American Peanut Council

The American Peanut Council (APC) represents all segments of the U.S.peanut industry. One of the APC’s core responsibilities is to administer an export promotion program that leverages the Peanut Bureau of Canada (PBC) brand to increase exports and consumption of U.S.-grown peanuts in the Canadian market.​
Expertise
Reputation Management
Services
Agribusiness and international trade

Educating Canadians about early introduction guidance​ 

Challenge

According to Food Allergy Canada (FAC), food allergies affect more than 3 million Canadians, including more than 600,000 children. While research shows that early introduction of common allergenic foods to high-risk infants as young as four months old can help reduce the risk of allergy development, many Canadian parents are not following this guidance. Since 2007, the Peanut Bureau of Canada has supported FAC to execute programming that educates parents and drives allergy awareness among Canadian parents about what they can do to help avoid the development of a peanut allergy among high-risk infants.​

Insight

Parents find themselves in a dilemma – they certainly want to protect their babies from food allergies, but at the same time they’re afraid about how or when to start introducing allergenic foods like peanut butter. Providing science-based information endorsed by FAC provides parents with the confidence they need to introduce peanut protein to their children.  

Idea

The PBC launched a comprehensive program to promote allergy awareness and early introduction guidance through a tenured and strategic partnership with FAC, Canada’s foremost food allergy authority, adding credibility to allergy awareness messages from the PBC. This initiative educated Canadian consumers, particularly parents of young children, about guidance on introducing peanut protein to babies early and often to help prevent the development of an allergy. Through FAC’s digital channels, the program addressed common concerns, offered expert advice and provided reliable, evidence-based resources for parents and healthcare practitioners, as a conduit to Canadian consumers. 

Execution

In 2024, the PBC’s allergy awareness program included a strategic mix of tactics that allowed us to connect with target audiences in relevant ways. The following curated tactics were part of the program:​

  • Social media peanut ambassador partnership​
  • In-clinic outreach for health care providers and patients​
  • Paid social and programmatic display for health care providers​
  • Back-to-school campaign in partnership with FAC​
  • Dietitian-led workshops for introducing solids and allergenic foods​

Each tactic aimed to increase early introduction awareness and ultimately support the goal of creating life long peanut lovers from a young age.

Results

2024 results: 12.3 million impressions; 4.1 million reach; 38% of consumers have heard about early introduction guidelines for peanuts/peanut butter; 65% of consumers who say the new recommendations have changed their opinion about introducing peanut butter to children.​

Since 2017, the PBC’s food allergy programming has contributed to a 25% increase in Canadian consumer awareness of early introduction guidance, and in just the two years from 2022 to 2024, we’ve seen a 4% increase in the number of consumers who have changed their opinions about introducing peanut protein to children.​

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