Fresh produce, welcome to #quarantinecooking
People are looking for comfort these days, and I don’t blame them.
Sour cream and onion biscuits, fudge brownies, pecan-caramel shortbread cookies and tahini bars were among March’s top 10 searched-for recipes on Bon Appetit’s website.
If my social media feeds and conversations with colleagues, family and friends are any indication, so-called #stressbaking is trending. I’ve noticed a bunch of related hashtags, such as #coronaviruscooking and #quarantinebaking, the last of which had 100,000 posts on Instagram by April 23.
Home-baked goods are blowing up right now, and the fresh produce industry needs to jump into the frenzy.
I already see many companies offering recipes on their newly revamped websites, and that’s great. Organizations such as Produce for Kids are publishing blog posts about how to cook at home while trying to work from home and teach homeschool. (Hint: It’s impossible to do all three, or even two, at 100%.)
For more coronavirus coverage, check out our landing page on the topic here.
We know social media is the way to draw people in. So are podcasts.
Heck, I’ve bought food products that I saw advertised on Instagram and Facebook and heard about during a food-themed podcast.
If you haven’t, rest assured that I’m one of many. And you can reach those of us who consume media in all the new ways, and influence us to reach into our trendy little pockets.
Drawing on the safe, comforting personality of Sesame Street’s Kermit the frog, Whole Foods recently e-mailed its Amazon Prime members a reminder that “it’s still easy being green,” and “greens are comfort food too,” with suggestions of adding greens to grilled cheese, making burrito wraps with them, and pureeing leftover greens for pesto to use on pasta or sandwiches.
Marketing, advertising and social media teams could offer these kinds of consumer tips and recipes on their social media channels:
- Potatoes: This is the most obvious, and arguably the most comforting vegetable. Bank on that with baked potatoes, twice-baked, scalloped, roasted and those oh-so-pillowy mashed potatoes.
- Push baked goods that require fresh produce: zucchini bread, banana bread, carrot cake, blueberry muffins; banana bread is the patron-saint quickbread of quarantine. Ooh! Call it #quarantinequickbread.
- Low-carb/keto baking/health-conscious: Mash any root vegetable, like carrots, sweet potatoes, celeriac and cauliflower. Bake mini vegetable-filled frittatas in muffin tins, and other eggsellent ideas (had to).
- Some consumers who don’t have work or children are bored out of their minds at home. Target adventurous, complicated recipes toward these people.
- Others are more stressed than ever as they juggle childcare, work and home without any outside help because of social distancing. Offer them the relief of super-easy, quick, fridge-cleaning recipes — seriously simple, like two to four ingredients.
- Have you ever roasted grapes with your meat? It’s good.
- Remind consumers that they can add vegetables and fruits to their indulgent treats in so many ways, such as the sweet potato featured in dip, pancakes, fries and cookie recipes that Brighter Bites features on its website.
Amy Sowder is The Packer’s Northeast editor. E-mail her at asowder@farmjournal.com.
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