Top News/F&B Headlines:

• The FDA gives two anti-malaria drugs emergency-approval for COVID patients.
• President Trump extends social-distancing guidelines through the end of April, including avoiding nonessential travel. He was quoted saying that by June 1^st the country should be back on its way to healing.
• Amazon employees at a New York City warehouse were planning a walkout for Monday, demanding better pay and protections against COVID-19. Employees at the Staten Island fulfillment center will strike until the building is sanitized in the wake of several workers testing positive for the coronavirus.
• Mayor Bill de Blasio of New York called on the federal government to help provide critical equipment to the city’s overstretched hospital system, warning that current stocks will be exhausted by Sunday. Last Thursday, dispatchers took more than 7,000 calls — a volume not seen since 9/11. The record for the number of calls in a day was broken three times in the last week.
• The Specialty Food Association’s (SFA) Summer Fancy Food Show is scheduled to take place in June in New York City, but its location, the Javits Center in Manhattan, is currently being converted into a makeshift hospital.
• The Kroger Company is forming employment partnerships with local, regional and national businesses in other industries to ensure an undisrupted food supply chain and help displaced workers amid the coronavirus crisis. The effort includes the creation of a shared-resource model with companies in hard-hit sectors — such as restaurants, hotels and foodservice distributors — to temporarily flex employees to Kroger roles. Their plans are to hire 20,000 workers, who will receive $15-$20 per hour, as well as comprehensive benefits.

Supply Update:

• The FDA has released another update on food production, reporting there are still no widespread disruptions reported in the supply chain. Manufacturers and retailers are working around the clock to replenish shelves.
• Empty grocery shelves, though a product of unprecedented demand, rather than lack of capacity to produce, have prompted a surge in people wanting to grow their own food and a consequential spike in seed sales. This trend has been seen previously in bad economic times, such as the stock market crash and the dot-com bubble burst. Oregon State University’s Master Gardener program has made their online vegetable gardening course free through the end of April.

Consumer Search Behavior:

Unemployment in various space claimed multiple top sports in today’s trending searches, but #1 went to Sophie Brussaux, who shared photos of her and Drake’s son for the first time today.

F&B-specific top searches show the impact of the pandemic, with an increase in searches for food stamps and food pantries nearby.

Heroes– who’s making the news for doing the right thing:

• Google is now promising $800 million in aid to small and medium-size businesses, including $340 million in free ad space. On Friday, Google announced the financial package to support businesses, health organizations and governments.
• Netflix has announced the launch of a $100 million fund to assist individuals in the film and television industry who have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. A majority of the funds will support workers on Netflix’s productions around the world, including $15 million to assist third parties and nonprofits that are providing emergency relief to out-of-work crew and cast in the countries where Netflix has a large production base.
• Unilever distributed 200,000 masks to hospitals in New Jersey, where its U.S. headquarters are located, as part of its broader global contribution of more than $100 million in goods. The company also declared May 12 a “Day of Service,” saying it would donate “every essential item” produced that day at its 14 U.S. factories. Unilever will earmark its entire marketing and advertising outlay for the day to support nonprofits and relief organizations to distribute those products.

Marketing Insights:

Solution-based marketing is not a new idea by any means, but it’s taken on a new importance in a pandemic-stricken world. Consumers are not searching for a new product right now; they’re searching for an answer to their problems. Brands should shape their current marketing strategies to meet this need, and content marketing is a great way to accomplish this. By identifying a struggle their target audience is facing, companies can develop content that provides a solution, and that solution can then link back to the product. This has many benefits: keeping your brand relevant, reaching the right people, and the ability to market what you have to offer without pushing product on consumers during this trying time. It also drives visibility and aids in SEO. If your content addresses common problems and utilizes popular keywords, you’re going to attract more eyes to it.

• A prime example of this is a recent content marketing campaign launched by Nature’s Bakery. As parents all over the world are struggling to balance working, parenting, and now being teacher, Nature’s Bakery came up with a clever campaign to help ease the constant “What do I do with my kids now?” question. The campaign is centered on activities families can do together that conveniently features their full product line. Their new website, Snack Sized Adventures, features different “adventures” parents can do with their children that tie to different Nature’s Bakery products. The program is supported by organic and paid social media plus influencer driven content.