bake - May 2015 - 14

ingredients

Blueberry
Challenge
The National Restaurant Association predicts restaurant in-

Blueberry Boot Camp Instructs Foodservice Power Players

dustry sales will surpass $709 billion in 2015. With American

Total blueberry immersion was the name of the game for 16 of

dollars spent on dining out continuing to expand, placing food

the foodservice industry's heavy hitters who joined the Blue-

products in the hands of trendsetting chefs and onto restaurant

berry Council at the Culinary Institute of America's Greystone

menus becomes an increasingly impactful way to grow con-

Campus in the Napa Valley, March 7-9.

sumer demand.
Executive chefs from Panera Bread, Wendy's, Applebee's, HilThe US Highbush Blueberry Council applied this strategy to

ton, IHOP, Disneyland and Google, among others, experienced

two high-proﬁle events this spring, both of which challenged

three days of education and experimentation with blueberries,

the nation's food elite to use blueberries to enhance the ﬂavor,

learning how adding them to menus is a little change with big

nutrition and intrigue of various dishes.

beneﬁts. Meanwhile, four renowned food bloggers carried the
learning to approximately 1.7 million consumers via social me-

Challenge Inspires Chefs and Home Cooks

dia, building blueberry awareness and interest headed into the

The Blueberry Council hosted a star-studded affair featuring

spring season.

eight of Los Angeles' top chefs and food celebrities, including
"The Biggest Loser" host Alison Sweeney, who competed in

From the Kitchen to the Store

teams to come up with the most creative and easy-to-replicate

"Chefs and blueberries have a win-win relationship," said Mark

blueberry dish. The event drew attention from media including

Villata, executive director of the US Highbush Blueberry Coun-

DineLA, FOODBEAST and Food GPS, and reached 1.5 million

cil. "By working with chefs to elevate the blueberry's proﬁle, we

consumers following along on social media.

impact high-volume purchases and send more consumers into
stores to buy. And by incorporating more blueberries into their

"The ripple effect of an event like this is astounding," said Chef

menus, chefs proﬁt while reminding customers there are ways

Andrew Hunter the Lifetime competition series "Supermarket

to make healthier choices without compromising on taste."

Superstar," who emceed the challenge. "In one afternoon, we
opened the eyes of a dozen food inﬂuencers and more than a

The Kitchen Challenge and Boot Camp programs are just two

million consumers to the endless culinary possibilities blueber-

of dozens the Blueberry Council implements each year to

ries offer. Expect to see more creative blueberry dishes show

encourage blueberry purchases. For more information visit

up on restaurant and home menus as a result."

littlebluedynamos.com and ridethebluewave.com.

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