Foodland Ontario
Foodland Ontario, founded in 1977, is a consumer promotion program for the government of Ontario. Foodland Ontario currently falls under the administration of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs in Ontario.
Commercials are aimed at promoting Ontarian foods with the slogan 'good things grow in Ontario' a slogan used as early as 1983. It has seen a recent revival in 2008 commercials.
Foodland Ontario promotes produce (fruits and vegetables), meats, dairy products, honey and maple syrup, and processed foods made with Ontario grown food products.
Foodland Ontario is a long-established consumer promotion program of the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. From its inception in 1977, Foodland Ontario has partnered with producers to achieve the maximum penetration of the Ontario market by Ontario-produced fresh and processed agricultural products.
One of the main objectives of the program is to maintain consumer intent to purchase (Ontario) over 80%, thereby assisting Ontario producers to maximize their market share.
To achieve its market objective, Foodland communicates the benefits (economic and product characteristics) of Ontario food, encourages the purchase of Ontario food, co-ordinates promotion and research activities with producer organizations and industry stakeholders, and promotes the Ontario "brand." The target group for these strategies are the primary and secondary food purchasers in Ontario.
During the life of the Foodland program, the target market has evolved from the "principal grocery shopper" - mothers 25 to 49 years, to adults 25 to 64 years. The latter definition includes both males and females and reflects recent research that food buying is a shared activity - many households have two "principal grocery shoppers."
History
When the Foodland program began in 1977, the advertising message informed consumers of the wide variety and availability of Ontario-grown food products. Both the theme line "Good things grow in Ontario" and the Foodland Ontario symbol encouraged consumers to buy Ontario by promoting and identifying quality Ontario products.