President's Choice connects haute cuisine and high chairs

Getting a group of friends together for dinner can be tough anytime. Add babies to the mix, and setting a dinner date is near impossible.

President’s Choice is helping out with a new campaign that gives parents the opportunity to embrace Toronto’s culinary scene, with their young ones in tow.

President’s Choice has teamed up with some of Toronto’s top restaurants—Cibo, Cluny and Gusto 101, to name a few—to introduce Babylicious, a mom and baby dining event.

Starting April 15, parents could call one of eight participating restaurants to make a reservation between May 5 and 15 (Mother's Day brunch, anyone?). The restaurants will offer moms a three-course fixed price menu, which they can enjoy while their babies sample from their own menu featuring PC Organics Baby Food products (pictured).

Cheryl Grishkewich, vice-president of control brand marketing for Loblaw, told Canadian Grocer the promotion is in line with the PC brand and its theme of food discovery. It also follows Loblaw's Crave More positioning, which underscores the idea that Canadians should expect more from their food.

“We thought it was a great opportunity to celebrate the joy of food on both sides—so mom and dad can have a great food experience, and so can baby,” she said. “And they know that they’ll be welcomed in an environment that will be built for them.”

President’s Choice is making sure each restaurant is prepped with high chairs, fully stocked bathroom change stations and child-friendly feeding utensils.

The President’s Choice Organics Baby line launched 12 years ago, and now has 80 products in-store.

Promotion for Babylicious began on April 14, using Facebook, Instagram and online videos that drive to a President’s Choice Babylicious microsite.





This isn’t the first experiential marketing campaign President’s Choice has done in recent months. In November, Loblaw opened a holiday pop-up shop in downtown Toronto to coincide with the unveiling of its PC Insiders Collection.

In March, it launched a campaign promoting its President’s Choice gluten-free line of products. The cornerstone was a video of consumers sampling the gluten-free baked goods in a pop-up bakeshop in Montreal.

“In the past, President’s Choice <…> has been a fairly traditional marketer, and we’re definitely looking for means to best connect with our customers,” explained Grishkewich. “Mass communications is still a very important part of our medium, but we’re continually looking for ways for people to experience the brand more intimately.”

After all, tasting is believing.