Jan 12, 2007 6:01 AM, PROMO Xtra, By Amy Johannes

Blue fur could move kids beyond Red Delicious

Sesame Workshop and Hannaford Supermarkets are hoping to give kids a little encouragement to eat apples with the help from Grover and friends.

Under the Sesame Street Apple of the Month program, characters from the popular kids’ show will be featured on Stemilt Growers Inc. apples at Hannaford. Each month, various characters will be featured in the 158-store chain with a message for kids to try different varieties of apples.

In-store displays featuring Sesame Street’s Grover begin appearing this month promoting Fuji apples. Elmo and Zoe will follow in February pushing Pink Lady apples and Oscar the Grouch with Granny Smith apples. Other characters will be released through June.

“This is a fun way to attract children and parents to different apple varieties in the produce section,” said Will Wedge, director of produce merchandising for Hannaford.

In-store signage will carry a message to kids from the Sesame Street gang. Children can collect stickers from each apple variety to put on a special activity sheet that describes unique traits about the fruit.

The partnership is part of the organization’s “Healthy Habits for Life” initiative, a program started in 2004 that uses Sesame Street characters to promote health, nutrition and physical activity to children and their caregivers.

Sesame Workshop has launched a number of licensing deals and partnerships to promote healthy eating including a partnership with Del Monte to put Sesame Street characters on cans of vegetables (PROMO Xtra June 22, 2006)

and a separate fruit deal to use tie the Muppets to Sunkist strawberries and blueberries (PROMO June 2006).

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