The main objective of American Pistachio Growers (APG) is to disseminate the studies carried out that prove the health benefits of consuming pistachios.
Since October 2023, we have participated in nutrition and culinary events focused on health professionals, students, media and consumers to transmit through conferences given by Dr. Arely Vergara (spokesperson for the association and researcher at La Salle College), the importance of consuming pistachios in a daily diet, the barrier to their consumption in Mexico, main benefits, as well as the recommended portion (49 pistachios).
American Pistachio Growers has had presence in 8 forums dedicated 100% to health, where recognized Nutrition Institutions in Mexico stand out: Fomentos de Nutrición A.C, AMMFEN and AMENAC.
More than 3,000 people have received the most relevant information about American pistachios and 80% agree that they were not aware of their benefits but are willing to integrate them into their daily diet, and in turn, recommend them to their patients.
The third edition of our printed recipe book “Celebrating Moms” where we had a total of 28 recipes in which renowned chefs in the baking industry and consumers who love California raisins participated.
Communication was carried out through social networks with the support of different influencers and media outlets who shared their experience participating in previous editions, which encouraged consumers to share their recipes with us. In total we had a result of 348,514 people reached and 410,999 impressions.
There was a media campaign to announce the recipe book with posts on social networks and stories, reaching 252,897 consumers, as well as participation in SUPER MAMÁS, an event dedicated to mothers where several media outlets, influencers and celebrities were present. This event had a total of 3,555,297 impressions.
California Raisins was part of a cooking class for children under 12 years old in which they learned how to make two recipes where the star ingredient was raisins.
The event took place in the state of Monterrey in the outstanding workshop of our beloved Chef Irving Quiroz “Amasijo”, where we had the company of 10 children who participated in the class where they made chocolate raisin cookies and chocolate raisin brownies.
During the class, important and informative facts about California raisins were mentioned and the children shared with us their love and taste for raisins, as well as their interest in making these recipes.
At the end of the class, the children received recognition for their participation and kits as a thank you for attending.
Finally, it is worth mentioning that this activity was followed on social networks where we obtained a total reach of 20,000 impressions.
The WUSATA Mexico Consumer Oriented Outbound Trade Mission took place in Mexico City and Monterrey from December 5th – 9th , 2022. These activities included logistics arrangements and meetings scheduled with potential buyers from both cities such as supermarkets, importers, distributors, and foodservice institutions. Additionally, a market briefing was provided by the Agricultural Trade Office (ATO) in Mexico City and Monterrey as well as an imports seminar. 2 tabletops were coordinated in Mexico City and other 2 in Monterrey where U.S companies were able to meet with different importers and showcase their products.
A total of thirteen companies attended the Outbound Trade Mission coordinated by the Washington State Department of Agriculture and the California State Department of Agriculture.
A total of 192 meetings were conducted during the mission with 45 different importers, retailers and distributors in Mexico City and Monterrey averaging 15 meetings per company.
Additionally, 6 buyers from Central/South America were flown to the mission in Mexico City and 4 Mexican regional buyers were flown to Monterrey in order to meet with the delegation.
California Raisins was in charge of organizing the forum “Innovation in bakery for retail”. For the first time, California Raisins introduced an innovative online forum format, attended by numerous VIP guests, moderated by Darinel Becerra, editorial director and partner of Retailers.mx, and led by Marc Misseri, independent chef and consultant, with a 40-year trajectory in gastronomy, being the creator of La Balance in Mexico and serving as Innovation Director at El Globo until the end of 2021.
One of the theme lines of the event was that “innovation is going back to the basics with iconic products from the world’s bakery, with re-studied formulas aligned to the new demands of the consumer”, as Marc Misseri Bastide pointed out, and at the same time, he exposed the concept of “reasoned and reasonable abundance, since we are making better nutritional products every time; but in retail, sometimes we don’t give them the significance they deserve”.
A success story of a great opportunity for six Mexican buyers (Comercializadora Mexport, Casa Ley, Grupo Cimarron, Hanseatik, Good Express and Dualmex) where, through the support of WUSATA, they traveled to Las Vegas, Nevada to attend the SIAL America’s first show edition and the Pizza Expo show with the objective of increasing their portfolio.
Our buyers had one-on-one meetings with more than 28 suppliers from the Western United States looking to enter the Mexican market. These meetings took place inside and outside the SIAL America show and they as well had the opportunity to visit 3 American supermarkets to learn more about products and current trends in the United States.
This webinar aimed to reach an audience of more than 300 bakery professionals and talk about the different ways in which California Raisins can be included in the baking industry, with two of the most important opinion leaders as speakers.
The renowned Chef, Irving Quiroz, addressed different topics on existing trends at baking in this free webinar, obtaining more than 2,300 download requests, and exceeding 660 attendees, which included bakery professionals and gastronomy students.
One of the objectives of California Raisins is to provide information and promote the consumption of raisins around members of the industry. Due to this, Imalinx contacted FORSUA, the #1 company in Training and Consulting for the Food and Hospitality Industry.
The companies held a two-day webinar focused on the snack, cereal and granola industry. With around 18 attending companies, the webinar “Production and marketing of snacks with raisins”, provided information on how to develop an operations plan to produce snacks using California Raisins as an ingredient that adds value to the products.
The workshop addressed 4 general topics; from the overview of the snack industry to the presentation of the product and labeling. Among these topics, it was also mentioned how to enter the global snack market, being prepared to know how to take advantage of ingredients, packaging and functionality, main topics and crucial drivers for the successful development of snacks and healthy products.
Public relations programs changed completely as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, many of the face-to-face events were canceled, and brand launches migrated to digital.
Fernanda Alvarado, is a teacher in community nutrition with an International Master’s degree in Nutrition and Dietetics from the European University of the Atlantic. She is co-author of the Manual “Learning to Live with Diabetes” of the Universidad Iberoamericana and for more than 10 years, she has been working on the creation of editorial content related to nutrition and a healthy lifestyle for the food industry.
Fernanda is convinced that digital media are an important vehicle for prevention and health care, which is why she generates content that seeks to improve the diet of Mexicans and publishes them on her Blog Bien Comer, Instagram profile with more than 15,300 followers; and YouTube channel with 54,300 subscribers; she also hosts a podcast, a leader in the nutrition, health and wellness category.
Due to the impact of her communication, Imalinx decided to work with Fernanda to increase brand awareness of Pasitas de California, Real California Milk and Kiwi Zespri Vita in the nutritional field.
The campaigns lasted 12 months where 100% digital activities were developed to talk about the benefits of incorporating raisins in the daily diet, even in the bakery, as well as fighting the myths of dairy and promoting its qualities of a natural product . On the other hand, the Kiwi Zespri had a great boost by positioning it as a fruit that provides more than 100% of the vitamin C necessary for an average adult.
Among the most outstanding activities is the Well Eating podcast recorded together with Chef Irving Quiroz to talk about Diet and Bread, with key messages of the contribution of raisins in the bakery. Said podcast reached the # 1 position of the most listened to podcast in 2020. (Listen to it here)
As well as a Youtube Live with Sol Sigal, to talk about the benefits of vitamin C in high performance athletes. And YouTube videos with topics such as: “Are dairy necessary?” / Raisins, a healthy sugar substitute “/” All about butter “/” Dairy myths “. With a total of +121, 245 views.
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.