created some new ambassadors, partners, friends, and consumers through those efforts. Much energy has been put in to establishing new partnerships with numerous social media influencers by both PR agencies of record in all of our regions of focus. Our dedication in both supporting field (applied) research as well as obtaining grant funding to further engage in consumer research and outreach activities have kept us and our sweetpotato researchers busy! Both of these areas have their own dedicated sections in the magazine and of course, should you see anything that you’d liked to discuss further, don’t hesitate to contact our office, it’s my hope that you will be pleased to learn of just a few of the investments we are involved in – all in an effort to make the future of the industry that much sweeter. For this fiscal year, it’s more important than ever that we not back off from any of any of the areas highlighted throughout these pages. We do plan to further intensify our energy in advocacy, specifically around all conversations pertaining to the unsustainable increasing labor rates. While we have never been shy about advocating on your behalf on this matter, you will begin to hear about some of our other efforts soon – if not already (by the time of this publication). One specific place we need your help, as we beat this drum as loud as we possibly can, is for you to contribute to the field labor wage survey we have created. The data that you provide will be kept confidential and individual contributions will only be viewed by our office. The aggregate data will be used to take to Washington, DC for a much larger, louder and visual conversation. Our friends at Mississippi State University have already undertaken this effort and their findings, for their state only, are more jaw-dropping than I would have imagined. Therefore, I’m even more determined to collect our state’s data so that our respective states of #1 and #2 in National production may go arm in arm to DC with how these rates are not sustainable and are not only killing our industry, but many others in agriculture. Take a look at the image on the next page explaining what is required to participate, illustrating the data that MSU was able to collect and ultimately providing you the confidence to provide us the data needed so that we may replicate their approach and create our own charts. Some folks say a picture is worth a thousand words, and with your help, we hope to create some graphics that will be worth even more than that. Thank you, in advance, for your participation and trust in us to carry out this activity on behalf of our state’s SWEET industry. Every single member of the Commission should be proud of the incredible product you produce that not only feeds your own family, but your community, our nation and many other nations around the world. On behalf of your Commission Staff and the many professionals whom we count as part of our team, we could not be more proud to represent you and our industry. In every endeavor we embark on, our number one question is “How will this benefit our members and industry?” It is my hope that you will see this dedication and commitment in the following pages.

Thank you for what you do, and your commitment to do it at a level that is inspirational and rewarding to represent.

Sincerely,

Michelle

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ASSESSMENTS

To fulfill the mission of our Charter, the NCSPC annually sends assessment invoices to sweetpotato producers, under a North Carolina General Statute approved by our General Assembly in 1995. A producer is any individual, partnership, firm, or corporation who is an owner, producer, handler, storer, processor, manager who has planted one or more acres of sweetpotatoes. A memorandum of understanding (MOU) was issued to the NCSPC to collect certification information from USDA regarding annual sweetpotato certifications. This information is confidential and can ONLY be used for processing assessment invoices. Each producer or entity who certifies sweetpotato acreage will receive an invoice for $15 per planted acre. As per the general statute, any producer who fails to pay assessments by the due date will receive a ten percent (10%) penalty of the unpaid assessment, plus interest at a rate of 1 percent (1%) of the unpaid assessment balance for each month the assessment remains unpaid . There are no refunds of assessments paid, and no exemptions granted for any producer receiving loss payments from Noninsured Assistance Program (NAP) and or sweetpotato Disaster Relief Programs, including Whole Farm Insurance. The ONLY exceptions to this are:

A) Sweetpotato plant beds, IF certified as “seed”

B) Unharvested acreage will be exempt from assessments if ALL the following criteria are met. 1. The county in which the acreage is located has been declared a disaster by the Farm Service Agency.

2. A Failed Acreage Report (FSA Form 576) is filed by the NAPS deadline or November 1 whichever comes first.

3. Submit verification of unharvested acreage to the NCSPC using the appropriate Farm Service Agency inspection forms with certification of the Farm Service Agency.

Why do I pay assessments?

83,288.28

2024 certified sweetpotato acres, as reported by USDA (Kansas City):

Funds received through annual assessments of planted acres are used to carry out promotional, educational, and research activities to help set North Carolina sweetpotatoes apart as the premiere sweetpotato. All efforts embarked upon to achieve this have been presented to the board of directors by our committees once they have carefully reviewed each activity. These activities have been vetted through the ‘how does this benefit our growers’ lens. The following pages delve into this year’s efforts to promote the consumption of YOUR North Carolina Sweetpotatoes.

It is important to compare your INVOICE to your FSA-578 and verify the acreage reported by USDA is captured and billed correctly.

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If errors exist, please notify the NCSPC office immediately.

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On behalf of your NCSPC Promotions Committee, a few thoughts from Chairwoman Brenda Oglesby

North Carolina leads the U.S. production of one of the most versatile and nutritious foods known to man the sweetpotato. Since 1961, the NC Sweetpotato Commission has served to promote the consumption of NC Sweetpotatoes through marketing and promotional strategies to ensure this orange (not to mention many other colors and varieties) NC superfood is available to consumers both domestically and internationally. The efforts to drive demand have increased exponentially over the years, with the story of the hard work, dedication, and sacrifice of our members being shared to help boost the value of your product. Our world may have changed since 1961, but the benefits of adding NC sweetpotatoes to shopping carts haven’t. We have a staple ingredient that can be elevated as a main dish, side dish, salad, smoothie, dessert, snack, mocktail or even a cocktail! It’s good for toddlers, athletes, diabetics, the health conscious, and pets. Consumers surely get a bang for their buck with OUR sweet addition to their carts. To encourage consumers across the globe to include sweetpotatoes as a regular addition to their menu, we’ve partnered with chefs, influencers, registered dietitians, culinary arts staff & students, trade publications, and retailers to share the health and versatility of the NC sweetpotato. AND have two strong partnerships, who serve as further extensions of our team in domestic and international (UK/EU) agency representation to help us ensure we reach both the consumers and trade professionals who ultimately drive our state’s product from your fields to the plates of consumers.

Consumer PR

Hispanic Market Outreach

Retail Marketing

Social Media & Influencer Collaboration

Nutritional Trade Shows/ Registered Dietitian Collaborations

Domestic Marketing

Recipe Development / Website Update

Trade Advertising

Foodservice Marketing

School Nutrition

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The next several pages provide a high-level overview of this year’s marketing activities paid for with your assessment dollars to promote NC sweetpotatoes for Any Reason...Any Season ! In addition to assessment funds, this past year was the first year that we had access to funds generously awarded by the North Carolina General Assembly in the form of recurring funds to be used solely for NC Sweetpotato marketing both at home and abroad. This funding allocation helps offset the significant acreage reduction we have experienced over the past few years, while further helping us leverage our existing efforts to create greater demand for our state vegetable. The next time you see your local representative or senator, we encourage you to express the industry’s gratitude for their confidence in our product and continued support of our industry. Members of the Promotions Committee meet every three weeks and give tirelessly of their time and expertise on behalf of the entire industry. The efforts and decisions made are not taken lightly and are guided with the professional expertise and enthusiasm of FullTilt Marketing (fulltiltmarketing.net) as our Domestic Marketing partner, and Liquid (weareliquid.com) as our International Marketing partner, not to mention our colleagues and advisors at the NC Department of Agriculture marketing division. There are good things in store for North Carolina Sweetpotatoes through these efforts. If you would like to learn more about promotions or feel you may be interested in giving of your time, please contact the Commission office.

Promotions Committee

Stephanie Williams Charlotte Vick Kim LeQuire Annette Starling Beth Taylor

Brenda Oglesby, Committe Chair Pepe Calderon Jordan Jackson Thomas Joyner Rob Hill Heather Barnes, NCDA Advisor

Jeff Thomas, NCDA Advisor

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Trade & Nutrition Marketing

NC Sweetpotato Commission Website

Fiscal year 2023-2024 began with the launch of our new and improved (and not to mention beautiful!) website. After many months of creative briefs, virtual meetings, rewriting and reorganizing, we were able to unveil a website we are all proud of. It features a modern look, along with a user-friendly interface. With consumers becoming more prone to making purchases via digital marketing, one of its most notable features is the ability to search by ingredients consumers already have in their kitchens to help them find delicious, versatile and easy to make recipes any night of the week. Specific filters are available based on desired mealtimes, meal types, lifestyle, type of cuisine and season the user is looking to create. To amplify this feature, we have continued to share photography and recipes on our social media channels by targeting consumers most likely to invest in purchasing sweetpotatoes and prioritize cooking at home.

Every month, we review analytics for the website and compare them to previous months. Now that the website is turning one, we have a year of data from which to compare its traffic more easily. Improvements and edits are easier than ever on this updated version. We also review how our Google Ads Grant is performing to make any necessary tweaks. (These are grant dollars from Google and do not come from our other grants or grower funds.) If you haven’t checked out our new site, we encourage you to do so and hope that you love it as much as we do!

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Photography This year, we continued our partnership with Kevin Chelko Photography, a Charlotte-based photographer and food stylist who has helped us re photograph older recipes and provide vibrant and modern images that are eye-catching – all to improve views and click-through- rates. We completed four photoshoots for 36 recipes which enabled a much needed facelift. These images were low-resolution, had become dated over the years, or were ones we never had the rights or access to from the start. Updated images are necessary in our day-to-day marketing efforts for a wide range of needs such as point-of-sale imagery, website photos, and additional marketing materials. Furthermore, as trends shift and

consumer behavior changes, we have made significant investment in new recipes to ensure that we have options for all diet types. As new snacks and appetizers emerge, we must persist in including foods on the website that appeal to all age ranges to increase consumption per capita in the long term.

Social Media Video Creation We expanded our presence by creating a TikTok account to reach Gen-Z and Millennials. The content is centered around recipe video tutorials showing consumers how to make popular main dishes, snacks, and sides on our website. By working with Alex Pasternak and The Basement Studios, we have tested out several video techniques including content that shows his personality, and others that strictly focus on the recipes themselves. Through this approach, a new audience is exposed to sweetpotatoes and all the wonderful ways they can be enjoyed for any reason, any season. Additionally, this budget allowed us to create recap “Sizzle Reels” as record-keeping of all the great activities we performed this year.

Social Media, Giveaways + Boosts For a product and brand to have a strong presence on social media, boosting is imperative to gain engagement (reactions such as likes, shares, and comments). Posting organically no longer leads to high engagement as it once did. Therefore, by having a monthly budget dedicated to improving our visibility on key platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok we have seen an increase in followers and reactions, further proving the need to continue investing in social growth.

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Recipe development This year, we made huge headways in expanding not just the number of recipes in our arsenal, but also widening the range in types of recipes. We worked with recipe developers and influencers who created delicious, culturally diverse recipes along with beautiful, eye-catching photography.

Our research has shown us that the reach of sweetpotatoes is global, and consumers are looking for recipes that highlight not just the familiar flavors of home but also the flavors of places not so close to home. To ensure consumer adoption, we developed many simple and nutritious recipes at the same time.

Social Media Influencers Creating a strong influencer program was a key strategy to ensure we reached a wide audience. Over 49% of all consumers make purchases through influencer posts. The goal was to target mothers, families, Millennials and Gen-Z who drive purchasing. A mix of long-term partnerships and one-off deals were established to test new types of content to encourage at-home cooking.

Year-Long Partnerships One key strategy was establishing long-term partnerships with creators on the rise. From working with registered dietitians to everyday influencers, our goal has been to provide fun and delectable recipe content from certified experts.

Ayat Sleymann ( @MomNutritionist ): As a mother, dietitian, and advocate for healthy eating, Ayat prides herself on providing great meal and snack options for people to enjoy. Sweetpotatoes are a fun and vibrant superfood (that happened to already be a staple in her diet). This partnership was unique as she combined recipe development with nutrition facts to invest in educating her audience. Videos she developed included Sweetpotato Fries, Creamy Chocolate Smoothie, Sweetpotato Chocolate Mousse, Chocolate Ice Cream, and Sweetpotato Popsicles. The content amassed 2,627,531 total reactions.

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Dawn Jackson Blatner ( @DJBlanter ): Author, Nutritionist, and Media Pro are just a few roles where this creator shines. Her infectious smile and vivacious personality have drawn in new users who have become interested in watching unusual ways to incorporate sweetpotatoes into meal planning. The collaboration has resulted in multiple recipes including Sweetpotato Croutons, Sweetpotato Fudge Brownies, Sweetpotato Waffles, Sweetpotato Burrito Bowls, and a Spring Sweetpotato Snack Board. All video content amassed 28,012 total reactions .

Mia Syn ( @NutritionByMia ): As a National On-Air Food Expert who is a nutritionist, and millennial her audience can reach a wide variety of consumers who are either first-time purchasers or avid sweetpotato

lovers. Within the partnership she has developed five new recipes that have been uploaded to Instagram and are available to re-create on the NCSPC website. These recipes all require 5 Ingredients and include Buffalo Chicken Stuffed Sweetpotatoes, High Protein Sweetpotato Cottage Cheese Pasta, Loaded Smashed Sweetpotatoes, Sweetpotato Tortilla Chicken Tacos, and Sweetpotato Pops. All content amassed 452,057 reactions . Additionally, she hosted a tv segment with ABC discussing nutritious and festive recipes and ideas for Valentine’s Day.

Additional Influencers

To expand our reach, we worked with several new creators who have created a diverse recipe selection tailored to our target markets. This strategy attracted new users and showed off the versatile nature of sweetpotatoes.

Caroline Thomason ( @Dietitiancaroline_ ): Caroline is a dietitian, and diabetes expert who grew up with a mother as a chef teaching her the importance of healthy eating. While she has vocalized her own struggles with feeling confident in her own body, sweetpotatoes fit perfectly in her theory of thinking beyond the scale. Her recipe video featured a Sweetpotato Burrito Bowl capitalizing on the “bowl” trend. It amassed 124 total reactions. Expanding beyond the social spectrum, a pre-recorded TV Segment aired on DC News NOW's Lifestyle Show syndicated to WDCW Live and WDCM Local featuring a healthy recipe for the whole family made with North Carolina sweetpotatoes, mango, lime, and maple syrup. The content had opportunity to reach 5 M+ monthly viewers in the DC, Virginia, and Maryland areas. All segments were promoted on the network's website and social platforms. Andrea Mathi s ( @BeautifulEats&Things ): Having battled with her relationship with food for a while, Andrea developed bad eating habits. After realizing the power of a nutritious diet, she was determined to become a Registered Dietitian and teach others how food does not have to be your worst enemy. Working with her has resulted in a successful partnership for NC sweetpotatoes, as consumers have resonated with her authenticity and relatability. Thus far, she created Sweetpotato Tortillas. Total number of reactions to the social post were 21,137. 13

C arla Contreras ( @ChefCarlaContreras ): Carla is a food stylist, content creator, and strategist who works with different brands to grow their presence. In our partnership, she has developed two recipes that explore the unique flavor profile of sweetpotatoes. The recipe content includes a Sweetpotato Mango Margarita Mocktail and Sweetpotato Vegan Date Dulce De Leche with Chia Pudding. Total reactions for all content were 18,334. Krystal Dunham ( @TheMotherRoadDietitian ): As a registered dietitian and nutritionist who focuses on working with BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) communities, Krystal creates content that centers around eating right and breaking free of diet culture. She created two posts during the year; the first post discussed how sweetpotatoes can help you stress less due to their nutritional attributes and the second post featured Sweet & Spicy Air fryer Sweetpotato Bites ideal for date night or for a party of one-- both were uploaded on socials and as a blog on her website. Total reactions for Krystal’s content were 165.

Sweetpotatoes are great for pets, too?!

Dog Influencers

People have a strong connection with their pets and on average spend $770 per year tending to their needs. Dogs are known as the most popular of pets nationwide. By establishing a partnership with a “wooftastic” creator, Whiskey Bear The Lab , several recipe videos were created giving viewers a new way to approach their pet’s diet. This golden lab assisted his owner Blake Martin by eating the scraps on the table and finishing his plate within seconds. The content included a Sweetpotato Milkshake and Sweetpotato Pancakes made for both humans and dogs. Total reactions were 113,281.

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Hispanic Marketing We know the first cultivated sweetpotato was recorded in 750 B.C. in Peru. It’s no surprise, given such a deep history, that Latin and Hispanic cultures appreciate the versatility of our favorite vegetable. In an effort to ensure that we recognize all cultures in our culinary recipe development, we have put special effort this past year in creating culturally relevant and exciting recipes for all.

Hispanic Month E-Cookbook NCSPC launched an e-cookbook titled Sweet Celebrations: Hispanic Heritage Month featuring 12 Latin-inspired recipes ranging from appetizers to beverages, both hot and alcoholic. It included tips on handling and cooking sweetpotatoes, as well as inspirations for home-cooked meals and entertaining loved ones. This activity was a tribute to the Hispanic community who incorporate sweetpotatoes into their traditions and have experimented with their vast flavor profile. Hispanic Influencers To add to our expansive roster of recipes, Hispanic creators @ChefCarlaContreras & @PresleysPantry tested their culinary skills by making a Sweetpotato Margarita Mocktail and a Sweetpotato Flan. The beverage and dessert performed well, garnering 28,745 reactions.

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National Sweetpotato Month (February)

Sweetpotatoes are meant to be the star of your plate – especially during National Sweetpotato Month . With traditional shoppers gravitating towards other vegetables during this time of year, this month marked a moment to show consumers why they should adjust their purchasing habits. Throughout the month, new recipe content ranging from delectable sides to ravishing main dishes were promoted displaying the vibrant and colorful flavor palettes that resulted from cooking, grilling, or roasting sweetpotatoes. Partnerships with several creators, including DJ Blatner, Mia Syn, Sarah Schlichter, Christine Florentino, Ayat Sleymann, Samar Kullab, Whiskey Bear The Lab were deployed to thousands of users, encouraging them to whip up creative recipes to celebrate a momentous occasion. Creator Mia Syn, known as a National On-Air Food & Nutrition

Expert, partnered with ABC in Tampa, Fl., tailoring a segment on healthy and festive ideas and recipes for Galentine’s/Valentine’s celebrations. The efforts led to an increase in brand awareness and visibility with new recipes perfect to re-create in the kitchen.

Fourth of July Satellite Media Tour

NCSPC partnered with both Chefs Jamie Gwyn and Matt Moore leading up to the fourth of July Holiday.

Chef Jamie, a former Master Chef judge and stylist for Emeril Lagasse, spoke to audiences on adding a pop of color to their Fourth of July plates.

Chef Matt, an acclaimed griller and author, spoke about adding sweetpotatoes to the grill for the holiday.

These two media tours hit the TODAY Show and additional syndicated morning shows such as Good News Angie (Austin, TX), New England Broadcasting, Listen to Food & Wine talk radio and The Daily Lounge. The tours garnered over 73,101,349 broadcast views on both television and radio and an additional 2,000+ visits to the Commission website.

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National Recipe Sweepstakes Contest The SWEET North Carolina Sweetpotato Sweepstakes asked entrants to choose their favorite recipe from the North Carolina Sweetpotato recipe arsenal on our website. Once they selected their favorite, this counted as an entry. The winner received a free trip to Charlotte, two-night hotel stay, transportation, meals, and an in-person photo shoot experience where they will get to witness firsthand what goes into a sweetpotato recipe photo shoot. To increase reach, we selected five influencers who helped us drive consumers/fans to our landing page on our website where they would enter the sweepstakes. The contest was

promoted through targeted digital ads that were geofenced in our target markets and demographics. The campaign was a success and yielded excellent results. We now have 5 new recipes with accompanying photos and videos for the North Carolina Sweetpotato Commission’s long-term use; increased our social media reach (influencer collaboration posts reached 30,071 users , total Instagram reach during the sweepstakes period hit 4,924 accounts , received 1,752 total engagements, 425 story engagements, 104 additional engagements from Instagram posts during the campaign and gained 41 new followers . Facebook reached 2,266 people and had 1,052 engagements . Our website visits increased by 149% in July and 98% in August , our total page views during the campaign were 48,771 , with 10,812 views on the sweepstakes page alone. We received 2,934 entries into the sweepstakes, which far surpassed our expectations. We added 416 new contacts to the Commission’s email list.

Mat Release Attracting new shoppers in key markets is key to growing the sweetpotato category. On average 51% of people are inclined to read an article and share it with friends. Through our strategy, we created a combination of several recipe videos with detailed articles providing readers insight on the commission and steps to make the dish. Popular dishes including Sweet and Simple Salsa, Tex-Mex Skillet, Salads Al Fresco and more were highlighted driving fresh ingredients and healthy eating. Overall, the content received 525,726,913 impressions and 4,431 placements.

NYC Pitching Event In February, we attended a pitching event by way of FullTilt Marketing, our marketing agency of record. This was a full-day, intimate workshop where we met and mingled with some of the TOP editors and producers in the media – right in the hub of where all the media happens – New York City. Our team met with editors from podcasts, magazines, and websites to build connections for future opportunities. Editors ranged from business to lifestyle to women’s interests. FullTilt pitched and continued pitching them ideas from time to time to garner future coverage.

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Farm Bureau’s NC Field & Family North Carolina Field and Family magazine is a quarterly publication produced for members of the North Carolina Farm Bureau Federation. We ran an ad in two issues (fall and winter) which offered readers a QR code leading to the recipe section of our website. This partnership is one of the ways we continue supporting North Carolina and teach our neighbors throughout the state about the versatility and ease of use of our state vegetable. The magazine is distributed to 599,000 households in North Carolina.

Trade Advertising Part of our Business-to-Business strategy was to partner with trade publications to include creative and vibrant imagery highlighted in both digital and print avenues that drove traffic to our website from retail buyers. In 2023-2024, ads were placed within several media outlets including The Packer, AndNowUKnow, and The Produce News on their websites, newsletters and glossy magazines. This has actually further established our brand presence amongst the trade and encouraged them to visualize opportunities to promote in unlikely purchasing periods.

Food & Nutrition Conference & Expo (FNCE)

The Food & Nutrition Conference & Expo brings food experts, registered dietitians, nutritionists and fellow health experts together to discuss nutrition and address key issues that affect Americans. Last year, the commission attended for the first-time sponsoring Trivia Night hosted by The Healthy Family Project where sweetpotatoes were part of the evening’s menu while dietitians and members of the industry networked and learned why sweetpotatoes are known as a versatile and unique superfood. Health experts signed up to receive our dietitian toolkit to increase their awareness of sweetpotatoes and understand why this nutritional powerhouse should be the star of plates nationwide.

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Sarah Schlichter, R.D.

We continued our standing relationship with Sarah Schlichter, our registered dietitian of record. Throughout the year, Sarah wrote monthly blog articles for our website that were timely in topics for the given month and developed recipes with photography and video for our marketing materials and website. She turned these and other recipes into fun social media posts and videos that garnered engagement and provided additional content for her (@bucketlisttummy) and our social media channels. Additionally, she wrote four features for the NCSPC newsletter which included health and nutrition tips, recipes, blurbs and pertinent/seasonal content contributions. Sarah also attended two nutrition focused shows with us, the fall Nutritional News Update (NNU) Meeting and the annual Food & Nutrition Conference & Expo (FNCE) in Denver last October. Prior to the expo, Sarah reviewed our new website to ensure it was compliant with the Academy of Nutrition & Dietetics nutrition guidelines. Once at the expo, she was able to interact with attendees visiting our booth and helped provide the Commission with added credibility.

Sarah Schlichter, R.D.

Nutrition News Update (NNU)

Our team returned to NNU last fall, along with our dietitian of record, Sarah Schlichter. Sarah led the group in her presentation, “One Word – Endless Possibilities,” and a demonstration – both which were a huge hit. Attendees participated in an interactive food break with “Sweetpotato Toast Six Ways,” where they were presented with various toppings of their choice and let their creativity flow. There was something for every palate and included avocado, cream cheese & lox, egg, hummus, tomatoes, yogurt, blueberries, almond butter, banana, granola, honey and chopped pistachios.

A post-event survey was sent by the event organizers and 50 percent of respondents cited the NCSPC’s presentation as a standout and sweetpotatoes as a topic they planned to write about in 2023/2024. In the first four months since the event, we garnered placements in more than 15 major national outlets , including Yahoo.com, Shape.com, Today.com, EatingWell.com, US News, MSN.com, Health.com, EatThis.com, and more through 25 sweetpotato articles or mention by journalists and editors who attended. Media

spanned major national online outlets, social media, and broadcast with more than 8 billion imp pressions . Furthermore, sweetpotato mentions by NNU attendees consistently placed in major national online outlets/ NNU attendees keeping sweetpotatoes top-of-mind in for their journalistic work.

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Foodservice Marketing

IFPA School Foodservice Partner X-Change

This past February, the International Fresh Produce Association (IFPA) coordinated a series of “speed dating” meetings to connect produce companies with menu planners and procurement officials from several major city U.S. school districts. NCSPC participated in half a dozen meetings over two days. The program was developed to enhance the produce industry’s understanding of this unique, large-volume foodservice customer and to create opportunities to increase children’s access to and consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables at school. The program connected us with schools during 15-minute “speed dating” meetings, all coordinated over Zoom. School administrators get to ask us questions and share information about a range of topics including menu planning, procurement, packaging needs, and their interest in nutrition education and other materials that provide greater insight into where and how certain produce is grown. We shared our knowledge of the sweetpotato industry, while also highlighting our capabilities and delicious and nutritious state vegetable. Increasing the variety of fresh produce that students are exposed to at school is a shared priority with IFPA, and this ‘speed dating’ program was a great instrument in jump-starting these types of conversations, innovative ideas, and new partnerships. Kids are next-generation consumers, but they are also today’s consumers and the Commission feels they are an important target in which to keep investing.

Participating schools with whom we met included Baltimore City Public Schools (MD), Boston Public Schools (MA), Cleveland Metro Schools (OH), Fairfax County Public Schools (VA), Florida POWER Buying Group (FL), and St. Louis Public Schools (MO).

International Foodservice Editors Conference (IFEC)

For the third consecutive year, we attended the IFEC annual conference and met with foodservice editors to talk about recipes and ideas for their upcoming issues. This year’s conference was held in Louisville, Kentucky which proved to be an ideal setting to meet chefs and foodies and help educate them on the versatility of sweetpotatoes in the foodservice space. We were able to supercharge our impact as an item sponsor in the attendee goodie bag, as well as teach eventgoers that “sweetpotato is one word” through our attendee Wi-Fi sponsorship, which, you guessed it – had “sweetpotatoisoneword” as the password. As we said, if you want Wi-Fi, you are going to have to spell it right!

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Cleveland Independent Restaurant Association Calendar Partnering with a contact made at IFEC, we chose to work with Cleveland Independent Restaurant Group to promote NC Sweetpotatoes in their annual calendar. It will feature North Carolina sweetpotatoes during National Sweetpotato Month in 2025 , with a photo layout and advertisement, with QR code linking to the recipe section of the Commission Website. While work has been done and files sent off, this will be in print for the start of 2025 year. We look forward to having our information in front of Cleveland Chefs and restaurateurs armed with knowledge of both National Sweetpotato Month and National Cook a sweetpotato Day (February 22)!

17th Annual CAFÉ Leadership Conference For the second year in a row, we attended the Cafe Conference as part of our initiative to increase the visibility of sweetpotatoes within schools and in the foodservice sector. In attendance were foodservice professionals and educators such as teachers, chefs, and food brand and commodity board representatives. Our goal was to interact with educators to educate them on the nutritional benefits of our beloved vegetable and to provide them with a deeper understanding as to how sweetpotatoes go from field to table. We fostered new relationships and discussed ways to incorporate sweetpotatoes into the new school year. Overall, the event was a success resulting in new connections and key learnings that educators could apply to their curriculums inside the classroom.

Cafe School Instructor Outreach Day Gold Medal Cafe’ Deans and Directors Conference is held annually, with locations rotating across the United States. After attending in 2023, a decision was made to attend this year and share about our sweet superfood, by seizing an opportunity to present at a workshop during their instructor’s outreach day. Not only did we share nutritional information but also how our root vegetable grows. Additional information was shared on lesson plan availability and chef instructors were encouraged to use sweetpotatoes as a part of their curriculum. This presentation was received so well, that it ended up going over the allotted time, due to engaging questions from the audience. We hope that this level of engagement will result in sweetpotatoes being used in culinary education across the US and provide for more sweetpotato sales. What a win for NC Sweetpotatoes! 21

Consumer Survey & Retail Workshop

This past year our team embarked on a survey targeting consumers in our chosen demographics via an “Attitudes & Usage” consumer survey which allowed us to learn more about the current sweetpotato shopper and consumer. Through this five-month process, we learned key insights and behaviors that have better allowed us to market to consumers. After the process was completed we dissected the findings into a day long workshop in February, led by FullTilt Marketing and our retail consultant, Don Ladhoff to help our growers and members better understand the findings and apply them to their everyday business. This member outreach program ended with a summary guide and a Zoom in August 2024, delivered in a manner to accommodate grower conflicts or who desired a refresher from February’s workshop. FullTilt recommends revisiting this endeavor every few years to keep a tight watch on changing consumer trends. These resources are available to you in your Member Portal . For assistance accessing your account, please call our office at (919) 894-1067.

Instacart We explored working with Instacart ads to increase awareness and sales for members of the platform. We utilized Instacart’s tools and insights to target consumers using the app and put sweetpotatoes front and center during their virtual shopping trips. Millions of high-intent consumers eager to discover and purchase items they might not be thinking of, use Instacart every day. Before the campaign started, we provided their team with SKUs from all growers who were willing to provide them with a chance to better target their items in the right target market. Almost $46,000 in sales was attributed to this campaign, which ran from January 1 to June 30 in the post-holiday/spring and summer period.

Nielsen/Byzzer

Also, as part of our retail program, we secured a year-long membership of Byzzer, a data and insights platform designed to provide sales data and insights to businesses. This platform has been instrumental in understanding consumers’ buying habits when it comes to sweetpotatoes and has helped our team share these insights with buyers when discussing the pilot programs being led by our retail consultant consultant, Don Ladhoff.

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Retail Pilot Program Retail promotions were identified as a key tactic to reach consumers and drive impulse purchasing for the year. Given this desire, we partnered with Fresh Smart Solutions ’ Don Ladhoff, a retail sales consultant specializing in fostering retail partnerships. All programs highlight sweetpotatoes’ nutritional benefits and their versatile nature. At the close of the fiscal year, we launched a summer promotion with Weis Markets that featured POS, a sweetpotato recipe in their July/August HealthyBites magazine, monthly “Shop the Recipe” online, overhead in-store radio, TV media segment, online cooking classes featuring NC sweetpotatoes, member e-blasts, and social media support. The program ran in Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey, Virginia, West Virginia and Delaware. Additionally, we continue working towards programs with Food City and Lowes Foods for the remaining two pilot programs, which will deploy in August, September, and October 2024.

Ripe for Revival Chef Rival

This past June, NCSPC was the Band Sponsor for the Ripe for Revival Chef Rival, where three local chefs from three regions of NC competed against each other in creating tasty recipes that championed North Carolina sweetpotatoes. These included a Chopped Chicken Philly Slider with Crispy Sweetpotato Home Fries, Southern Sweetpotato Smash Sliders with Charred Sweetpotato Slaw, a Sweetpotato Smashburger with Pickled Okra Tartar Sauce, a Southwestern Burger with Sweetpotato BBQ sauce and a 'We Got Beef' Slider including Sweetpotato Quick Cured Beef on a Sweetpotato Milk Bun. The recipes were served to over 175 guests to round out a great Southern hospitality event! As the band sponsor, NCSPC Executive Director Grainger had the chance to address the participants of the event, speak about our state’s favorite and most versatile superfood and introduce the band. Additionally, she served as one of the three judges.

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International Marketing With this being Liquid’s first full year working in the UK, German, and French markets on behalf of NC sweetpotatoes, it was inevitable that there would be a need to flex and learn when it comes to understanding how the markets and the corresponding media would respond and engage with the Commission’s strategy. As liquid looked to establish the North Carolina Sweetpotato Commission among the consumer titles, they continuously monitored the effectiveness of the approach and as a result, it was altered throughout this year. Since increasing their focus on trade publications , NC sweetpotatoes has achieved a greater reach across international coverage. Moving forward, Liquid will continue to develop relationships with the trade media on behalf of the Commission, submitting forward features and expert comments, as well as proactively sharing our trade-specific news. COVERAGE HIGHLIGHTS BY COUNTRY

Grocery Retail Focus Circulation: 28,300

UK Consumer Title Circulation: 28,000

UK Trade Title Circulation: 60,000

UK Newspaper Circulation: 30,500,000

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German Trade Publication Circulation: unknown

Sweet potatoes and canned beer – culinary transatlantic greetings September 8, 2023

To kick off Berlin Beer Week, the American ambassador invited guests to the garden of his residence. Lebensmittelmagazin.de was there between the craft beer tastings and made a surprising discovery about American sweet potatoes.

Sweet Potato: Why is France n Attractive Market for North Carolina? The North Carolina Sweet Potato Commission announces that it wants to strengthen its presence in the EU and particularly in France after the success of its 2023 harvest. In France, purchases of sweet potatoes have increased despite inflation.

Here is the recipe for Sweet Potato Panettone A true nutritional treasure, sweet potatoes deserve a special place in our festive recipes, bringing a touch of color, a comforting flavor, but above all full of vitamins. Here is the recipe for Sweet Potato Panettone, offered by the North Carolina SweetPotato Commission Inc. French Consumer Title Circulation: 90,400

French Trade Magazine Circulation: 343,400

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Recipe Development

In 2023, there was a worldwide rise in the popularity of air fryers, while economies across the globe experienced a cost-of-living crisis. As consumers looked for alternative ways of making affordable, healthy meals, Liquid developed six new sweetpotato recipes that assisted in the effort to provide affordable, healthy, air fryer recipes.

Sweetpotato brownies

Sweetpotato gnocchi (picked up by - Kiss My Chef / Reach: 96,800)

Salsa and Guacamole stuffed sweetpotatoes (picked up by - Kiss My Chef / Reach: 96,800)

Mozzarella and sweetpotato arancini

Loaded sweetpotato skins with bacon, sour cream and chives (picked up by Côté Santé / Reach: 165,000)

Halloumi and sweetpotato fries (picked up by Côté Santé / Reach: 165,000)

Tapping into new seasonal selections, Liquid shot twelve Halloween and Christmas-inspired recipes in the Liquid Kitchen which included:

Spiced sweetpotato and banana smoothies

Sweetpotato spider cookies

Sweetpotato veggie sausage roll

Sweetpotato mummy pie

Sweetpotato lollies

Air fryer Hasselback sweetpotatoes

Glazed pork with sweetpotatoes

Sweetpotato cinnamon rolls

Sweetpotato panettone

Sweetpotato Yorkshire pudding wrap

Souvlaki sweetpotatoes with feta and chorizo

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To accompany our air fryer recipes and emphasize the versatility and year-round availability of the NC sweetpotato, Liquid developed four new recipes perfect as side dishes over the warmer months.

Taking into consideration the trends around low and no-alcohol drinks, and sweetpotatoes being used as a healthy nacho alternative, the recipes included:

- Sweetpotato Pina Colada Mocktail

- Sweetpotato Nachos

- Curried sweetpotato, whipped feta and aubergine (eggplant) dips

- Sweetpotato, chorizo and rocket

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Social Media KEY LEARNINGS- Germany

In terms of impressions, we have surpassed our target of a year-on-year increase of 25% , which is due to the combination of jumping on relevant trends and running paid ads to reach new audiences on the channels. The Commission’s social media budget was prioritized on translating the social copy to ensure its accuracy for the platforms. This investment in translation meant we were unable to implement social ads from July 2023 to February 2024. Without paid advertising, it is increasingly difficult to maintain and grow a following on social media. We saw a decrease in followers due to the absence of paid ads from July 2023 to February 2024. But since being able to focus the budget on social ads, we have seen the follower growth increase since March 2024. T o maintain a social following, paid advertising must be part of the strategy. Similarly, we experienced a dip in engagement from September to November 2023 while no ads were running, compared to the year before. However, due to the Christmas content that we posted in December that resonated with the audience, this picked up. It increased again in February once we started sharing more video content and since March when the paid strategy was implemented, engagements have been increasing by over 25% each month when comparing the stats to the previous year.

Seasonal & Informative Content is Key for Facebook

As shown by the top-performing organic posts and paid posts on Facebook, sharing seasonal and informative content is the type of content that resonates the most with this audience - this could be due to a lack of knowledge on sweetpotatoes in this market. To continue educating this audience on the sweetpotato's versatility and health benefits, we will continue to ensure the evergreen messages from the Commission are weaved into the social captions and content. What does Instagram want? Reels! For both organic and paid, video content is proven to work the best on the German Instagram channel. It's no wonder considering 91% of adult Instagram users indulge in video content every week - making Reels a prime destination for creativity and entertainment. The two top-performing videos were a trending pizza video for organic and a hack video for paid. These results go to show that our strategy of jumping on trending recipes to maximise reach and educating the audience on easy ways to cook sweetpotatoes is key to our strategy going forward.

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