BOSTON, MA - Backyard Farms, a Maine-based greenhouse tomato grower, is reaching the culmination of its summertime “Savor the Summer” campaign, bringing together one lucky customer and several social media influencers from the New England area. The final event, an interactive culinary experience slated for September 24, will be held at the Seaport Hotel with cuisine by Chef Richard Rayment and feature Backyard Farms tomatoes in every course–even dessert.

“This campaign enabled us to collaborate with a valued marketing partner on an initiative that will increase awareness about the flavor and versatility of our tomatoes. It’s a win for us as well as the influencers who value access to ‘exclusive’ innovative events like this,” said Jim Darroch, Director of Marketing for Backyard Farms.

Attendees include the winner of the company’s Savor the Summer sweepstakes along with:

• Instagrammer Boston Bites (@Boston_Bites)
• Instagrammer Eating Boston (@EatingBoston)
• Instagrammer Only In Boston (@OnlyInBos)
• Instagrammer and Food Blogger Boston Foodies (@BostonFoodies)
• Jen Che, Blogger at Tiny Urban Kitchen

During the event, the guests will be documenting their experience as Chef Rayment prepares innovative tomato recipes in the Seaport Hotel’s “Action Kitchen,” just a few feet away from the diners. Sharing the surprising, inspiring, and delicious dishes with their cumulative 100,000+ Boston followers, the influencers will be in for a culinary treat.

“Recipes are a huge part of how we engage our customers,” Darroch explained. “We’re always looking to share new ideas for how they can use our tomatoes and this campaign enabled our Facebook fans to be a part of the recipe development process.”

In addition to tomatoes, Chef Rayment will use corn as a featured ingredient in one of the recipes, a choice made by Backyard Farms customers. Casting a vote for the seasonal ingredient they wanted to see paired with tomatoes entered the customer into a drawing to win two seats at the influencer table. Adding a customer-facing element to the influencer campaign encouraged further awareness and engagement.  

Backyard Farms has executed influencer campaigns prior to Savor the Summer, but this is the first time it has combined a social media contest with an invitation-only event. Darroch continued, “It was great to see over 600 customers enter a contest where they had to travel to Boston on a specific date. The winner is traveling all the way from Rochester, NY, and flying her sister up from Florida at her own expense. That’s some serious dedication that we are extremely flattered by.”

At the conclusion of the event, Backyard Farms will post the recipes to its website: backyardfarms.com/recipes.