On behalf of the Western United States Agricultural Trade Association (WUSATA) and coordinated by Beto Lanz 15 companies participated in the first recipe program in Mexico with the main objective of promoting value-added food and beverage products in the Mexican gastronomic industry.
The chefs who participated were Chef Pablo Salas, from Amaranta Restaurant; Josefina Santa Cruz, from Sesame; Chuy Elizondo, from Benell; Oscar Herrera, from Flor de Nogal; and Bianca Castro, from Biscottis Bakery. The companies that participated in this first recipe program were Agropur, Northwest Hazelnuts, Farmer’s Rice, Fresh Nature Foods, Barber’s food, Limoneira, Smile Foods, Royal Ridge, Shining Ocean, Pure palms, Jacey Cakes, Colorado Potatoes, Traina Foods, Bow & Arrow and Sadaf Foods.
Each company selected one chef to received the ingredients . Among those products were surimi, dried apricots, hazelnuts, fresh green garbanzo beans, potatoes, and gouda cheese. Each product with a different flavor and origin.
The recipes developed were published on the Chefs’ social networks and reposted on the official WUSATA social media pages, resulting in + 2, 218, 290 people reached and 1, 028, 900 views.
As part of the “Taste of the West” campaign, and with the challenge to communicate where to buy the products to consumers Wusata had communication through Walmart and HEB channels.
The campaign was achieved through digital advertising in both chains, a Landing page was created with all the products from the promotion, also banners on website and offsite communication (materials through social media). There was a total of 1103% growth in visits compared to the season without promotion and more than 9,600 interactions with consumers on the banners.
At the end of this project, a digital recipe book was developed now available in: https://issuu.com/home/published/taste_of_the_west_original
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 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.