Hawkes annual Apple Donor drive is a big deal for the sustainable urban cidery, and with the UK facing a national food shortage and COL crisis, it felt more pressing than ever to effectively address the apple waste issue this harvest season.

The Rooster team is never more committed than when it’s supporting a good cause. So, thanks to an exhaustive programme of tailored individual pitching (and despite the Queen’s passing and the political chaos dominating the news agenda at the time of launch), Rooster achieved cut through with carefully crafted pre- and post-campaign ‘good news’ stories, generating 30 pieces of local, regional, national and trade coverage on the Apple Donor drive and results.

Web traffic through the campaign period was up 54%, whilst donations saw Hawkes collect a record 13 tonnes (that’s 13,000 kilos – or more than a double decker busload) of apples that would otherwise have gone to rot.

You’d be forgiven for mistaking these dedicated pieces for sponsored content, but they are all editorial – City AM, London Daily News, London Post,
Southwark News, Food & Drink Tech,
The Drinks Business, Essex Magazine
and Wales online.

Print features ran in the likes of Foodism, City AM, Southwark News, & HomeStyle, whilst pitching also led to a shoot at the cidery for ITV London’s new climate action series, “Worrier to Warrior” – the broadcast icing on the campaign cake. Watch the full feature here.