How Carrots Became the New Junk Food

Bolthouse Farms, which sells nearly a billion pounds of carrots a year, wanted to reposition the Baby Carrot in a way never before seen. Between Bolthouse and Grimmway Farms, the other major carrot distributor, 80% of the carrot market is controlled. However, Bolthouse knew there was potential beyond the healthy conscious demographic.

In the 1990’s the carrot industry received a huge boost when local grower Mike Yurosek created Baby Carrots. These carrots were an instant hit, doubling consumer consumption. 

Jeff Dunn, a former Coca-Cola Executive, is the current CEO of Bolthouse Farms. Dunn realized the consumer affection toward Baby Carrots could be harnessed for expansion. After conducting focus groups, he discovered that after the recession people would buy regular carrots in an effort to save money. However, many budgeting consumers were unaware of proper handling preparation and the carrots would usually go bad. Dunn knew that he need to develop an advertising campaign, but he didn’t want it to focus on health attributes. In order to reconnect with the consumer and encourage Baby Carrot sales, Bolthouse would need an emotional appeal driven on impulse rather than health responsibility. Dunn then turned his attention to Crispin Porter + Bogusky. 

Instead of pitching Baby Carrots as the counter option to junk food, Crispin positioned it as junk food. The message was to get Baby Carrots into a different category.  They imagined a bag similar to potato-chips with bold junk food-style graphics.  The tagline “Eat ‘Em Like Junk Food” was adopted and Dunn is moving toward being able to successfully change the perception of Baby Carrots forever. The campaign is still in test markets with three television spots, a Munchies web series, and an active twitter account. They have also installed Baby Carrot vending machines across high school campuses. 

The results? Test markets are up 10% to 12%. While finalizing the campaign, Dunn has already pushed forward for the next step in the process, flavors!

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