The Bramley campaign is Looking forward to the new Bramley season, again working hard to let consumers know that Bramleys are back in store and encouraging them to continue making the most of Bramley’s unique cooking properties with a new season of recipes.
“We will also be linking up with the Women’s Institute for Bramley Apple Pie Week, October 11-17, to challenge its members to create the best Bramley apple pie at Denham College which will be judged by celebrity cook Mary Berry,” says a campaign spokesperson.
In September, the Bramley Campaign successfully launched the Bramley schools’ website - www.applesource-education.co.uk - this September, an educational resource which has been extended to include materials suitable for Key Stage 2 (seven to 11 year olds). The site contains a variety of fun and informative cross-curricular activities in a range of subjects including, science, food technology, maths, English, history and PSHE. Ian Mitchell, chairman of the Bramley Campaign says: “We are delighted to have received accreditation from the National Grid for Learning. When developing the apple source website, we were keen to make it as valuable to teachers as we could and researched its contents thoroughly with a variety of teaching professionals. It is extremely gratifying that this work has been recognised by the Department of Education and Skills.
“The Bramley Campaign is committed to developing the Bramley users of tomorrow and our investment in the apple source educational resource is an important tool for communicating with children; encouraging them to understand more about healthy eating and to enjoy cooking both in the classroom and at home.”
The website was accredited from the NGfL, part of the Department of Education and Skills, after rigorous testing. “The accreditation acts as a recommendation to teachers that the site can be trusted for their students’ use. The success also means the website can display the NGfL badge and has also been featured on the home page of the NGfL site - increasing its profile amongst teachers and educators,” says Mitchell.
The site features interactive exercises and challenges for children including: the journey of Bramley round the body; a 5-a-day food diary encouraging children to eat the recommended number of portions of fruit and vegetables every day; science and maths exercises; information about UK’s orchards and; recipes suitable for children.
Looking back at activities during 2003/04, the Campaign joined forces with Woman’s Weekly magazine for a range of activities which included a consumer survey to find the nation’s favourite dessert; a regional road show in search of the UK’s best apple pie baker and a series of Bramley magazine features.
The WW’’s survey results showed that 49 per cent of the UK voted the Bramley apple pie as the top dessert of choice, especially in Yorkshire where hot apple pie is the county folks’ favourite pudding, as more named it as their number one dessert than anywhere else in the country.
Another campaign initiative was to encourage UK consumers to bake a pie themselves and the Bramley Campaign together with WW went on the search for Britain’s Best Apple Pie Baker with a regional roadshow held in October 2003. The roadshow toured five shopping centres in the UK, inviting the public to enter their homemade Bramley apple pies to be tasted by a panel of expert judges. The Bramley Campaign’s Search for Britain’s Best Apple Pie Baker came to an end in May 2004 with a live bake-off, where three finalists put their baking skills to the test and Jamie Thornton, from Swindon, was crowned Britain’s Best Apple Pie Baker.
The Bramley Campaign was also represented at last year’s National Fruit Show, displaying some of the 2003 Brammy Award winners - part of the campaign’s support of manufacturers, retailers, caterers and media that have used Bramley’s superior qualities. Samples of the freshly baked Brammy award-winning Marks & Spencer Bramley apple pie were offered to visitors. The Campaign then followed the Fruit Show up to Yorkshire, the first show held for the public, at Ampleforth, where the stand attracted a large amount of interest and visitors ate through more than 1,000 slices of apple pie. Given the success of the show the campaign plans to return to the show this year.
Celebrity chef Antony Worrall Thompson showed his support for the campaign by hosting a media lunch for national and consumer journalists at his Notting Grill restaurant. The Brammy Award winning chef demonstrated the qualities of Bramley with live demonstrations of two of his own dishes, Bramley Tiramisu and Bramley Tarte Tartin, both specially created to celebrate Bramley Apple Week.
Journalists were offered a taste test with two identical dishes, one made with Bramley, the other with Granny Smith, which is sometimes believed to be suitable for cooking. Bramley came out the triumphant winner, with 95 per cent of food journalists stating a preference for Bramley. “The event was an excellent opportunity for the Campaign to meet key food and cookery journalists face-to-face and to demonstrate why Bramley is the best apple to use wherever apple is specified as an ingredient,” said a campaign spokesperson.
To follow up on the launch of the New Ways With Bramley competition in 2003, nine catering college students competed in this year’s cook-off finals. The finalists, chosen from 50 entries, attended the final on June 24 at Westminster Kingsway College. The judging panel included: Dan Bignold from Caterer & Hotelkeeper magazine, Keith Burton; executive development chef at Sodexho; and Ian Mitchell, chairman of the Bramley Campaign. The winner, Angharad Jones from Llandrillo College in Wales, was awarded the prize of £1,000 and £500 for her college.
“The judges were looking for innovative recipes which best demonstrated the delicious taste of Bramley apples, were well presented and were practical for caterers to prepare easily within a reasonable budget.” Angharad scooped first prize with her Bramley apple and amaretti cheesecake and the judges commended her dish for its “delicious fruity Bramley flavour, melt-in-the-mouth texture and beautiful presentation”.
And finally the Brammy Awards 2004 were held in July for the 11th year to award manufacturers, caterers and the media for their contribution to the sales and promotion of Bramley apples during the year. Overall it has been a busy year.
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