In 2014, Canola Eat Well asked us to help them raise their profile with Industry Experts, Food Influencers and Instagrammers, Registered Dietitians, Mommy Bloggers, Media and Chefs – and give them all a story to tell about Canola oil and the farmers who make it.
We responded with a unique workshop series that brings the Canola story from the field to the kitchen, makes Canola oil the hero ingredient of the night and invites attendees to join the Canola family. We’ve been running these workshops since 2014, and we’ve connected Canola to over 300+ tastemakers across the country.
Workshops are created with a theme that corresponds to the time of year or what happens to be trending (i.e., we did a Grilled Cheese competition for Grilled Cheese Month and a Holly Jolly Baking Party for Christmas). Each workshop includes eye-opening, savoury experiences including hands-on canola crush activity, product demonstrations, a collaborative cooking component, food challenges and informative talks by special guest famers like Curtis McCrae (Manitoba), Will Bergmann (Manitoba), Tanya Pidsadowski (Alberta) and Jeannette Andrashewski (Alberta).
As well, lucky attendees at each event are selected to go to the Canola Harvest Camp in Manitoba. And through #CanolaConnect, we made the workshops followable online so Canola could connect with new audiences.
We created a repeatable event structure, loose enough to adjust for theme but tight enough
to add value every time.
We pick a theme, an activity and Canola-based plates to feature.
Line up the right guests, chefs and hosts for the event.
Manage the logistics from location to staff to guest services.
Track results and learnings.
The Canola Eat Well Series is still going strong. We run multiple programs over the course of a year, we regularly introduce new themes and we get interest from new chefs and influencers every time.
The recipes created at the workshops are amazing, as is the content we capture. And getting the full Canola story (including where it’s made and who’s making it) is always well-received and appreciated by everybody.
Bringing farmers into the city and having our chefs and influencers learn about what farming is like in Canada. The appreciation for the work Canola farmers do is always amazing to see, and the stories swapped both ways are always so interesting.
The opportunity to debunk the misinformation about Canola’s health benefits to people who can spread the word, how creative those people get with their products, how “into” the events everybody gets, and how inspired they are by the Canola farmers.
Canola Contribution to Canada Chart courtesy of the Canola Council of Canada
