Creating meal magic in minutes becomes an adventure at the Taste of Home Cooking School, where pork has been a real showstopper this fall. For the second year, the Pork Checkoff is a national sponsor of the Taste of Home Cooking School, which runs through early December. Shows are being held in 145 U.S. cities, with up to 1,000 people attending each one.
“The great benefit of participating in the Taste of Home Cooking School is the ability to engage directly with our target consumers, who are interested in cooking and are looking for new ideas,” says Laurie Bever, director of consumer marketing for the Pork Checkoff. At each show, a recipe for Pulled Pork Tostadas with Slaw and Chipotle Cream is being demonstrated to attendees, who also learn how pulled pork can be used for a variety of delectable dishes.
“The shows create a lot of buzz and cooking excitement for favorite pork dishes that people can make time and time again,” says Bever, who noted that more than 100,000 people attended the Taste of Home Cooking School in 2011.
To encourage the cooking-school attendees to cook with pork, the Pork Checkoff is offering a coupon for $1 off any fresh pork product. The coupon and pork recipes appear in the cooking show magazine, which is distributed in a gift bag to attendees. The Pork Checkoff offered a similar coupon at the 2011 cooking schools and received a tremendous response.
“While a successful coupon-redemption rate is around 3%, our redemption rate was 8%,” Bever says.
Taste of Home Cooking School research from last year’s shows also indicated positive engagement with attendees:
• 84% had a positive opinion of pork
• 75% were likely to purchase pork
• 66% were likely to recommend pork
• 59% had/will make the featured recipe
“We’re trying to influence a large group of people with our advertising and promotions, so we have to make our Checkoff investments work hard,” Bever says. “Sponsoring the Taste of Home Cooking School offers an effective way to bring pork top of mind to active home cooks and continue to inspire their use and creativity with pork.”
For more information, contact Laurie Bever at LBever@pork.org or at (515) 223-2629.