Chef Camp

Written By: Guest Columnist, JEAN LONIE, Coordinator for International Marketing, Texas Department of Agriculture

Part of our work at the Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) is to help promote the outstanding products grown here in the Lone Star State – and we are always excited to get to highlight Texas peanuts (and our peanut producers!). Through initiatives like the GO TEXAN program, we can promote Texas products to consumers here in Texas and now, thanks to online shopping, across the country. What you may not know is that we also work hard to promote products like Texas peanuts to partners and consumers around the world. 

In December, TDA was able to work with TPPB to feature your products as part of an international “Chef Camp” held for culinary executives at resorts in India and Taiwan. As a lead-up to the event, coordinators visited a Texas peanut farm and worked with a retail/wholesale partner who purchases, adds value to, and sells, Texas peanuts. The participants in this program do a lot more than oversee daily menus for their multiple restaurants and food service entities; they are key purchasers of food and beverage products across multi-national resorts. During this call, Texas peanuts were introduced not only as an ingredient for meals, but also as a top-tier product for the multiple lounges and bars at the resorts, and as an ideal room drop/welcome gift for VIP guests and other special visitors. An added bonus the chefs picked up on right away was that with the ability to package products in individual serving sizes, they can easily provide these treats to guests while adhering to their resort’s COVID-19 guidelines!

Whether we are promoting your products to these high-end resorts, exploring the potential for global retail sales or finding new partners interested in importing your products in bulk, we look forward to continuing our work with TPPB to take Texas peanuts worldwide!