Specialty food retailer The Fresh Market Inc. is growing its shoppable video-live commerce by expanding its partnership with Boston celebrity chef Anna Rossi. In her new role as a brand ambassador and spokeswoman, Rossi will create recipes, lifestyle content and host a monthly livestreaming shoppable event on the company’s website. The celebration began March 23, when Rossi hosted “Plan an Easter to Remember with The Fresh Market & Chef Anna Rossi.” Consumers were able to shop live during the event and the replay (March 23-April 9).
According to The Fresh Market, brand partners will now benefit from a professional celebrity chef creating recipes with their products and highlighting the features through sponsored ad segments. By leveraging the Firework platform to enable a video-driven retail media network experience, the grocer believes that providing brands the opportunity to engage, inspire and convert shoppers through a hosted cookingand lifestyle segment will heighten that brand’s visibility in a marketplace where and when shoppers are most likely to transact.
“We are thrilled that Chef Anna Rossi has joined the shoppable livestream brand ambassador team at The Fresh Market and believe our vendor partners will be, too,” said Chief Marketing Officer Kevin Miller. “Chef Rossi’s exuberant personality captivates our livestream audiences and brings The Fresh Market brand experience of joy, anticipation and trust to life with each shoppable episode.”
The Fresh Market’s prior video partnership with Rossi has already proved successful.More than 845,000 people tuned in to watch the Emmy Award-winning lifestyle host and TV personality prepare The Fresh Market’s Ultimate Thanksgiving Meal during last November’s livestream, making it one of the most viewed episodes.
“The Fresh Market has served as a cornerstone of inspiration for me as a chef and home cook for years,” said Rossi. “I’m thrilled to join forces professionally with a team that shares a passion for thoughtfully sourcing and celebrating delicious products, quality ingredients and unforgettable recipes. We are now taking that to the next level on an innovative platform that has the capacity to connect and engage with customers in a meaningful and immersive way.”
From an early kickoff on reality TV’s “MasterChef USA,” Rossi is now a well-known home cook with original recipes featured around the country. The partnership between Rossi and The Fresh Market is managed by Emmy-nominated producer Parker Wallace, of Parker’s Plate and RDTV.
Based in Greensboro, N.C., The Fresh Market, operating approximately 160 stores in 22 states, is No. 78 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2022 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America.