Our monthly summary of how you can make the most of your Whole Grains Council membership.

WGC July 2016 Member Newsletter
Dear Whole Grains Council members,

Looking for a way to educate consumers on the extra value whole grains bring to the table? Our blog series on Whole Grain Value is going strong - with four topics published so far. We kicked off the series with an article on the extra Protein in whole grains - a bonus many people are unaware of - then followed up with blogs on the extra NutrientsHealth Benefits, and Flavor of whole grains.

One of the many cost-effective benefits of WGC membership is the right to use content from the WGC site (properly credited and linked to us, of course). Why spend valuable staff time reinventing the wheel when we have hundreds of pages of excellent, well-written content? Take a look at the WGC website today and see what could be useful to you. If you have any questions about using our content, contact Cynthia Harriman ([email protected] or 617-896-4820).
Earlybird Discounts End July 31
for September Conference  
 
Are you signed up yet, to attend our Whole Grains Away From Home conference September 25-27 in Chicago? Remember, the first registration from each WGC member company is free, and additional registrations are $300 off the full price. Register here by July 31 - our Earlybird Deadline - and you save an extra $50 on each registration.

Here's our countdown of five top reasons to attend Whole Grains Away from Home:
5. WGC conferences happen only every other year. Now is the time.
4. You need to know the latest trends in whole grains to do your job well.
3. You'll be able to network with the media - a great way to promote your products.
2. Your competitors will be there. You want to know what they know.
1. Our top-notch speakers will inspire you with insights and ideas to grow your sales.

Our full hour-by-hour program for the conference is now posted on the WGC website, along with our generous sponsors (see below). We look forward to seeing all of you in Chicago!

A big thanks to our conference sponsors to date, for their support:
Project Sponsor: Ardent Mills
Event Sponsors: Barilla, Bob's Red Mill, King Arthur Flour
Benefactor Sponsors: Bay State Milling, General Mills, InHarvest, Lundberg Family Farms, Mars, Nature's Own (Flowers), Quaker, To Your Health Sprouted Flour, United Sorghum Checkoff Program.
NEW - WGC Foodservice Directory

We want to help you tell restaurants and foodservice operators about the product development and other support services you offer to them. Do you have culinary staff who can develop recipes? Food technologists who can create just the right bun or tortilla? Do you invite customers to your Innovation Center for collaborative development? Will your chefs come educate their chefs and share tips for getting the most from whole grains? Many of our members are doing a wonderful job of supporting whole grains in foodservice - and we want to shout it from the rooftops.

Here's how our new Foodservice Directory will work. Each WGC member gets a free basic listing, with the option of including extra information for a modest fee. We'll constantly update the Directory, and make it available online and through other appropriate channels. We're launching this new WGC Foodservice Directory at our conference in September; all entries received by September 1 will be included in the conference version. Check out full details here, then file your entry online today here. Questions? Contact Harley Songin ([email protected] or 617-896-4832).
Harley's Tip: 50%+ Checkmark Coming in August    

Harley Songin, who heads up our Whole Grain Stamp program and handles WGC member service, offers a monthly tip for taking full advantage of your WGC membership.

June Tip: We're launching a complete revamp of the WGC website in mid-August. When it goes live, consumers will find a new feature added to our Find Stamped Products page: a checkmark designating products that make at least half their grain whole. This new feature (shown below) will benefit consumers, who have told us they want some way to identify products made primarily with whole grain. The 50%+ checkmark will also benefit WGC members with products that fall short of 100% whole grain but far exceed basic minimums to qualify for the Whole Grain Stamp. Overall, we want to encourage and support more products with higher whole grain content, so we're excited about this new checkmark.

If your product does NOT have a checkmark in the 50%+ column, it may be that it does not have enough whole grain to qualify. But it may also be because you haven't yet updated your products to add Total Grains data used to make this computation. Harley ([email protected]) can work with you to make those updates asap, so your products will get the credit they deserve.


Contact Harley ([email protected] or 617-896-4832) with any questions about Stamp usage or membership. Remember, your WGC membership entitles you to participate in all our promotions, in addition to using the Whole Grain Stamp on qualifying products.
Whole Grains Month Instagram Contest   
 
Add extra pizzazz to your online content for Whole Grains Month in September, with our #SpotWholeGrains Instagram photo contest  We can provide you with graphics, Tweets, and everything you need. All you need to do is post on social media, and share the excitement. The contest will encourage consumers to #SpotWholeGrains at their favorite restaurants, then post a photo and brief what-and-where description to Instagram. Each week, we'll pick an entry to receive a $100 gift card from one of our participating sponsors: California Pizza Kitchen, Maggiano's, Pret � Manger and Subway. Contact Kelly Toups ([email protected] or 617-896-4884) to learn more or to request Tweets and graphics.
We'll Distribute Your Coupons - Last Call 

donate coupons
Speaking of Whole Grains Month, we'll be bundling whole grain coupons with every order we fulfill on the Oldways webstore during September.

If you want YOUR company and products to be included, contact Kelly Toups at [email protected] by August 5. (We are looking for up to 100 coupons per company; coupons must be for at least 25� off and be valid until at least 12/31/2016.) We ship out about 25 orders per week (including our popular Mediterranean Diet menu plan books) all across the country, so this is a great way to increase your brand exposure. Most of our customers are shoppers trying to improve their diets - the perfect audience to hear about your healthy whole grain food options.

Cynthia Harriman
Director of Food and Nutrition Strategies
[email protected]

Kelly Toups, MLA, RD, LDN
Program Director
[email protected] 

Harley Songin
Stamp Program Manager
[email protected]


... and from all of the Oldways and Whole Grains Council staff
Oldways is a nonprofit food and nutrition education organization inspiring good health through cultural food traditions and lifestyles. The Oldways Whole Grains Council is only one of our many successful programs. Check out our website to learn more
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