The original veggie burger had few competitors when it was developed by Paul Wenner, founder of Gardenburger Authentic Foods Co., 23 years ago.
Once considered a staple by vegetarians and the diet-conscious, frozen burgers from Clearfield, Utah- based Gardenburger and its competitors were left to organic food stores and were virtually impossible to find in mainstream restaurants.
Those days are over. Veggie burgers are available on menus, in major supermarkets and, increasingly, in college dining halls.
With young people devouring the burgers for health and social-conscious reasons, Gardenburger is leaning on college students – perhaps some in Boulder – to spearhead and drive its upcoming marketing campaign and to give the company a fresh outlook.
The University of Colorado at Boulder is one of five universities nationwide vying to win an account from Gardenburger to promote veggie burgers to college students.
College students are a “natural target,” Gardenburger spokeswoman Melanie Flaherty said. “They eat the products because they are vegetarian, or for health reasons, or for environmental and compassion reasons. College students tend to be more aware … about the environment or about health.”
Gardenburger approached advertising classes at universities in health-conscious cities, such as California State University at Long Beach, the University of Oregon in Eugene and Columbia University in New York City.
Gardenburger plans to use ideas from at least one university for a new marketing campaign scheduled for the fall.
“We’re doing it for free and it gives our students real-world experience on a real client, not some assignment out of a textbook,” said Greg Wagner, adjunct professor of advertising at CU.
In previous years, CU advertising majors have worked on campaigns for Izze soft drinks, Quiznos, Crocs, Frontier Airlines, Mania TV and Noodles and Co.
The growing diet for vegetarian and organic foods nationwide has brought increased competition for Gardenburger, with food giants Kellogg Co. and Kraft Foods Inc. gobbling up small burger manufacturers such as Boca Burgers and Morningstar Farms.
Last October, Gardenburger filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, citing deep discounting from competitors and continued debt.
Gardenburger posted losses of nearly $14 million, $1.55 a share, for fiscal 2005, which ended in September, compared with a loss of $12 million, $1.34 a share, for fiscal 2004.
On March 30, the company emerged from bankruptcy, and is now controlled by New York investment firm Annex Capital Management. The company returned to its original name, Wholesome & Hearty Foods Co.
Through the reorganization the company has introduced a new business strategy focusing on its core customer base – the health- and environment-conscious, according to Flaherty.
In addition to supermarkets, the company will introduce Gardenburger in new places such as “sandwich chains, K-12 schools and colleges and universities,” according to its 2005 annual report.
“We continue to actively pursue these opportunities through sales calls to potential customers and research into product types that best suit the particular markets,” the company wrote.
To those ends, Wagner’s 15-student, senior-level class called Advertising Campaigns is brainstorming how to get students at CU-Boulder to eat Gardenburger products and hopes to implement some of its ideas before the semester is over.
A 2005 survey of eating habits on college campuses supports Gardenburger’s latest marketing plans. Nearly 25 percent of students said finding vegan meals on campus was important to them. Vegan meals contain no meat, fish, poultry, dairy or byproducts derived from animals.
“If we come up with terrific ideas, maybe they’ll use us as a test market,” he said. “Then if (the campaign) works on Boulder they might say, ‘Let’s roll it out to other college campuses.”‘
Jason Wallis, a senior in the class, said they are not giving out the details of their ideas so far but are expected to present ideas for advertisements and other tactics to Gardenburger executives this week.
“This is the first time I’ve actually had a client that might use our work, and I can see what it’s like in the real world in advertising,” Wallis said.
Staff writer Katherine Crowell can be reached at kcrowell@denverpost.com or at 303-820-1201.
Gardenburger facts
The company employs approximately 167 people
Gardenburger products:
Distributed to 24,000 retail outlets (grocery stores), 30,000 food service outlets, 3,500 natural food stores and 113 club store locations throughout the United States and Canada.
Veggie burger and soy burger products make up about 72% of Gardenburger’s gross sales.
Other nonmeat products make up 28% of gross sales.
