Pork Sizzles at Fiesta Broadway

When Fiesta Broadway transformed 36 of blocks of downtown Los Angeles into the world’s largest Cinco de Mayo celebration, pork fired up the fun at the 2008 food fair.

“More than half a million people attend this year’s celebration, which offered a great opportunity to connect with Hispanic consumers and keep pork top of mind,” says Rick O’Fallon, retail marketing manager, western division, for the National Pork Board.

The Pork Checkoff teamed up with Food-4-Less supermarkets, Bimbo Bakery (one of the largest Hispanic bakeries in the country) and Farmer John to sponsor a new Cinco de Mayo sweepstakes, along with a booth at the food fair. The 98-degree heat wave didn’t deter the crowds, says O’Fallon, who notes that more than 6,000 pork recipe booklets were distributed during Fiesta Broadway.

To promote the sweepstakes, which featured the chance to win $3,000 of furniture from Michaels Home Furniture in Whittier, Calif., the Pork Checkoff and its retail partners advertised on KBEH, a Spanish-language television station. The Pork Checkoff reported a three-fold increase in online contest entries in the first week alone, compared to previous sweepstakes.

“This smashing success helped us drive fresh pork sales in the Southern California market,” O’Fallon says. “By maintaining prices levels above the base ad price at the 120 Food-4-Less stores, we weren’t giving the product away. Even better, fresh pork sales increased 4 percent compared to this period last year.”

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