Safeway, YouTube’s MrBeast Team Up for ‘Survive in a Grocery Store’ Videos
Safeway, the leading banner operated by Albertsons Companies, has partnered with avid philanthropist and top digital creator MrBeast, AKA Jimmy Donaldson, on the latest challenge to hit the popular YouTube channel. Available to watch now, the “Survive in a Grocery Store” video shows MrBeast challenging a contestant to see how many days he can live inside a Safeway grocery store. Every day the man remains in the store, he wins $10,000, but there’s a catch. He must choose $10,000 worth of products to donate to local charities each day as well.
“Safeway has a longstanding history of giving back to the community, so when we learned of this incredibly fun and unique opportunity to partner with MrBeast and help our neighbors in need, we were thrilled,” said Jennifer Saenz, EVP and chief merchandising officer at Albertsons Cos. “Our collaboration with MrBeast furthers our mission to break the cycle of hunger as part of our Recipe for Change environmental, social and governance framework. We’re also introducing MrBeast’s fanbase to the extensive assortment of popular products they can find in their local Safeway store, including Feastables candy and cookies.”
Thanks to Safeway, MrBeast and brand sponsors, including Shopify, over $450,000 worth of groceries, electronics, paper goods and more were donated to local nonprofit organizations including Feeding America, You Need Help Outreach Ministries, Kinston Teens, Hope Restorations, The Salvation Army Greenville, Boys & Girls Club of Wayne County and Beast Philanthropy.
“Working with MrBeast and Safeway has been a great experience that we will never forget. The quantity of donations was amazing, and we are certain that it made history in our ministry. We appreciate every donation that was given,” said Carl Darden, CEO of You Need Help Outreach Ministries.
Safeway partnered with Copia, a technology company that connects food donations to local not-for-profits in need, to identify and manage donation opportunities from the store to local nonprofit organizations.
“Copia is honored to have connected the generous donations from the MrBeast challenge with local nonprofits including Kinston Teens and Beast Philanthropy and many others who tirelessly serve their local community,” said Kimberly Smith, CEO for Copia. “We applaud MrBeast for shining a spotlight on the very real issue of food insecurity in our country, and we are proud to partner with him and Albertsons Cos., a grocer committed to reducing hunger across the United States.”
Brand sponsors that helped stock the store for this exciting challenge included PepsiCo, Vita Coco, Campbell’s, Red Baron Pizza, Dude Wipes and Country Crock.
“PepsiCo is thrilled to partner with Albertsons Cos. as the exclusive direct-store-delivery beverage provider for MrBeast’s latest video,” said Shannon Bennett, vice president, retail sales, PepsiCo Beverages North America, West Division. “We proudly provided 20 pallets of assorted PepsiCo products that were donated to the local community, and we are excited for everyone to check out MrBeast’s newest challenge. We think fans will especially love the contestant’s creative use of the Starry lemon lime flavored soda 12-packs!”
To complete MrBeast’s latest idea and make sure it was a real experience for the contestant, Albertsons Companies and their Safeway team worked with MrBeast’s team on the cash registers, aisles, signage, placement and merchandising to make sure every aspect of the store was a true functional grocery store—including seasonal areas and specialty sections found only in and around special occasions.
The “Survive in a Grocery Store” video is live now on the MrBeast YouTube channel and has been translated into 14 languages across the globe.
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California Table Grape Growers Offer Scholarships
Three categories of scholarships, offered by California table grape growers, are available to graduating high school seniors from the table grape growing regions of California.
Of the three categories of scholarships, two are available to field workers and their families.
The first category is a Bridge Scholarship for $14,500 and is available to graduating seniors who will attend two years of a community college and transfer to a four-year university.
The second category is a $25,000 scholarship for graduating seniors who will attend a four-year university.
The third category of scholarship is a $25,000 Agricultural Scholarship available to students residing in the Coachella or San Joaquin valleys who will attend a four-year university and are interested in a field of study applicable to the table grape industry.
Three scholarships from each category are available. Applicants for all scholarships must plan to attend a California college or university. The deadline to apply for all scholarships is Friday, Feb. 9, 2024 at 5 p.m.
Since 1985, California table grape growers have aided nearly 200 students in attending college.
To hear recent scholarship recipients in their own words, please visit: https://www.grapesfromcalifornia.com/community-outreach/scholarship-recipients/
For more information on the scholarship program, please visit: https://www.grapesfromcalifornia.com/community-outreach/ or email: Scholarships@grapesfromcalifornia.com.
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Darigold CEO Coote Steps Down, Huttema Named Interim CEO
Darigold, Inc., one of the nation’s largest dairy producers, announced that Chief Executive Officer Joe Coote is leaving the company and that Board Chairman Allan Huttema has been named interim CEO. The change comes as Coote, who was named to the CEO role in January 2022, plans to return to his native Australia.
“I take over as Interim CEO with the benefit of having an extremely capable leadership team in place, including a number of Darigold veterans and newer leaders with proven track records across the dairy and consumer packaged goods sectors,” said Huttema. “Our business is structured to run around two divisions – business to business and business to consumer – each with experienced, proven leaders running them.
“I have full confidence that the team and the structure we have in place will help ensure that we continue serving our customers in the way they have come to expect from us.”
One of the nation’s largest dairy producers, Darigold is deep into a multi-year transformational journey that has the company modernizing and globalizing its business. Its transformation is focused on expanding production capacity with a new facility currently under construction in Pasco, Wash., modernizing systems, reinvesting in its iconic, 100-year-old brand, and refocusing its culture on excellence in execution.
Coote joined Darigold three years ago as president of its International Ingredients division before being promoted to CEO in 2022. He’d spent 12 years prior working globally in the dairy sector.
“Joe took over as CEO at a time when we were early into a transformation to grow and modernize our business,” said Huttema. “Under his leadership, we took significant steps forward on that effort, beginning construction of our new facility in Pasco, launching a migration of our business management systems, and beginning to develop a culture rooted in excellence in operations.
“We are grateful for Joe’s time with Darigold and appreciate all of his contributions. On behalf of our full Board, I wish him well in his future endeavors.”
Huttema is one of Darigold’s 300 farmer-owners and has served on its board of directors for nine years. He has held the role of chairman of the board for the last three years. His experience on Darigold’s board, coupled with his work as an active dairyman in Idaho, give Huttema well-rounded experience with Darigold and a deep understanding of its complex operations.
Darigold has taken recent steps to strengthen its already capable leadership team, naming presidents for its Business to Consumer and Business to Business divisions, hiring consumer packaged goods leader Dan Hofmeister and dairy sector veteran Chris Rowe to fill those roles, respectively. The company also named a new senior vice president of sales, Dan Bukowski, to support its growth efforts.
“Serving as CEO of Darigold the last two years was a great privilege,” said Coote. “I have enormous respect and admiration for our farmer-owners and the teams across our business that work so hard to keep our customers stocked with great, high-quality dairy products. Having been away from my home country for many years now, my family and I are ready to return to Australia to begin new adventures back home.”
Huttema assumes the role of interim CEO effective immediately.
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