The convention was 3 days, where executives, managers, buyers and, store managers were present.
The purpose of the expo was to open the opportunity and space for suppliers to present new products that meet the needs of the chain. HarbyrCo presented different SKUS of Fiscalini, Point Reyes, Glen Oaks and Rumiano to the Commercial Manager and purchasing team of dairy and frozen.
After the event, buyers decided to introduce 10 new products that were added to the Specialty Products area along with 15 others added in October 2018.
The annual competition took place on November 24, 2019 at one of the most important culinary institutes in Mexico, the Centro de Educación Superior de San Ángel (CESSA).
A total of five teams registered their participation in the first culinary contest of RCM in Mexico. Each team consisted of a chef with more than five years of experience and a SousChef with no more than five years of experience.
Participants developed two menus of a main dish and a dessert with a surprise basket of Mexican ingredients plus one protein. The challenge for each team was to incorporate at least four California dairy products in each dish, within a three hours limit.
The five teams that participated currently work in gourmet restaurants, own their restaurant or bakery and / or work for culinary institutes. The winners are part of the team of “Balcón del Zócalo”, a gourmet restaurant of Mexican food of the outstanding chef Pepe Salinas in Mexico City.
The winners, chef Edgar Hernández and chef Andrea Francisco traveled to Napa, California to attend a 2-day “Milk and dairy Immersion” training at the Culinary Institute of America in January 2019. In addition, they visited the California milk and cheese processors and were part of a culinary tour in San Francisco, Napa and Santa Helena.
Real California Milk would like to thank all the participants who were part of the first edition of the dairy contest.
In addition, it is important to mention the importance of the participation of all members of the jury who shared their time and experience to evaluate and, select the winners of the competition. Also, to all the media invited to participate in the event and, to the team of Anfora who provided their extraordinary collection of dishes.
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.
In Mexico City, an event is annually held where the best suppliers for hotels, coffee shops, catering and restaurants meet with the intention of stablish business relationships.
For 4 days, the Diary Council of California was present with an exhibition spot where new products were displayed for the Mexican market, sampling recipes were made by the Executive Chef. Board members were present to create business relationships.
During the first day of the workshop show, we participated in a pizza seminar with California cheeses, given by Chef Efren Rios.
The general objective was to develop brand presence in the foodservice industry in Mexico, besides enhancing new products development.
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.
The Raisin Administrative Committee organized the Third Master Baking Seminar with the participation of the chefs and writers of the book “Bread, Flavor and Tradition”, Didier Rosada and Juan Manuel Martinez Solarte.
The seminar goal was to train chefs and bakers on the versatility and the process of California Raisin harvesting and its uses in bakery products. At the end of the event gift bags were given, the seminar recipe book and the complete presentation so that the ideas could be used by the assistants in their companies. The event communication allowed to reach to more than 210 executives chefs and bakers registered, from great companies as El Globo, Nestle, Hyatt and Four Seasons.
From June 8th to 14th, a trip to California was made with winners of the bakery contest from different countries such as Japan, China, Germany and Mexico.
For this year, Mexico invited the first-place winner of the Sal y Dulce Artesanos bakery and the owner of the Da Silva bakery, chef Eduardo Da Silva as brand ambassador to the country.
During this trip, the participants had a seminar on bakery trends at the Culinary Institute of America given by chef Robert Jörin. They also prepared their winning recipe at the CIA and they presented it to the California Raisins packers at a dinner party.
The group also visited the fields and factories of the raisins to observe more closely the process of harvesting California Raisins and what makes them unique.
At the beginning of September, the winners of the first California Raisins Bakery Contest in Mexico had the opportunity to attend the Culinary Institute of America in Napa, California along with a group of winning bakers and chefs from Asia and Europe.
Cultivation fields were visited, grapes were harvested and packing plants were visited.
In May 2016, the Master Seminar was held, and it gathered 307 industry professionals from Mexico City, Guadalajara, Puebla, Querétaro, Tabasco and Monterrey.
According to the figures, 73% of the attendees were bakers, 14% restaurant managers and hotel chains, 8% culinary institutes and 5% supermarkets and corporate chains.
The seminar was taught by Craig Ponsford, a professor at the Culinary Institute of America, accompanied by Bread Bakers, winners of the First California Raisins Bakery Contest that took place in Mexico City in 2015. The bakers developed 12 recipes to show the process during the seminar and share the best baking techniques.
The main objectives of the event were:
• Communicate the benefits and applications of baking with California Raisins, as well present its properties that make it a versatile product.
• Report on new bakery trends, such as the use of dough, fermentation processes, use of whole grains and benefits of wheat flour.
Attendees were invited to integrate California Raisins into their baked products and to participate in the Second Bakery Contest in 2016.
Imalinx as part of
the industry service program, worked in conjunction with the National Chamber
of Bakery and Related Industries (CANAINPA, for its acronym in Spanish) to
develop the 2 seminars, with the aim of presenting the benefits and
applications of cooking with the California Raisins, highlighting its benefits
and facilitating its consumption.
Both events were attended by 50 bakers…