As the California Prune Board approaches the close of its 65th anniversary year, a celebratory dinner was held in London - at the legendary Savini at Criterion - attended by a number of high profile California prune Brand Ambassadors.
World renowned chocolatier Paul.A.Young; Peter Sidwell, chef, author and founder of Simply Good Food TV and the newly appointed Health Brand Ambassador, consultant nutritionist and registered dietitian Hala El-Shafie, (associated with a number of high profile TV shows) attended the trade event which acknowledged a number of significant achievements over the last 12 months.
These include:
- The announcement of a newly forged working relationship with Savini, the prestigious brand synonymous with upmarket fine dining, whose restaurants include Savini Milano 1867, located in the exclusive Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II and Savini at Criterion in Central London.
- Following the Board’s long-standing association with funding research designed to corroborate the extensive health and nutritional benefits associated with the consumption of prunes, the roll-out of the Board’s largest clinical trial ever. It is anticipated to provide further evidence to strengthen and help explain the link between prunes and normal bone health.
- The hailing of prunes as ‘the food of the future’ on national TV, after the airing of Channel 4’s ‘Superfoods’ program which recognized California prunes’ 2016 research indicating that eating prunes may be beneficial to countering the effects on bone of exposure to space radiation.
- A 99% increase over the unusually light harvest of 2016, marking a return to typical levels of production.
- The successful roll-out of a marketing program in the UK designed to encourage food professionals and development chefs to recognize California prunes as the perfect inclusion for today’s foodservice sector.
California Prunes’ Brand Ambassadors, Peter Sidwell, Hala El-Shafie and Paul A Young with European Marketing Director Esther Ritson-Elliott at a celebrator dinner held Savini at Criterion in Central London.
Commenting on the event, Esther Ritson-Elliott said, “We are delighted to be able to celebrate the end of this important year with so many of our Brand Ambassadors, whose valuable input continues to help us educate consumers, the trade and food professionals alike, on the supreme quality of California prunes, and their increasing relevance as a versatile healthy and nutritious snack or cooking ingredient, as well as a viable inclusion for the foodservice sector. Our 65th anniversary year demonstrates the continuing commitment of California prunes leading the category, investing in high profile research to strengthen the health credentials of prunes; identifying new markets with a strong allegiance to premium ingredients and developing long-term partnerships with key opinion-formers whose endorsement of our product provides added weight to all marketing communications.”
Contact:
Esther Ritson-Elliott
California Prune Board UK