Category Archives: food

April 28, 2017 · 11:03 am

What Do You Know

It’s Foodie Friday and this week I want to reflect on an experience I think many of us have had. I’m not quite sure what to call it – an awakening? An education? It’s what happens when you have your preconceptions of what a food is blown away by a much better version. It’s what happens, for example, when you take someone whose idea of Mexican food comes from years of eating at Taco Bell or whose conception of pizza has been shaped by Papa John’s to an authentic taqueria or to a pizza place that uses great ingredients and a coal-fired oven. I’ve had that experience with a friend, who now refers to two kinds of pizza: pizza and real pizza.

English: Picture of an authentic Neapolitan Pi...

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The point of this isn’t that they had low standards or unsophisticated tastes before they experienced the real deal. They just didn’t know, and that’s something that’s applicable across many businesses. It becomes especially more relevant as your product gets closer to a commodity. Consumers probably have an existing opinion that’s based on something that’s usually fairly mainstream. Our job as marketers is to help them to know that there is a difference and why our product does a better job than what they might believe is possible.

How do we do this? Sampling is the most obvious answer. That’s not just giving out food samples on the street. It’s free trial periods of services. I thought that most online accounting software was the same, for example, until I needed to get some customer service help during my free trial period. One company was head and shoulders above the others I tried and they now collect $15 from me every month. They helped me to know.

My favorite taco place is just down the street from a Taco Bell. The menu is in Spanish, they offer goat, tripe, and lengua tacos along with some of the best fish tacos and tortas I’ve ever had. Would you know that as you drove past on your way to Taco Bell? Not unless I took you there. Our job as marketers is to help people know. Are you doing that?

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April 21, 2017 · 10:17 am

A Matter Of Trust

If you’ve eaten recently you might want to wait to read today’s Foodie Friday Fun. As always on Friday we look at something going on in the food world and attempt to broaden the lesson beyond food. Today’s topic is food-tech. I’m not talking about the robots who are making burgers or pizzas (we’ve already visited with them). Today it’s the food itself and how technology is changing the very nature of food.

Specifically, I want us to think about food made in the lab. Not new flavors of Pringles or the latest batch of Triscuit varieties. I mean things such as chicken and beef made in a lab with cells from living animals. Yes, such stuff exists and while it still costs about $9,000 a pound to make, in five years the scientists believe they’ll have the costs down to be comparable to what we now pay for chicken.

I’m also talking about GMO‘s – genetically engineered foods like the “impossible burger” that “bleeds” yet is made from plants or the apple that won’t brown when cut due to a gene beings removed. There are next to no studies on if these foods are safe over the long term nor are the few regulations able to keep up with the fast-changing developments in the field. So what we’re left with is “trust me”, and that’s something any of us in business need to think about.

Do I think consumers are begging for apples that won’t brown? No, but I do think there is ample evidence that they want their food to be safe as well as to know where it comes from and how it’s made. That same principle applies to your business as well. Consumers will trust you up to a point. In the case of food, they believe that the FDA and other governmental organizations are protecting them (which is laughable but another topic). In your case, it might be that you’ve built up trust over a number of years. In fact, trust is one of the most important assets a company or brand has. When it’s lost, as in the case of the Volkswagen diesel fiasco, the company risks disappearing. There are many excellent pieces how brands are losing trust – I’d encourage you to read this one as a start.

From my perspective, food companies should spend less on developing GMO’s and more on transparency. Educate us, don’t feed us stuff that might not be safe. Build trust. Sound like a plan?

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April 14, 2017 · 10:56 am

Bilkies And Bunnies

Handmade shmura matzo

Image via Wikipedia

It’s Foodie Friday, and this year I’ve decided to repost something from a Foodie Friday in 2009. Originally titled “Jewish Thanksgiving,” I’m putting it back up because many of you are new readers since 2009 and because my family is gathering this evening to celebrate. That means I’m busy making bilkies. Making what? Read on!

This week’s Foodie Fun Friday post is dedicated to all of you who won’t be using the bathroom for the next week.  You know who you are.  But the gentiles out there are wondering “what could he possibly mean?  What could possibly stop someone up that badly?”  Well, dear readers, Passover started Wednesday night and by now, most Jewish homes have had two Seders. With those Seders goes matzo and when we say hello to the matzo, we say “buh-bye” to regularity.

As some of you know, my view is that most Jewish holidays can be summarized thusly:

Someone tried to kill all the Jews;
The Lord saved us;
Let’s eat.

Passover typifies this more than any other holiday. It’s really Jewish thanksgiving with brisket substituted for turkey and various other beige and brown foods substituting for the rest. Passover is a great culinary challenge on many levels.  Think about how often you use breadcrumbs or cornstarch when you cook and you’ll begin to understand.  Sure, matzo meal and potato starch are substitutes but they change the flavor, consistency, and appearance of the food in which they’re used.  Oy!

One dish that’s made in our family is something I’ve not seen elsewhere.  We call it a “bilkie or bilky” – not sure of the spelling.  It’s sort of a knish without the outside.  One cooks down some onions in schmaltz (don’t ask – these are really delicious and really not healthy) and adds them to mashed potatoes.  Some more schmaltz, matzo meal, and some eggs to bind.  Then one forms patties, glazes them with egg wash, and bakes them at 500 degrees until brown.  I usually make a few dozen of these and there are NEVER any left – my relatives put what they don’t eat in their purses, which isn’t easy since they’re the approximate size and weight of a compact car hubcap.   I’d love to know if any of you have ever heard of anything similar?

I love this holiday and love that it coincides with Easter.  Everyone has a reason to eat even if we can’t exactly share a lot of the desserts.  And in a week when we go back to eating as we regularly do, we all hope that the rest of us becomes as regular as our eating habits.   On to Memorial Day, the next great pig-out!

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