Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
A culinary school tends to provide more education associated with the
food and is often extended over a week, months or even a year. A cooking
school provides a more basic approach and again may take place over a
period of time, whilst a cooking class is just that, a session where consumers
learn to cook during a day or a few hours on the farm.
Most people love to cook and the kitchen is becoming more of a focal
point in the home than it has been in the recent past. Cooking classes are
therefore something that is an integral part of food tourism. The key to suc-
cess is 'Make and Take'. The food tourist wants to be able to make a meal and
take it away with them.
Cooking classes we believe will become more popular on the farm in the
future, but it is not only the farm where cooking schools are taking place.
Consumers are now engaging in 'community cooking centres' where shop-
pers can collaborate and learn from each other in the supermarket. These
social events, according to Phil Lempert,
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are the ideal venue for the aging
millennial population. They are a group that likes to cook, but do not neces-
sarily have the skills to make elaborate meals at home. This is also another
example of where the mainstream retailer can take advantage of the trend in
food tourism and blend retailing and tourism.
The key to success is to ensure that the cooking school or class is estab-
lished, plus, it needs to be different from other cooking schools on offer in
the catchment area.
Consider the following ideas to make it a point of difference:
•
Introduce special offers during the workshop. This could include a bas-
ket of food harvested from the farm. Make sure the visitor takes home
something authentic from the premises. When we attended a cooking
school recently in Italy we were presented with a cook book written by
the demonstrator and a unique apron that has become a conversation
piece when we cook at home for guests.
•
Provide local dishes, especially those that are unique to the area.
•
At the start of the lesson find out what allergies exist in the group and
address those in the demonstration, plus explain the nutritional value of
the products being used in the cooking school demonstration.
•
Provide interesting information that will make the experience memor-
able. This is where the stories about the food and the farm can make a
huge difference to the experience.
For marketing the cooking school or class:
•
Leaflets are an essential tool even in this connected world. Get the leaf-
lets distributed into local tourist information kiosks and hotels.
•
Invite local organizations to a cooking class; this will help build 'word of
mouth' and 'word of click' marketing.
•
Hand out leaflets at local shows and schools and again offer special events.
Consider the following when you are demonstrating:
•
Gather all the ingredients and cooking utensils together in advance and
double-check all the equipment is at hand, working and clean. Some
