Since 2017, purchase of local Latvian goods was in decline. Although 64% of Latvians say they prefer local products, in 2020 only 22% favour them when shopping. In Latvia food production is one of the main industries, feeding the national economy.

When Covid-19 pandemic and its restrictions struck, it posed new challenges for producers and the lack of local patriotism became a matter of national economy.

As the largest retailer in Latvia, whose strategic goals and brand values include supporting local food producers, Rimi addressed the problem by creating a campaign that showed how simple choices in store can grow the local economy and local producers can be our economic unicorns.

Objectives

Motivate Rimi customers to purchase more local goods.

Educate and encourage local producers to apply for cooperation with Rimi.

Promote Rimi as a store with an extensive assortment of local goods and a responsible partner for local producers.

It’s the year 2021 and the pandemic is still going on strong. Local food producers are struggling to stay afloat and there has been a significant decrease in the sales of local produce. Surprise, because the main reason is the price, as the imported goods are sold at a much lower cost.

One of the largest retailers – Rimi – encountered a problem on how to encourage people to buy locally made products (more expensive) instead of choosing their foreign alternatives (cheaper)?

Easy! By connecting local products to potential benefits for the Latvian economy and more importantly – you personally. The campaign had a second wave of showcasing emotional stories of local producers who started small and managed to transform into major manufacturers. TV and outdoor ads were used to highlight exactly how choosing local options can help our beloved Latvian food producers and solve other problems in the country.

Integrated campaign addressed both – supply and demand of local goods, by doing it through 2 campaign waves.

First, we combined hard facts with witty messages to target consumers of all age groups and show how through our product choices we can grow the national economy and personal welfare.

Then, in the second wave Rimi addressed producers – a serious commitment was made to invite producers to expand their business by selling their products in Rimi stores.

To strengthen the messages and reduce the commercial aspect, we involved a team of third party experts. In the first stage the leading economists helped us by creating an unique calculation that explained the direct link of how the local product purchases help with tackling the biggest problems in the local economy.

In the second stage we invited successful local producers to join the campaign and tell about their cooperation experience with Rimi.

To efficiently communicate the benefits of choosing local goods and inspire society and local food producers, we built a team of economists & agriculture industry experts and engaged experienced food producers who have expanded their business in recent years.

Integrated campaign was executed by using unique calculations on benefits of local production. The calculations hit the national news headlines and initiated discussions. In other channels we showed how, a simple purchase of local cheese can help with country’s biggest problems – e. g. salaries for medics or fixing roads.

Together with local producers and their organisations Rimi held the first ever forum for new food producers, to support their business growth and look for new products that could enter the stores. At the final stage of the campaign, we organized speed dating events so that the producers could easily get in touch with Rimi assortment specialists and introduce their products.

The campaign generated high media interest and positive feedback from Rimi customers, with noticeable increase in local goods sales. It also provided an effective platform to strengthen relationships with local food producers and generated new cooperation opportunities.

67 media publications with an estimated reach of over 3 360 000 helped Rimi to raise awareness about local product patriotism and brand locality aspects.

Rimi activities on Facebook and Instagram reached 821 861 impressions on social media users.

Over 410 thousand views gained for campaign video content.

Brand perception studies by Nielsen show that associations with Rimi as a brand who offers a wide range of local goods and guides shoppers to choose them, increased from 38% in 2020 to 59% in 2021.

Over 200 new producers attended the online forum and engaged in active discussions.

Speed dating activity generated 58 new product applications.

Sales of locally produced groceries increased and in separate categories like vegetables, sweets or meat products they went up by 10-22%.