We introduced college demonstrations as part of the competition process this year, which we found to be a key activity in inspiring student chefs.

The competitions require entrants (up to 25 years) to demonstrate an understanding of a particular cuisine. This year we’ve run South African Cuisine Young Chef of the Year and Young Peruvian Chef of the Year.The idea behind the demonstrations is to provide attendees with the opportunity to learn from reputable professionals before creating their entry menu.

This year, we had Robert Ortiz (Peru) and Petrus Madutlela (South Africa) demonstrating at Westminster Kingsway College, University College Birmingham and Richmond Upon Thames College. Both chefs created three dishes using typical national ingredients, whilst talking students through the process; focusing on ingredient flavours, textures and heritage. Students were encouraged to ask questions, taste the ingredients and the completed dishes throughout.

It’s a good idea to have a compère present. Luckily Robert and Petrus were confident communicators, but it can be helpful to have someone alongside the chef to ask questions which will benefit the audience.

We ensured there were plenty of entry packs and information available on the day, for students to feel confident in submitting their creations.

We’ll be starting demonstrations for the 2018 competitions in October this year.

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Product sampling is an important part of the campaigns we run at RED. It might be in-store, retailer head office, on-street or supper clubs. Although run in different ways, they all share the same end goal: product exposure, brand awareness, consumer feedback and ultimately increased sales. The beauty of sampling is the opportunity to engage directly with consumers; to discover how they react initially to your product, to get their feedback post tasting and to educate them on your product’s USPs.

In-store sampling is a great way to encourage immediate purchase. Implementation is complex, so we highly recommend ensuring you have an efficient, proactive team on board that can project manage from start to finish. Attention to detail is key in this scenario: just one element being overlooked can impact on the whole activity. Ideally you want to secure an area in-store with a high footfall and close to your product on-shelf. Also make sure your category buyer has allocated a higher unit quantity for potential sell-through. The sampling team will brief the staff in-store, so be clear and specific in how you want your product to be promoted.

Avocado sampling in UK Tesco stores

Head office sampling is a great way to get the retailer excited about your product. We often bring a campaign mascot along as it makes for a more interactive, fun environment. It also creates fantastic photos to use for further promotional activity, particularly social media. We always like to involve suppliers in our head office sampling due to their extensive product knowledge on origin, ethics, UK consumption etc. Collaborating with head office catering teams is a way of getting your product in the canteen; incorporating it within the menu promotes your product’s versatility and provides recipe inspiration for consumers.

Spanish Persimon sampling at Tesco HQ

The main factors to consider when on-street sampling are location, a high-energy sampling team and the day/s you choose to run the activity. Your location needs to ideally be a large town or city and in a high footfall area. We recently ran avocado sampling in Brighton, which operated within the vicinity of Brighton station; this enabled us to reach a mix of both commuters and consumers on a day trip. In order to draw in the crowds – you’ll need a motivated, fun and friendly team who will have an impact on the way consumers leave thinking about your brand. We all know the feeling of dread that occurs when Mr Promo and his clipboard are ready to pounce in the distance and you’re forced to take an alternative route; there’s nothing worse than a drawn out survey mid-shop! We used ‘Avo Man’ during the Brighton sampling, who received a great response from consumers.

We also toured ‘Avo Man’ around various London publishing houses, again to promote Peruvian avocados, whilst delivering Mae Deli lunches to journalists. Although getting in front of your desired journalist can be tricky and press/social media coverage therefore sparse, if you get it right, it is extremely effective. On this particular occasion we received a surfeit of both – undoubtedly due to being in the midst of ‘avo-mania’ at the time and the set of abs delivering them.

‘Avo Man’ visiting the editorial team at Woman & Home

Last month we had the pleasure of managing a stand at the BBC Good Food Show for the Ministry of Commerce Thailand. As part of the activity, we ran chef demonstrations which enabled consumers to not only watch recipes being made, but to taste the dishes and products we were promoting. This strategy creates an opportunity for consumers to engage with chefs directly and enhance their knowledge of our products versatility. It’s also a great way for product suppliers to utilise chefs in order to up-sell.

Jane Alty from The Begging Bowl demonstrating Thai cuisine

Supper clubs are a fantastic way to engage with the press in an informal environment. Have a read of our blog post ‘Why Supper Club?’ for more tips on this approach to sampling.

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Similarly, more and more chefs are setting up pop-ups; whether it be at home, within restaurants, or even on London’s public transport.

RED organised a supper club on behalf of South African Flavorking plums with MsMarmiteLover last week

The pop-up revolution, which was started by bloggers such as MsMarmiteLover in 2011, is continuously evolving with the ‘dine-and-do’ concept becoming increasingly popular.  Carousel and Kino Vino are amongst the many current successes.

MsMarmiteLover

We’ve come up with 10 reasons why you should set up your own supper club and 10 reasons why you should attend:

Set up a supper club:

• Opportunity to test the market before adding dishes to a permanent menu
• Provides blog/social media content
• Enables chefs  to showcase their skills to a private audience and meet consumers face to face
• Opportunity to receive direct feedback from consumers
• No permanent staffing costs
• Already paying rent/mortgage so no extra business rates
• It’s a flexible business model
• Opportunity for collaboration with potential suppliers
• Good exposure for you/your restaurant
• It’s fun!

Attend a supper club:

• Dine in a relaxed, informal environment
• Supper clubs are often themed, enabling you to sample new cuisines
• Opportunity to engage with the chef directly
• A chance to meet new people from a social perspective
• It’s perfectly acceptable to attend alone
• Collaborate from a business perspective
• Cost of experience is less than dining in a restaurant and usually a set price per head
• Often able to BYO booze as majority of home restaurants aren’t licensed to sell alcohol
• Inspiration
• It’s fun!

Here’s a few of our favourite supper clubs:

http://www.msmarmitelover.com/

http://www.thelondonfoodie.co.uk/

http://seasonaldinnerparties.co.uk/supper-clubs/

https://www.tomskitchen.co.uk/events/

https://thesecretsuppersociety.com/

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