As you know, I am a college student. So, I spend a lot of time doing things other than yum-seeking (shocking I know!) One of my classes (Communication in Business) requires me to take part in a group project. This project involves involves research on a topic of our choosing. We chose to research an organic food company who communicates with its consumers using social media. So I thought, what a wonderful post for Yum Foodie Foodie!
Yesterday morning, I had the chance to speak with Greg Massa of Massa Organics. My group met up at Starbucks (yeeccckkkk starbucks...) to speak with Greg.
Here's a little background: Greg is the proud owner of his small family farm (Massa Organics) that is located near Chico, CA. Massa Organics exercises responsible practices in terms of sustainability and conservation. They produce organic rice, almonds (pronounced "aye-mands" up here in Chico) and wheat. Not only do they sell their products at farmers markets all across Northern California, but they also provide them to restaurants! Some places in Chico who use their products include the
Tin Roof Bakery,
Raw Bar,
Red Tavern,
S&S Natural Foods, and
Chico Natural Foods. But it doesn't stop there! Massa Organic products are also featured at some very wonderful Bay Area restaurants including
The Slanted Door and
Cafe Gratitude.
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| photos from Massa Organics Facebook |
Sitting down with a steaming latte, I listened to Greg as my group pelted him with questions regarding social media and his company. He graciously and patiently answered and gave us much detail about how it all works.
Greg primarily uses Twitter to communicate with his consumers. He says that it works the best for him because he often finds himself tweeting while out on the tractor on his fields. One time, he mentioned, he was on his tractor and noticed that someone had tweeted "What should I order?" at a certain restaurant located in the San Francisco Bay Area. Delighted, he responded that they served their organic brown rice there, and he was harvesting it right then!
Greg also utilizes Facebook, Youtube, and occasionally blogs. He also mentioned that he prefers using social media over traditional methods of advertising, which are expensive and impossible to gauge their actual effectiveness. Social media, he said, works better for him because he gets to build connections with his consumers. Connecting with his consumers is his goal, not pushing products on people. Very refreshing if you ask me.
Social media, he stated, is wonderful for keeping his consumers informed. One example he gave us was how they are experimenting with raising ducks in the rice fields, much as they do in Asia. He said that people were very curious about it, and that they enjoyed hearing about their progress.
So there's just a tidbit of our interview with the wonderful Greg Massa.
Be sure to
follow him on Twitter
Check out
his Facebook
Take a look at the
Massa Organics Website
and take a gander at the
blog for recipes and pics!
A big thanks to Greg for meeting up with our group and for the wonderful insight to his business!
Foodie Foodie!
