Non Stop Fresh Magazine Q1 2018 UK

The power of experience
Aartsenfruit Kids Foundation (AKF) aims to
contribute positively to children's health. Their 'Cool
Treats' ('Stoere Traktaties') project, which treats
children to healthy snacks at school, is an example
of this. Rather than simply telling children that these
snacks are good, the project makes use of the
power of experience. Humor plays an important
role in this, embodied by the Fruit Gang
('Fruitzooitje'), which makes the children more
susceptible to the intended message by making the
experience fun for them.
Employees as ambassadors
The project started with AKF, but is becoming
increasingly noticeable at aartsenfruit as well. The
quality and the humorous approach of 'Cool Treats'
are inherent to aartsenfruit's organisational culture.
The project is highly appreciated, and the Fruit
Gang never fails to amuse the employees. Various
Hellen Aartsen, chair of the AKF: We
wanted fruit characters to tell the 'Cool
Treats' story.
departments contribute their thoughts to what
should be put in the fruit crates for the lesson
package, and the employees themselves have
become 'Cool Treats' ambassadors. Not too long
ago, an employee indicated that he had praised the
project during a parents' evening at his children's
school. 'It generates increased involvement and
solidarity', explains Sophie Bruijns from AKF.
Where's the party at?
The children from the participating classes associate
the project with a party – and they're quite right to
do so. By means of fun clips, games, activities and
the opportunity to taste the fruit, the children learn
through play that treating each other to fruits and
vegetables is fun, tasty and cool. Alec Lokhoff, from
experiential marketing agency Mannen van
Rijnland, put a lot of thought into how this
experience should be presented. He's been
Members of the 'Cool Treats' project team
with, from left to right, Alec Lokhoff, Sander
Alt, Annick Bezemer and Sophie Bruijns.
working for aartsenfruit for ten years. 'Together with
Aartsenfruit Kids Foundation, I tried to find the best
way to approach this project aimed at schools. It
should be fun for the children to be dealing with
fruits and vegetables. Once they've become
enthusiastic, the rest is easy as pie.' According to
Alec, humor is one of the main ingredients when it
comes to creating an experience.
Identifying with the Fruit Gang
AKF came up with the idea to have fruit characters
tell the story, and so the Fruit Gang was born. This
group of friends consists of six different types of fruit,
each with their own personality. The Fruit Gang was
designed by Sander Alt and his team from animation
studio Urrebuk, consisting of Carolien Ellerbeck,
Alies Kool and Yvo Zijlstra. 'By making quirky
characters, it becomes easier for the children to
identify with the Fruit Gang. One kid may be a fan of
This school year, Caroline Jongerius will
be kicking off the project in Venlo,
home to an aartsenfruit branch.
Pisang, the funny banana, while another can't stop
laughing at the cynical comments of Simon the
lemon. Humor is born from the interaction between
these characters, which is also how the message
comes across', explains Sander.
Sample group
Even so, incorporating the right type of humor into
the Fruit Gang short films was a challenge for
Urrebuk. 'The characters keep having different
adventures, where they run into an obstacle they
have to overcome', says Sander Alt. 'Experience has
shown us that children are more open-minded than
adults, which allows for more freedom to use
different kinds of humor. My own children turned
out to be a wonderful sample group.'
If you'd like to know more, check out our website:
www.stoeretraktaties.nl.
The Fruit Gang – consisting of, from
left to right, Ferox, Ana, Simon, Pisang,
L-star and Elvira – takes flight!
The new Aartsenfruit Kids Foundation website is online!
Be sure to check out www.aartsenfruitkidsfoundation.com
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