Got almond milk? In 2017, many Americans did, with the category growing to the second largest almond volume category, according to retail estimates. At the same time, almond milk came under media and potential legislative scrutiny as the dairy industry questioned the use of the word “milk” for non-dairy alternatives.
To help protect the overall reputation of almonds and one of its most important uses, the Almond Board of California’s (ABC) North American team launched new communications initiatives around the versatility of almond milk.
While responding to questions about using the word “milk,” ABC conducted consumer research among almond milk drinkers in the U.S. It turned out the top reason consumers choose almond milk is for taste. This was an interesting learning since a common assumption was most people chose almond milk for dietary concerns or special dietary needs. Another key finding was that most people who consume almond milk also have dairy milk in the fridge – the two products are just used in different ways and for different members of the household.
Chef Dan Churchill of Scripps Networks’ “Feast with Friends” and “Good Morning America”
With the consumer research findings, ABC developed a new campaign called “All the Places Almond Milk Can Go” to specifically target current almond milk lovers. The idea is to encourage this target audience to deepen their loyalty and consume almond milk in a variety of ways, rather than just the cereal, coffee and smoothie combinations they already enjoy.
The campaign has worked to motivate almond milk lovers through social media. A main component of the campaign involved ABC’s partnership with Chef Dan Churchill of Scripps Networks’ Feast with Friends and Good Morning America. Chef Dan led his Instagram followers in a discovery of different almond milk recipes by showing a teaser for two recipes each for breakfast, dinner and dessert, then – based on the followers’ votes between the two recipes – he created and shared videos of the full recipe. The winning recipes can be found here.
In addition, Almond Board has been working with experts at Nourish to develop a series of fast-motion, ‘hands and pans’-style recipe videos to showcase the versatility of almond milk on Facebook. The first recipe was a brownie breakfast bake, and the second a creamy roasted carrot soup. They will also do a series of cookies and one-skillet dinners, all using almond milk.
Lastly, ABC partnered with several popular food bloggers and Instagram influencers to showcase how they enjoy almond milk and share some inspirational tips. One of the most popular tips was doing an almond milk hair mask, which apparently really made a difference!
To follow all the great almond milk content and to share amongst your social networks, visit Almonds.com/consumers/almond-milk and follow ABC’s consumer social media channels.
