The past year has been especially tough on independent operators in the restaurant space. We applaud your perseverance and are here for you on the road to success in ’21! Red Gold® has just opened the door to additional support by offering you the benefits of the Real Rewards Café where you can earn rewards such as gift cards and merchandise that will help your business.

“As a family-owned and operated business, we have truly listed to the struggles that independent operators have been going through,” says David Halt, Vice-President of Foodservice for Red Gold, the world’s largest privately held tomato company. “We know the challenges of competing against big corporations. That’s why we’ve just finalized an agreement with Real Rewards Café to offer redeemable points on purchases of our Red Gold Ketchup and Red Gold tomato products to independent operators. The points can help pay some bills and earn items that you can use to grow your business.”

Real Rewards Café started offering a points-based rewards program to commercial operators 14 years ago. Based on the cases purchased by operators, they can redeem their points for everything from using gift cards to pay their bills toward third-party delivery services, to buying custom decals for their own delivery vehicles. Whether it’s an Igloo® Cooler for their catering business or branded face masks and uniforms for their waitstaff, buying Red Gold products can help cover these costs.

We offer Real Rewards Café points on our most popular products, now including ketchup.

“We’ve seen tremendous growth in interest among commercial independent operators during the COVID pandemic,” says Rebecca Kurowski, Account Services Director for Real Rewards Café. “Through points earned by purchasing Red Gold products, you can redeem those points to help pay for everything from your third-party delivery bill to a new oven or refrigerator for your restaurant.”

For products, such as Red Gold’s ketchup and tomato products, redeemable points add up quickly. Depending on the item, operators can earn between 20 to 40 points per case. Here are a few examples of some of the rewards:

Just a handful of the many items you can use your rewards points for when you buy Red Gold products through Real Rewards Café.

“Joining the Real Rewards Café Program is easy,” says Kurowiski. “Most operators notify their distributor to enter their proof of purchase for them, then operators can log into our website to choose their reward with available points. Smart operators are redeeming their points in 2021 to buy hard-to-find corrugated food delivery containers, signage for their locations indicating their curbside delivery location or even pay for custom decals for their delivery vehicle to grow their own brand instead of relying on third-party delivery costs.”

“Some operators encourage their staff by using points to reward their hard work, while others simply treat themselves by redeeming points for their families with flat screen TVs, tablets or laptops,” says Kurowiski.

“Others plan their replacement of old ovens, refrigerators and other equipment based on points that they amass from a Red Gold purchase and of other brand name products, including Tyson, M&M Mars, Uncle Ben’s, Jimmy Dean or Cargill. We only offer premium national brands to our independent operators,” Kurowiski explains.

Some operators plan their future redemptions by using a catalog provided to Real Rewards Café members. Operators use the catalog to create their regular or LTO (Limited Time Offers) menus and calculate the number of points that they can redeem for an entire year. By logging into the Real Rewards Café online portal, they can check their available points and order their rewards items online for delivery to their desired location.

A closer look at how your case purchases can quickly add up to rewards points.

“By adding the number one condiment (ketchup) and items such as petite diced tomatoes, pizza or marinara sauce to the Real Rewards Café Program, Red Gold is offering a way for independent operators to quickly rack up points to defer outside costs to help their bottom line,” says Red Gold’s David Halt. “We’re excited about the opportunity to help operators recover quickly from the pandemic and begin the process of growing their business using our premium tomato products.”

Operators are encouraged to request free samples of Red Gold products to taste the premium quality then make the switch and sign up for Real Rewards Café.