Social Marketing of a Fortified Staple Food at Scale: Generating Demand for Fortified Rice in Brazil

ABSTRACT

This paper describes the social marketing strategy implemented by PATH and GAIN to create a sustainable market for rice fortification in Brazil and develop a replicable model relevant to other geographies. It draws on market research on consumer attitudes and practices, as well as key demand and consumer metrics before and after execution of the social marketing campaign in Brazil. This marketing endeavor succeeded in establishing the viability of introducing fortified rice in a country through a purely market-based approach. Whereas social marketing is vital to the introduction and scale-up of fortified staple foods through commercial markets, it is not sufficient to achieve meaningful scale and sustainability. Engagement from the public and social sectors, clear governance, and other factors are critical to substantial and long-term impact. Lessons from this first attempt to introduce a fortified staple food through a market-based approach are relevant to similar initiatives elsewhere.

KEYWORDS:

• Rice Fortification
• micronutrient malnutrition
• social marketing
• fortified staple foods
• food fortification in Brazil

Acknowledgments

The authors thank Cyril Engmann for critically reviewing the manuscript and Jenny Lenahan and Madison Hamel for their help in preparing and submitting it.

Funding

This work was supported in its entirety by a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported in its entirety by a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.