We haven’t had any opportunities to grab booth swag at in-person trade shows in almost a year, but there are a few produce gadgets I’ve held onto from shows in years past. These promotional add-ons are great tools to make your product even easier to prepare, eat and store for freshness.
I’m usually against a single-use kitchen tool because drawer space is at a premium.
When it’s cherry season, however, I love, love, love my cherry pitter. It is one of the best single-use gadgets I’ve ever had for fresh produce.
The ease, convenience and speed this simple tool provides make it worth the space in the drawer those 10 months of the year when it’s not in use.
That’s a win for my cherry chipotle turkey chili, and it’s a win for all those cherries that don’t make it into my recipes because they end up in my mouth first.
And at some expo, I snagged an avocado keeper made out of flexible silicone, shaped like half an avocado, with space for the pit.
It’s so perfect when you want only half an avocado, which is often. It stores the avocado nicely, and only the outer layer gets brown, and you don’t have to waste plastic wrap or a plastic baggie (#sustainability) or a big Tupperware container.
I use this simple gadget year-round. Thanks, Avocados From Mexico.
Then there’s the cute little strawberry pitter. OK, so slicing off the green leaves from strawberries is not as hard as removing the pit from cherries, but this is still nice.
I love that I waste less good, red strawberry meat by scooping out just the green leaf part. I want every last ruby-red morsel of my berries — especially those super-sweet, in-season jewels.
Your company’s marketing minds could think of what to offer come the next in-person expo (it’ll happen), or how to partner with related companies for digital promotions, prizes and other marketing efforts on social media.
And lastly, the Microplane. I bought this one myself, and I’d recommend it to anyone. I actually was inspired by my former employer, Smitten Kitchen, a fellow NYC homecook, cookbook author, blogger and columnist.
It makes zesting a lemon so easy, and I use it year-round too. You can also use it for hard cheese, but I digress.
Your company’s marketing minds could think of what to offer come the next in-person expo (it’ll happen), or how to partner with related companies for digital promotions, prizes and other marketing efforts on social media.
Some retailers are starting to offer curbside pickup sampling kits or mailing sampling kits. You could participate and add a gadget in there too, with your logo or branding.
While I, my cat and my toddler love those squishy stress balls designed to look like a tomato, banana, grapes and an avocado, some of the swag at your exhibitor booths can be a real useful tool when cooking with fresh produce.
We know that one of the reasons consumers hesitate to buy some fresh produce is because they don’t know what to do with it and think it will take too much time or expertise to make a meal with it. These tools make your products more accessible to the masses, as well as the more expert home cooks.
Amy Sowder is The Packer’s Northeast editor.
More from Amy Sowder:
When promoting health, be wary of moral judgements
When a baby’s window for liking vegetables closes
Reflections on NYC shows, past and present
