Do You Hear What I Hear....(It's me!!)

Can you believe it’s been a month already?! One month since my last post. It’s been a wonderful month for me, starting with the fact that, I’m back here, with you. After deciding to make some changes in my life and leave sales, through the very gracious and kind thoughts of my management at Abel & Schafer, we decided that I would stay on as the author of our blog, Crumby News as well as our newsletter, of the same name. If you aren’t on the newsletter mailing list, send me an e-mail and we’ll get you signed up. It’s a condensed version of the blog, a few different pieces of information here and there and links to articles that I found interesting, or bits of news I’ve heard that I think are worth sharing.

In the past month I’ve also been to London on a mini vacation with my best friend, who graciously treated me to The Waldorf downtown in the theater district. The last time I was in London walking around the city, all I cared about was the then HUGE toy store Hamley’s, which at one time was the biggest toy store going. Before the introduction of Toy’s R Us, Hamley’s, which is six floors of just toys, was a dream. This time around, I was more focused on the amazing food finds, the outdoor markets, the endless possibilities and varieties of cultural food and my second taste of Indian Food, and from what I hear, authentic Indian Food. If you ask any Londoners, turns out Indian Food is THE food of London. More popular even than fish and chips with mushy peas, which I also had. I love me some chips and malt vinegar! Then after returning home, Thanksgiving was knocking at the door, more amazing food and some really really delicious pumpkin pecan rolls and some perfect, if I do say so myself, Parker House Rolls, and now it’s December and I’m two weeks away from heading to Seattle, Washington. I’ve never been to Washington, so I’m really excited to see a new place and to check out Pike’s Place Market, and yes, I’ll admit it, grab a cup of coffee. And SOON….so soon, I get to cut my Stollen! Who has made Stollen?

Speaking of who has made Stollen…I have to ask you all a favor! Nobody EVER responhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifds to me on this blog! I want to talk to you guys, hear about what you are baking, answer questions, recommend products and share my photo’s and see yours!! Please sign up so you can talk to me! I’m not above begging!! PLLLLLLEEEEEAAAAAASSSSSSEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!! You can’t tell, but I’m even on my knees.

Now, let’s get to business!Do you know who your target audience is? Do you strive to please everyone or is there a specific group that you aim to keep on top? I was reading an article from QSR’s online magazine written by their “marketing guru” Denise Lee Yohn about marketing efforts that will increase brand appeal. And she pointed out that for the quick serve restaurant the target audience is mom’s and the millennials, or those born in the 1980’s and 1990’s (80 million of them!!) who eat out 12 or more times a month and spend more of their income on food than any other generation has. I don’t know if I’m happy or sad I narrowly missed the boat on being classified as a millennial…hmm. Anyway, what the article points out is that since these two groups represent such a large source of spending that quick serve restaurants NEED to understand what drives them and when they do, they will certainly benefit. For QSR, millennials want creativity and innovation. The like options and opportunity to try new things whether it be ethnically or unusual, they like change and novelty. They want community engagement, they want to be listened to and they require social networking. Watch what you do and say, these customers make decisions based on what they see, read and hear. The second group, moms. We all know how important moms are, but did you know there are 32 million mom’s in the US and those 32 million account for $1.6 trillion in annual spending? I had no idea…I did know mom’s need ease, flexibility and options. They decide where the families go, they decide how the families eat and they like healthy options, value and convenience…quick convenience that is. Mom’s also like social media. They post pics, they blog, they research and they comment. Make mom happy. Yours, mine and the rest of them, they’ll take care of you in return. Just like a mom wants to!

So, the basic message? Mom’s need help, kids need value and you need customers. It’s the same give a little, get a little, you scratch my back I’ll scratch yours and do unto other’s lesson’s we’ve all been learning our whole lives. Can’t say I didn’t see that coming! Now, subscribe to my blog and tell me who your target audience is? I’d love to know how it varies by location and what you do to make your customers feel special. Who has an app? Who can be found with a geo tracker and Bing or Google? Let me know how you shine amongst your competition.

Isn't that Smart!

Yesterday as I was driving 25 miles an hour on a stretch of road that is
normally 55 miles an hour and running late, I was thinking I need to leave
earlier for anywhere I go now especially in the mornings and early afternoon
when school begins and lets out. So naturally I started thinking about
school…and teachers and the classic school teacher symbol, an apple. Well, then
I wanted to eat an apple. I love fruit. (I often tell people, if I could
survive on it alone, I would be a fruititarian, a word I thought I made up and
was quite pleased with myself until I heard another person I had never met, use
it. I won’t lie, I pouted.) Anyway, I love to eat fruit; I love to bake, I’m
sure you see where this is going.

Apple Muffins and a late check mark was what came of that car ride. Apple
muffins for a school teacher…translated as healthy apple muffins. Now, we all
know that I work for Abel & Schafer and my first choice for the baking I do
will always include a product that we sell…think of it as my blog sponsor(you've been to my blog, right?!!). But, before I worked for A&S I did some
product development and baking for a few other companies and the best products
I ever came across were indeed from Abel & Schafer! They were my first pick
before they had to be! Once you see and taste the quality (for those of you who
haven’t) you’ll jump on board too. Besides quality and deliciousness (is that a
word?) they are based/founded in Germany, and let me tell you something about
those European’s; they know how to bake! They know bread, they know pastries,
cookies…they got it all! Plus, they are a little more health conscience than we
are, and better about the environment. But that’s a whole other blog. ....So I
went through the gallery of products and recipes we have and low and behold,
and I don’t know when I got it, but there was a recipe for apple cinnamon
muffins made with our Whole Grain Fiber Nugget Mix! (I love when fate s miles
on me!) Now, if you want to talk healthy…the WG Fiber Nugget Mix is a great
place to start! It's all natural and you wouldn't know by tasting it, but it’s
chock full o’ fiber and happens to be one of our best selling lines of muffins.
It contains wheat, oat and soy bran, and eggs...so there are all of your
allergens you need to alert customers about!

If you would like to give these scrumptious muffins a try, drop me a line or give me a call, then let me know what you think, other fruits you try, and if you know a special teacher you are going to bring a muffin to! I’m giving one to my mom next time I see her, if I can pry that last one out of my boyfriend's hand anyway. I'll retype the formula here, but for a PDF version, send me an e-mail. kmckenna@kompletusa.com.


WHOLE GRAIN APPLE CINNAMON MUFFINS
Prep Time: 50 Minutes
Yield: 6 pounds, 3 oz

2lb 8oz Abel & Schafer Natural Whole Grain Muffin Mix 22260
1 oz Ground Cinnamon
14 oz Whole Eggs
14 oz Vegetable Oil
14 oz Water
1 lb Apples, cored, peeled and diced
Rolled Oats as needed

Method
1. Use a paddle to blend all ingredients on low speed for 1 minute. Thoroughly
scrape down the bowl and paddle and mix on medium speed for 6-8 minutes.

2. Add apples and mix on low speed only until they are fully incorporated.

3. Scoop into muffin cups of desired size, or fill a one-pound loaf pan with 16 oz
of batter and sprinkle with rolled oats.

4. Bake at 375 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes.

*For cholesterol free muffins, substitute egg whites for the whole eggs.
*For variations on the apple cinnamon use fruit of choice, dried fruit, chopped nuts,etc.

Granola a Million Ways

Healthy eating...It’s trendy and getting trendier. White flour is slowly becoming the enemy and guilt is outweighing pleasure in eating bakery treats. It feels as if the croissant is no longer an acceptable choice, nor the cheese Danish a responsible breakfast meal (heartbreaking). Bakeries have to get creative to keep business moving and look for additions to the menu to keep customers coming in and finding viable options. One answer comes as more of an description than menu item; healthy.

One of the healthy alternatives that many bakeries have turned to is granola, an old friend of the past. But today’s granola is not like yesterdays. Granola is a melting pot of opportunities, a cabinet cleaner if you will. What happens to be on hand could make some very tasty meal replacements. It can range from cocoa nibs, to citrus rind to some dried fruit you forgot you had, it’s a choose your own adventure recipe that keeps customers happy and looking forward to variety. Another huge advantage is granola comes in all shapes and sizes. Chewy, sticky, or crunch it is a great topping for yogurt, a gem with some milk or a topping on a pastry or ice cream. Sales can even successfully transcend to a pretty take home bag with a pretty price tag. Granola is a great buffet item, an easy mail order and perfect for in-house use.

Every one's granola can be different but I suggest starting off with a base that makes the whole process faster and easier? No stove top work, no binding oils, no hand tossing to ensure even coating, just Abel & Schafer and Florenta. The steps are as easy as they come. Add the ingredients of your choice with the Florenta (02122) mix and bake. You can add dried fruit for a softer, slightly sticky granola or some water or left over egg whites for chewy granola or granola bars. The only hard part is deciding what to toss in the mix, and what to do with the time you are saving by starting with Florenta.

To show you how very easy it is to use Florenta, check out this YouTube video we made. http://youtu.be/fhGZeaM7TMA. In this video, we are making Florenta Brittle. That's a whole other post, which I promise to get to soon, but you will get the feel for the process.

See you Soon!

Sales Gal