Rabba Fine Foods, a family-owned grocery and convenience store chain with 33 stores in the Toronto area, has chosen Torchia Communications as its public relations agency of record.
The grocer did not previously have a PR agency and is calling upon Torchia to provide community and media relations as well as corporate public relations.
Rabba has also hired a marketing agency, Pink Elephant Marketing, which will provide digital marketing and branding, media planning and buying, and social media services.
“Most [people from the Greater Toronto Area] know of Rabba, but we’re still trying to create that same visibility as the Macs or the 7/11s,” says Jay Reyes, account manager with Torchia in Toronto.
“We’re working on introducing Rabba to the media and on new store openings, and any community events in which Rabba is involved,” which include everything from food drives to groundbreakings for churches, Reyes says.
Pink Elephant Marketing is also developing a campaign for Rabba starting next month that will include radio, billboards and television advertising on CP24.
Since its opening in 1967, Rabba has positioned itself as a neighbourhood market, said Jiries Rabba, director of marketing at Rabba, in a statement. “New marketing and PR campaigns will help us make this point even more clearly and lead our customers to understand that we are deeply committed to our community.”
Rabba Fine Foods is expanding in the near future, but Rabba was unable to divulge the details.
On the product front, the company is expanding its fresh-to-go section.
“In all of fresh sections, including produce, bakery, meat and deli, we are putting an emphasis on meals to go,” said Rabba. “We do a have an HMR [home-meal replacement] section in 24 of our stores, but we’re adding a lot more varieties to our to-go sections.”
– with files from Rebecca Harris for Canadian Grocer
