Dole Food Company is coaxing aspiring chefs at all levels and all ages into the kitchen with an autumn marketing initiative aiming to prove that anyone can cook if given the recipes, inspiration and freshest fruits and vegetables as ingredients.
Dole’s 'Now We’re (All) Cooking' initiative features three months of original recipes, serving suggestions, digital and social activations, family-friendly activities, fun trivia, and influencer partnerships inspired by the cooking-obsessed characters of Disney and Pixar’s Ratatouille.
“Understandably, in our quest for convenience, we’ve gotten away from the simple pleasures of cooking and the satisfaction and health benefits that come from creating a delicious dish from scratch using fresh, natural ingredients,” said William Goldfield, Dole’s director of communications. “While the coronavirus has reunited many with their kitchens, there is still the widespread misperception that cooking is difficult and if you weren’t taught to cook at an early age, it’s too late to learn now.
“Of course, as Remy, Linguini and Chef Gusteau taught us, nothing could be further from the truth,' he continued. 'Anyone really can cook if given the ingredients and inspiration – and this new programme was designed to go beyond the recipes to motivate cooks and chefs at all levels to spice up their culinary routines this fall and winter, turning their kitchens into would-be restaurants for the holidays.”
Goldfield confirmed that Dole worked closely with the teams at Disney and Pixar to create 20 new, easy-to-make interpretations of dishes either inspired by the film – such as Little Chef Potato-Leek Soup and the signature Critic’s Choice Rustic Ratatouille – or associated with French cuisine.
The first ten recipes created by Melanie Marcus, MA, RD, Dole’s health and nutrition communications manager, have been posted to the Dole recipe library.
For most North Americans, the first sign of Dole’s Paris-inspired celebration came in May when images of Remy and Linguini showed up on millions of Dole bananas and pineapples in US and Canadian supermarkets.
Produce fans and aspiring family restaurateurs can now go to the Dole At-Home Resource Page to download and print a series of cooking-themed activities including Dole banana Sticker Peel-and-Play collectors’ sheets, DIY menus and cookbooks, Dole and Disney placemats, a printable chef’s hat, and Dole pineapple gift tags.
Multiple Dole social activations and blogger- and influencer-hosted promotions, plus ten additional character-inspired recipes and several DIY recipe videos, will be revealed later this autumn.
Dole is also hosting a 'Now We’re (All) Cooking Virtual Cooking Class' for bloggers and influencers to prove there can never be too many cooks in the kitchen (or on Zoom).
The in-store and in-kitchen fun caps Dole’s year-long celebration of Pixar Animation Studios, which is part of a long-term nutritional alliance with The Walt Disney Company designed to make healthy eating and a diet rich in fresh fruits and vegetables more fun and accessible to busy parents.
“In addition to making mealtime more satisfying because you are creating the dishes yourself, cooking at home is simply good for you,' Goldfield added. 'There is plenty of external research to suggest that families that cook together are happier, eat better and live longer, while other studies compiled by the Dole Nutrition Institute show that home cooking leads to lower calories, fat and sodium, and eating together as a family offers both physical and mental health benefits.”
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