Dive Brief:
- The Giant Company has launched a social media campaign called #MoreForAll to encourage shoppers to stop panic buying, according to an email sent to Grocery Dive.
- Giant is requesting that customers purchase only what they need right now to help ensure there is enough food for all shoppers and for local food banks that are trying to serve people in need.
- The campaign launched on Facebook with a short video and the #MoreForAll hashtag, which Giant is asking customers to use to tag friends and help spread the word.
Dive Insight:
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, grocers and industry organizations across the U.S. have tried to reassure shoppers that there is plenty of food, and that panic buying is not necessary. Food industry representatives have even asked President Trump to help spread the message.
The Giant Company’s efforts to spread the word via social media may be effective as people turn to platforms like Facebook and Instagram for information as they spend more time at home.
In addition to its social media efforts, The Giant Company placed an op-ed from its president, Nicholas Bertram, in the Philadelphia Inquirer earlier this week. In the piece, Bertram assures shoppers that there is enough food for everyone and that the supply chain is sound. He also emphasizes the damage that panic buying has caused to food banks around the country that can’t get enough food to fill their shelves.
It’s one of the first marketing-driven efforts from a grocer on the subject. Both in the U.S. and abroad, companies including Aldi, Lidl, Costco and Publix have focused primarily on rationing or limiting buyers to specific amounts of certain products.
A statement released by the National Retail Federation in mid-March asked shoppers to buy only what they need for two weeks so that people who go to buy essential items, especially the elderly and those with underlying health issues, have access to what they need, too.
