GENEVA – When Vinze Berardy set himself to go shopping for his small business at the Manor supermarket in Sion, he never imagined he’d find a plate full of fresh fruit that would make him famous. It wasn’t just the fruit though… but the message next to it:

Free fruit for the kids

Let your children nibble on a fruit while you shop!

Signed, Manor Food

Berardy did what most of us in these days of cyber-documenting our lives do. He took a picture and posted it to Facebook, with a simple caption:

I say bravo Manor.

Little did he know his snap would be wildly shared across Switzerland to the point of being featured in the local media.

When I came across his photo  I shared it on this blog’s Facebook page and forgot about it. A few hours later I received a notification that it had been viewed by almost 5,000 people.

Berardy himself was surprised.

I have received more than 150 friend requests since the photo was shared.. it is crazy!

“I never thought my photo would go viral,” he told me in an email exchange. “I hit the Manor store often to purchase quality things I need for the sandwich shop I run across the street. However, once there, as a father of three girls aged from 2 months-old to 10-years-old, I was just glad to see that Manor was offering fruits instead of sugary products. I just wanted to share the idea with everyone.”

Update: Manor responded today to my request for information regarding this initiative saying:

This initiative started two weeks ago. Offering free fruits for children was the idea of Jean-Luc Planchamp, director of Manor Sion.

For now this will only take place in Sion but Manor is looking into the option of implementing this initiative to other Manor supermarkets in the future.

We hope that both, the store manager in Sion who thought of this idea, and the sandwich shop owner who marketed it better than any communication agency could, are rewarded by Manor.

Ah… and don’t forget to visit Berardy’s FRESH Sandwicherie Minute shop next time you are in Sion (below see Berardy picking up some garlic for his pesto).

Yum!

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