On December 2020, California Raisins held the first edition of the contest “Christmas Bread” with Colectivo Mexicano de Panaderos, A.C. (COMEPAN A.C.).- Mexican Bakers’ Guild The contest was open for every bakery lover with or without experience, but with the same passion: baking.
The objective of the contest was to create a Christmas bread recipe with a unique condition: the bread must include California raisins. The participants sent at least 3 photos in high definition along with a short story about what inspired them to make that recipe. All recipes were presented and submitted for qualification to the jury, with Paulina Herrera, Miren Karmele, Carlos Ramírez, Pietro Lembo and Kenny Kuri; Mexican chefs and bakers that support the Bakery Sector in Mexico.
For the first edition, COMEPAN receive a total of 27 participant recipes, and selected 5 winners who surprised the jury with their Christmas bread recipe and receive $100USD as a prize. Among them was Daniel Sánchez who obtained 1st place in the contest with his product “Christmas Basket”.
After the contest, Pasitas de California developed a digital recipe book with all the creations of the 27 participants who showed their creativity, talent and Christmas spirit into a baked product that captivated the jury at first glance. (link a Receta)
About COMEPAN A.C.
The Colectivo Mexicano de Panaderos (Mexican Bakers’ Guild) is a meeting point for all bakery enthusiasts, professionals, entrepreneurs and enthusiasts in general who share the philosophy of good bread and good baking practices to obtain it, as well as the interest in professionalization and social valuation of the baker’s trade in Mexico.
The month of August began with two online seminars in collaboration with the Mexican Bakers Guild (COMEPAN), a project created by Chefs and Bakers: Irving Quiroz, Bernardo Flores, Kenny Kuri and Carlos Ramírez Roure. The event was sponsored by Real California Milk, California Raisins, and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Monterrey Office.
The invitation was open to the general public with the aim of captivating enthusiasts for the bakery that could later be part of the guild itself. The Seminar was carried out on two dates; August 12 for Mexico City and August 13 for Monterrey, achieving a total record of 3,081 people who connected from Mexico, the United States, Spain and Colombia.
The first date was covered with the participation of Kenny Kuri and Carlos Ramírez Roure who produce Cocoa Bread with pasitas, Vienna Bread, Rye Bread and Peasant Bread. On the other hand, Bernardo Flores and Irving Quiroz showed the techniques For achieving a low fermentation Ciabatta, Marbling Box Bread, Sourdough with Oat Atole and Dark Chocolate Babka.
View stream:
Results.
The Mexican Bakers Guild is a meeting point for all bakery enthusiasts, professionals and entrepreneurs in general who share the philosophy of the goodness of bread. A survey was conducted to explore the opinion and segments of attendees:
| Type of Industry | % |
| Consumer | 22% |
| Distributor | 1% |
| Foodservice | 5% |
| Other | 32% |
| Bakery | 40% |
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| What type of content would you like for future seminars? | % |
| Interviews | 0% |
| Explanation of ingredients | 7% |
| Recipes | 18% |
| Baking techniques | 70% |
| Tips | 5% |
On May 27th, Imalinx organized a Bakery Webinar with Chef Irving Quiroz to talk about the “Uses of California Raisins i bakery” The Chef developed 3 recipes with raisins as the main ingredient and he explained the process of each one during the webinar.
The webinar was broadcasted on Zoom with a total of 461 registered attendees and 311 total users during 90 minutes. The webinar was also shared on Facebook Live , generating 604 more live views with the possibility of watching again, reaching 32k views by the end of May!
The activity was a total success, especially during this period where people are at home eager to learn something new every day. After the webinar we received many comments asking where to buy California Raisins, sharing their own recipes and greetings for making this webinar.
To celebrate National Raisin Day (USA) in Mexico, we coordinated a media experience in Mexico so media contacts could enjoy a naturally sweet snack from home.
The activity was coordinated with our public relations agency, who selected specialized media (foodies, nutrition, mommy bloggers among others) to send them a kit of California raisins to their home. The kit included a mason jar with California raisins branded material and a digital recipe book with 5 healthy snacks made by our nutrition specialist Fernanda Alvarado.
Total results: 14 distributed media kits, more than 20 publications in digital and social media.
Also, we sent two press releases to specialized cooking, bakery, nutrition, and gastronomy media with the goal of sharing relevant information about the benefits of baking with California raisins. We also took the opportunity to talk about the history of National Raisin Day.
This year, the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) sponsor the Superama Race, it took place on February 29, at the CU Stadium with a total of 5,000 runners in the categories of 5 or 10 km.
The sponsorship included two days of activation, the first one during the kit delivery and the second in the race, with a stand branded by CDFA, California Raisins and Halos Mandarins. The objective was to increase the brand awareness of the California Products and share key messages through a consumer kit delivered to the runners at the end of the race.
On both days the runners were invited to scan the QR code printed on a flyer made with recycled paper, the code sends them to a landing page with more information and the ones who completed their register was available to enjoy the product sampling. This dynamic was created for the generation of a database that resulted in 319 new contacts.
Our landing page had 478 visits, 429 clicks and a survey with runners favorite products:
36% Halo Mandarins
24% California Raisins
21% California Oranges
19% Wonderful Pistachios
The runners were so grateful about the product sampling because it was an excellent alternative for their recovery, after the effort made during the race.
In conjunction with Sam´s Club, a plan was made for samplings of California Raisins in 30 different stores, covering 20 states of Mexican Republic. The promotional product was under the name “Members Mark; own brand of Sam´s Club.
The promotion was supported by social media and printed materials to share recipes, nutritional data and, the benefits of eating 40 g. raisins a day with consumers. The goal was to invite young consumers and moms to include California Raisins on their daily diet as a healthy snack.
The result of the promotion was positive with a total of 3.5 tons of raisins were sold, on average sales per day with demo girls were 170 bags with 1.3 kg of California raisins each.
As part of the Diversification Strategy for California Raisins, activities were developed to share the brand’s message in other regions of the country where the Artisanal Bakery is growing; covering this year it was delivered at Mexico City, Puebla, Tijuana and, Monterrey.
The seminar was taught by Dr. and Baker Master Klaus Tenbergen and, food scientist Dr. Priscilla Santiago with technical expertise on Bakery and Raisins from California.
About 190 bakers attended, who received technical information and, the benefits of incorporating California Raisins into the bread. In addition, there was talk about quality standards, the seasons and processes of sowing and harvesting raisins, their health benefits and by products, such as pasta and raisin juice.
There was a total coverage of 20 media outlets at the different sites, representing a reach of 300 942 members of the industry.
The baking competition took place in Mexico City from April 10th to 12th with a total of 12 participant teams, consisting of Baker Chefs and a Sous Chefs.
The event lasted 3 days and, 33 products were developed. Each team must bake a brioche, a croissant and an innovative bread with California Raisins. After the deliberation of the members of the jury, the team of the bakery, Saint Honore from Queretaro, was awarded first place.
The award was a Bakery Training at the Culinary Institute of America in Napa, California.
Imalinx awarded the prize to the first place of the annual California Raisin Baking Contest in Mexico, Carlos Guido traveled to California accompanied by Sandra Corona, the product development manager of El Globo, the Mexico’s largest bakery.
Both had the opportunity to get involved with the process of harvesting California Raisin, learned the industry history, learned about the high standards of cultivation and packaging processes, which result in high quality products.
Between the bakery contest and his training in California, Carlos developed a total of 10 different products with the potential to be marketed.
El Globo had interest in knowing more about product availability during the year, to introduce at least 3 new products to the market in different seasons.
The Second Foodservice Cup of Bakery was carried out 3 days within the framework of Expo Sirha 2018. The aim of the event was to increase the product development and to show to the bakers the California Raisin versatility in baked products.
Annual Baking Contest was developed during Expo Sirha where nine pairs from the Mexican Republic and Guatemala participated in the event, which involved five bread categories that had to include the two varieties of California Raisin, currants and sultanas. The result was 45 baked products and the winning pair was the Corazón Latino company.
The prize was a trip to Napa California to visit the raisin crops and to receive a training at the Culinary Institute of America.