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WHAT’S COOKING
There are many ways customers learn about retail cooking school classes.
“Chalkboards and holders with brochures placed in the front of stores are one way we let customers know about The Cooking School @ Market Bistro and the classes offered,” says Maureen Murphy, manager of consumer services and trends at Price Chopper Supermarkets, one of 134 stores operated under the Price Chopper and Market 32 banners by the Schenectady, NY-based Golub Corporation. “We also advertise the classes, as well as have a dedi- cated web page where customers can see the calendar of upcoming classes, read a description of the classes and see a list of the recipes and even register online.”
The 2014-opened school, a brainchild of Price Chopper president Neil Golub, features a state-of-the-art kitchen equipped with hands-on cooking stations each fully stocked with appliances, knives and cooking equip- ment designed to resemble a home kitchen. Price Chopper cooking classes rst took root in the late 1990s and were held in rented community facilities. One of the chain’s early chef hosts taught how to make quick and easy meals, a concept that she, Rachael Ray, later shot to stardom with on the Food Network.
Retail cooking schools now provide ‘something for everyone’ as noted in the 2017 FMI survey. For example, lunch and dinner classes are held Tuesday through Saturday and a brunch class on Sundays at Fry’s Signature Marketplace Culinary School in Phoenix. The school is part of the Tolleson, AZ-headquartered Fry’s Food
Grilled California avocado and watermelon salad at Bristol Farms Cooking School (left) and Peach Melba marsca- pone cheesecake topped with raspberries from Publix Aprons Cooking School.
& Drug Stores, a division of the Cincinna- ti-based Kroger Company.
“We offer classes for all ages: Lil Chef’s 6 to 7 years old; Jr. Chef 8 to 12; Teen Chef 13 to 17; and adults age 18 and up,” says Omei Eaglerider, chef instructor. “We will hold any class, from two to 20 people.”
Beyond this, Maria Brous, Publix’ director of media and community relations, says, “Our classes include demonstration, hands-on, private, pairing, cooking tech- niques, specialty and the list goes on. The environment is perfect for dinner, girl’s night, date night, family fun, etc.”
PRODUCE FIRST
What unites all these retail cooking schools is an emphasis on produce.
“We use nearly every type of produce,” says Grace-Marie Johnston, cooking school director at Bristol Farms, a 12-store chain based in Carson, CA, since the school’s inception in 1993. “I don’t have an exact quantity, but produce is by far the largest
ingredient used in classes.”
This is certainly what my daughter and I
discovered at our Wine and Cheese Pairing demo-style class at Publix. The four-course menu started off with a trio of appetizers: grilled prosciutto wrapped g with Gorgon- zola sprinkled with fresh parsley; a cored Honeycrisp apple sliced into horizontal ovals, dusted with salt and sugar, topped with shredded aged Cheddar and broiled; and whipped Camembert cheese, mixed with dried apricots, pipped onto a baguette and topped with slices of Anjou pear.
The salad course featured an arugula and grilled mango salad with shaved Manchego cheese, macadamia nuts and habanero honey vinaigrette, and included a talk by chef instructor Keith Eisen on how to tell when a mango is ripe, and how to cut this tropical fruit. Several students inquired as to what ngerling potatoes were when it was time for the entrée; grilled salmon and Gouda Mornay Sauce with roasted fennel and ngerlings. Fresh peaches starred in the
THE RISE OF RETAIL COOKING SCHOOLS
Retail cooking classes aren’t new. For example, e Cooking Schools have been located inside Tops Friendly Markets since 1991, when the 126-store chain headquar- tered in Williamsville, NY, was purchased by Koninklijke Ahold NV, a Netherlands-based major international food retailer.
“One of the stores in Amherst was the biggest supermarket in Western New York at the time,” explains Grace Hanusin, Tops’ Amherst, NY-based regional cooking school manager. “ is store featured many unique departments, including the Cooking School. People from all around the world came just to see it. e school was such a success that two more cooking schools have been added, in West Seneca and Rochester.”
More recently, in 2008, Harmons Grocery introduced its rst cooking school at its Bangerter Crossing location in Draper, UT. Today, the 18-store chain, based in West Valley City, UT, has ve cooking schools.
“ e school’s initial goal was to teach our customers how to use the many new products Harmons was beginning to sell, many of which were foreign to our customer base at that time,” explains Tyler Kofoed, cooking school and catering director. “We very quickly learned the scope could be much larger. We discovered the cooking schools gave us a unique opportunity to speak with our customers for two to three hours during each class, not just three to ve minutes as down on the sales oor. e schools gave us the ability to endear our customers to
Harmons by creating food-centered expe- riences our customers would remember, by building foodie culture in the markets in which we operate, and by creating a food-fo- cused community center where our customers can come learn about new food trends, build their cooking skills, learn new techniques and discover exciting new products.”
Each of Harmons’ cooking schools is sta ed with a full-time, salaried chef. e chefs hold an average of four classes per week, or more than 1,000 classes, and serve more than 15,000 customers annually. In addition, chef responsibilities include promoting the retailer’s products to a much larger audience via multiple media news spots each month.
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