PCC to Host Kids' Tasting Convention

CAROL ANGRISANI

SEATTLE — Healthy kid foods are so important at PCC Natural Markets here that they'll be the subject of their own convention this month.

The eight-unit natural food cooperative plans to hold a major tasting event at the Children's Museum here from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday, Jan. 15. The event is free with museum admission.

Samples of all-natural snacks, beverages, lunch box ideas and other items will be distributed, as well as a product sampling guide so that youngsters can keep track of what they've tasted. A coupon for $10 off any $25 purchase made at PCC will be offered as well.

Kids, in turn, can vote for their favorite foods, with the winning entries entered into the retailer's highly successful “Kid Picks” program.

“We're reaching out to an audience who may know who we are, but perhaps didn't shop with us,” said Tom Monahan, PCC's community outreach coordinator.

Kid Picks is a sampling initiative in which children get to vote on the best-tasting healthy foods. Items approved by more than two-thirds of voters, and that meet fat, caloric and sugar criteria, are deemed to be Kid Picks. They are then flagged in-store with Kid Picks shelf tags, and listed on the PCC website, www.pccnaturalmarkets.com. Since the program began about two years ago, more than 1,300 have been kid-tested, of which about 750 received the coveted Kid Picks designation.

The so-called Kid Picks Convention, which will be held in a room normally used for traveling museum exhibits, is a way to celebrate the initiative, Monahan said.

“This gives us the ability to reach out and touch more people,” he told SN.

About 12 vendor booths will be set up for samplings of products that are already Kid Picks-approved. Participating companies include Odwalla, Burt's Bees, Amy's Kitchen natural frozen meals, Late July Organic Snacks and Robert's American Gourmet, marketer of Pirate's Booty.

“These items have been sampled, tested and approved at events prior to the Kid Picks Convention,” Monahan said.

Additionally, a Kid Picks voting booth will be available for taste-tests of about 40 new items.

“These samples will be just for kids, and they'll need to vote on each item they try,” he added.

Along with samples, the event will feature live entertainment and a hands-on cooking project. A nutrition literacy program will also be discussed.

The convention is a fun way to interact with the young demographic, said Jim Thorpe, area manager for Burt's Bees, a Durham, N.C.-based marketer of natural baby care and other health care items.

“It's important to reach kids at an early age about good nutrition and health care,” Thorpe said.

The event comes at a time when PCC is strengthening its Kid Picks initiative. As reported, the retailer is using a 27-foot-long, 9-foot-wide motor home, dubbed the Kid Picks Mobile, to sample better-for-you products at schools, community health center and health fairs.