In November 2021, California Raisins sponsored the International Gourmet Festival in Vallarta. We were able to generate over 30 trade leads and have presence during the event with raisins and cheese boards in 2 of the participating restaurants during the opening as well as during the wine festival, with the participation of the best international and Mexican vineyards.
The California Raisins Administrative Committee participated in Expo Pan (the pioneer exhibition for the bakery, pastry, pizza, ice cream and coffee industry in Mexico) with over 500 visitors.
Chef Irving Quiroz prepared a recipe using and mentioning the versatility and quality that California raisins provide to the bakery.
The event, in addition to the digital campaign on Expo Pan’s Facebook (with 55k followers), was supported by a campaign with a newsletter, publication in a digital magazine and banners on the Alfa Editores site, with a reach of 434,400 impressions.
To support this activity, Irving Quiroz conducted a Webinar with Larousse Cocina called “Baking Techniques to Attract New Customers”, where bakery professionals were invited and were taught the business side of the industry and how to be more attractive to consumers, this campaign achieved a total of 2,314 registrations.
On December 15, an online seminar was held by Chef Irving Quiroz with a live demo of two seasonal recipes sweetened through California raisins. During the 90-minute session, Chef Irving Quiroz highlighted the natural attributes of raisins, how to incorporate them into seasonal products, and shared about his experience in the fields of Fresno, California when he learned about how are raisins made.
The recipes that Chef Irving developed were a traditional Stollen and a Kouglof, a specialty of German origin whose main characteristic is the “mountain” style shape. The digital recipe book was available to download for each of the registered participants.
The webinar had a total of 527 people registered, and 49% total attendance with 351 users connected. At the same time, it was broadcasted via Facebook with a total of 4,700 views.
The event had an excellent response from the Pasitas de California community, the save the date communication was published on social networks resulting in 2,140 people reached from different areas, mainly Mexico City, Monterrey, the Dominican Republic, Colombia and even some cities in Europe.
During the month of December, Imalinx coordinated a program with 5 renowned chefs from mexico who had the opportunity to cook with dried fruits, dairy and fresh products.
With the aim of promoting the consumption of products such as yellow onions, raisins, California cheese and butter during the holiday season, Imalinx with the support of Beto Lanz coordinatedthis program with 5 renowned chefs across Mexico.
Participating Chefs: Pablo Salas, Bianca Castro, Andrea Martínez, Juan Emilio Villaseñor and Christian González, who developed easy-to-replicate recipes using the previously mentioned ingredients as the star ingredient.
Each of the recipes were published on the Chef’s own digital channels and replicated on the social networks of the brand in order to amplify the reach.
Pablo Salas, from the Amaranta Restaurant, developed a recipe of NY Sliders with yellow onion.
Bianca Castro. Biscottis Pastry baked a total of 3 recipes with California raisin butter, as well as a yellow onion crumble.
Andrea Martinez, from Casa Liebre prepared 2 recipes with California cheese and butter and a pork rind in Raisin Adobo. Also a Pasta made by yellow onion
Juan Emilio Villaseñor, from La Cocinoteca presents us with a recipe for mole with raisins, a butter with garlic and yellow onion stuffed with Cod.
Christian González from Boulangerie Amasijo, innovated by creating a raisin chamoy and a crisp shortbread based on California butter.
Luis Serdio from Corazón de Pollo, with a unique concept of gourmet rotisserie offered a limited edition Buffalo Chicken Sandwich and Mac&Cheese box with California cheeses.
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% |
———————————————————————————————————-
| What type of content would you like for future seminars? | % |
| Interviews | 0% |
| Explanation of ingredients | 7% |
| Recipes | 18% |
| Baking techniques | 70% |
| Tips | 5% |
On June 17, an online seminar was held for more than 1,000 registered participants taught by Chef Irving Quiroz where he spoke about the importance of butter as a key ingredient in baking.
During the 90-minute session, Chef Irving Quiroz shared his knowledge and experiences with butter, highlighting the importance of quality butter, the optimum temperature for different types of baking, and the process of sifting the flour and fermenting the dough. Also, he explained the differences between a margarine and butter, an important characteristic at the end of the baking.
Chef Irving Quiroz baked: Conchas Gourmet, Chocolate Chip Cookies and a little-known bread in Mexico called Kouign Amann, a typical bread from the French region of Bretagne that means “Butter tart” and which has a special cold-rolling process. The digital recipe book was available to download at www.lechedecalifornia.com
The event was moderated by Beto Lanz, author and journalist about travel and gastronomy in Mexico and the world. Beto emphasized the origin, the process and the flavor of California Butter in addition to answering the participants’ questions.
Webinar record: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=358uKQGoLEw
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.
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.