Food for thought...

Whole Foods is a brand partner this year at Bonnaroo. Unlike several brands we'll cover- Wholefoods is making an effort to connect with people before the Roo.

Connecting before hand helps them in two ways- getting as many impressions as possible by making new news and letting people know they can shop Wholefoods at Bonnaroo this year at Planet Roo- so save some cash.

In addition to the Facebook group, Wholefoods also ran a contest giving away a pair of tickets to the Roo for responding to favorite festival food thread on their blog. The winner's response was a veggie corn dog with mustard. Ironically, the winner lives just 14 miles from Manchester, Tn. That fact prompted the following caveat with the contest results :

"* This comment was randomly chosen using random.org. No, we didn’t look for someone from Tennessee who happened to live in a town fourteen miles from the festival. It was a complete coincidence. We thought about tossing it out and re-doing the random selection but that wouldn’t have been fair, would it?"

Talk about having transparency built into your culture.

In addition to carrying fresh fruits and veggies, they'll offer a wide range of 365 products and feature their supporting brands...according to their Facebook page...

"We're settin' up shop selling delicious natural snacks and beverages from our supporting partners: Lifeway Foods, qbell all natural chocolates, Talenti Gelato, and Greek Gods yogurt, and ONE Natural Experience Coconut Water!"

Count me out for trying a new yogurt while at the Roo, I will try a coconut water and 'all natural kit-kat' , thanks.

We'll document how the weekend goes for Wholefoods and the Roo.

It seems like it could be a good opportunity to engage lots of people- and provide them something of value. The prices listed on their Facebook page seem low by festival food standards. I wonder what percentage of Bonnaroo audience goers live within 20 miles of the 270 stores it currently operates in the US, Canada, and UK.

I hope that Wholefoods and all of the other brands (big and small) working to engage people at the Roo) don't have broken credit card machines, sellouts of staple/sample products or have loooong lines that discourage use.