Garden Fresh Seeds Sell 'Fresh'

Garden Fresh restaurant chains Souplantation and Sweet Tomatoes gave away packets of tomato seeds this summer to emphasize how fresh and unprocessed its ingredients are.

By Margaret Littman, Contributing Editor -- Chain Leader, 9/1/2009

Garden Fresh gave away packets of tomato seeds this summer to emphasize how fresh and unprocessed its ingredients are.

Thanks to its 55-foot salad bar, San Diego-based Garden Fresh Restaurant Corp., owner of Souplantation (in California) and Sweet Tomatoes (in the rest of the country), had a natural tie-in to play up the freshness of salads. Rather than focus on low-calorie, low-fat or low-carb dishes, the chain, which has been focused on freshness since its 1978 inception, took the farm-to-fork route.

This summer, the chains' 115 locations gave away packets of tomato seeds with a coupon on the back. The seeds were given to all kids who ate at the restaurants in July, says Joan Scharff, executive director of brand and menu strategy for Garden Fresh. Kids were then encouraged to make their own salads from the bar and try a different combination on a future visit.

“Our whole concept is rooted in farm to fork. After our produce is picked, it is put on a refrigerated truck within 24 hours,” Scharff says. “This is a great time to highlight that.”

Thanks in part to books like Food Matters, and movies like Food, Inc. more consumers are equating knowing where their food comes from with healthy eating.

“The trend around local and less-processed food has converged into what we were already doing,” Scharff adds. “The trend has caught up to how we always believed we should operate.”

MORE:

WaBa Grill Teriyaki House launched a mobile text-messaging campaign designed to entice customers at just the moment they are making lunchtime dining decisions.

Tropical Smoothie Cafe and Einstein Bros. Bagels are using their menu boards to tell their nutritional story without overwhelming customers with information.

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