Sauce of Inspiration
Our new Conscious Consumer research (download free here) reveals that Australians are most inclined to switch brands to support a cause in the ‘everyday food items’ category.
An excellent example of an everyday food item that’s changing the lives of sick kids, is Mum’s Sause, sold through more than 800 Coles supermarkets across Australia.
Every time customers purchase a bottle of the pasta or pizza sauce, 50c goes to the charity, Hospitals United for Sick Kids (formerly Curing Homesickness), an alliance of hospitals, foundations & paediatric services, that’s all about getting kids home from hospital and back to the things they miss. The money generated goes towards purchasing state of the art equipment, investing in ground-breaking research and funding support programs for children in hospitals across Australia. Money generated in each state through sales of Mum’s Sause, goes directly back to fund areas of greatest need prioritised by the state-based hospital.
The Mum’s Sause product was developed by Coles in 2019, in collaboration with the team at Hospitals United for Sick Kids. The Sause idea came about after it was revealed what kids miss most about home, when they’re in hospital. They miss friends, pets and of course, meals with the family.
The product is as wholesome as it is delicious, contains real, natural ingredients (95% tomato and vegetables) with no added sugar or artificial nasties, and enjoys a 4-star health rating. It’s also competitively priced to provide everyday value to Coles shoppers.
Not only do Coles cover the manufacturing and distribution costs, they also run an annual card campaign that invites customers to purchase a $2 donation card at the checkout. Funds raised support programs that aim to help sick kids get out of hospital and back to things they miss.
Since the first pasta sauce was introduced, Coles have since added three more varieties – tomato basil, garden vegetable and pizza sauce.
To date over 4.46m jars have been sold generating over $2.3m for sick kids. In addition, store fundraising has increased the total income to over $6.8m. This income has funded over 71 projects, treatments, and life-saving equipment, making life a little easier for the 430,000 kids in hospitals across Australia.
This partnership is excellent, built from strong insights and research, it provides a source (scuse the pun) of sustainable, predictable funding for the charity and offers consumers a simple way to contribute towards a great cause as part of their grocery shop. The partnership is a shining example of a best practice corporate-cause partnership and reflects many of the desires and opinions of Australians as detailed in our research – namely, a long-term partnership providing significant investment, bringing its resources to the partnership (retail promotion, customer incentive etc), and communicating the difference not the dollars.
Superb work by all involved: Coles, Hospitals United for Sick Kids and agency partner CHEP Network.
Hailey Cavill-Jaspers