Research Reveals that as Consumers Emerge from the Pandemic, They Are Considering Up-Leveling Their Holiday Menus and Making Beautiful Desserts, Resulting in First-Ever Partnership to Help Supercharge Traditional Friendsgiving and Thanksgiving Menus
LOS ALAMITOS, California – Thanksgiving and Friendsgiving are right around the corner, and according to research from Frieda’s Specialty Produce, as consumers emerge from the pandemic, they are considering ways to put a new twist on their traditional recipes this holiday season, especially when it comes to dessert. To celebrate the start of the November holiday season and to help consumers supercharge their traditional menus and make them extraordinary, today Frieda’s announces its partnership with Lauren Ko, Instagram phenomenon, founder of @lokokitchen and New York Times Best-Selling Author of PIEOMETRY. For the first time ever, Ko is working with Frieda’s to help bakers of all abilities up-level their holiday celebrations with Stokes Purple® sweet potatoes. Her newest work-of-art is called the Stokes Purple® Wave Pie.
“The holidays are evolving, and Thanksgiving is especially meaningful this year. People want to create. They want to bake. They want to experience something extraordinary after being so cautious for so long. Thanksgiving should be vibrant, healthy, colorful and delicious,” said Cindy Sherman, director of marketing, innovation and insights for Frieda’s. “From our research, we know that people are looking for ways to dial up the mood, add color to their meals and up-level their traditional recipes this Thanksgiving and Friendsgiving. Thus, we are so thrilled to be partnering with Lauren Ko to celebrate this incredible, vibrant pie artistry.”
With food at the center of Thanksgiving and Friendsgiving celebrations, Frieda’s research revealed that more than 30% of consumers know it can bring a sense of comfort. Dessert is a major consideration and men, surprisingly, skewed higher in many areas of the research:
More than 25% of consumers feel they need to get back the lost time with their family and friends. Surprisingly, this number skewed higher with men vs. women.
More than 60% of consumers ages 25-34 agreed that they would consider making a beautiful dessert that adds color to their Thanksgiving and Friendsgiving tables.
More than 50% of consumers would consider making beautiful desserts, especially those that are social-media worthy.
More than 30% of consumers, especially those ages 18-44, would consider a twist on the traditional sweet potato pie and making it with Stokes Purple® sweet potatoes, with men showing stronger numbers vs. women.
More than 40% of consumers, especially those ages 18-44, would consider hand pies so that each person could have their own dessert, with men skewing higher than women in this category.
According to Sherman, dessert will be a major win with Ko’s Stokes Purple® Wave Pie, which brings together a filling featuring the just-right purple sweet potatoes, condensed milk and coconut cream topped with a design of purple potato waves with orange accents (using traditional sweet potatoes).
“This partnership is a match made in produce heaven! With the art that I love to create, Frieda’s unique offerings of fruit and vegetables inspire me to bake and build designs differently—with colors, textures and flavors,” said Lauren Ko. “I’ve experimented with a variety of potatoes, making both sweet and savory recipes, and I wanted to create something extra special for this holiday season. When I landed on the Stokes Purple® Wave Pie, I was really excited because every level of pie maker can use this recipe to create something extraordinary and artful. This extra touch of beauty feels especially needed after all we’ve been through with the pandemic.”
This holiday season the company is offering inspiration through new recipes so that everyone, at every level of indulgence, can create truly extraordinary holiday meals, according to Sherman. Stokes Purple® sweet potatoes are at the center of the holiday season because they are versatile and “just right”—not too sweet, too savory, too moist or too dry. Due to their deep purple color, they are full of anthocyanin antioxidants, just like blueberries, and are a good source of vitamin C and fiber, making them healthy, nutritious and delicious. Consumers can make healthy, colorful and delicious dishes that are both savory and sweet, from soups and fries to cakes and pies.
Frieda’s and Ko have created the following new holiday recipes. Find these recipes and more at Friedas.com.
Serving size: 8-10 / Prep time: 4 hours 15 min / Cook time: 2 hours 30 min
All-Butter Pie Dough
Ingredients
1/2 cup ice
1/2 cup cold water
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tablespoon granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
Prep steps
Combine ice and water in small cup or bowl. Set aside.
Put flour, sugar and salt in large bowl and stir with spatula to combine. Sprinkle in butter cubes and toss until each cube is coated in flour mixture. Flatten each cube of butter with your pointer fingers and thumbs. Toss again to coat flattened butter pieces. Continue massaging butter into flour until remaining shards resemble cornflakes in a range of sizes.
Add 2 tablespoons cold water, taking care not to include any ice; fluff moisture through flour and butter with spatula. Continue adding cold water 1 tablespoon at a time, pressing dough with spatula after each addition until it begins to come together. Avoid heavy kneading as overworking dough will lead to tough crust.
If dough is still dry and doesn’t hold together when a handful is squeezed, add a little more water. Don’t add too much water (usually 3-5 tablespoons total is sufficient).
When dough begins to hold together, turn it out onto work surface and gently form it into rounded mound. Wrap dough tightly in plastic, then gently press into a round flat disk, about 1 inch in thickness.
Refrigerate at least 3 hours or overnight before rolling.
Stokes Purple® Wave Pie Filling
Ingredients
1 pound Stokes Purple® sweet potatoes, roasted, peeled and roughly chopped into 1-inch chunks
1/2 can (7 ounces) condensed milk
2 tablespoons coconut cream
1 egg yolk
1/2 teaspoon coconut extract
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Place roasted sweet potatoes in blender container or food processor bowl, along with all other filling ingredients. Blend until smooth.
Final Ingredients
5 medium or 3 large Stokes Purple® sweet potatoes
1 orange sweet potato (optional)
Cooking Steps
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
On floured surface, roll rested disk of dough into a 14-inch circle. Roll dough onto rolling pin and unfurl it over 9-inch pie pan. Taking edges of the dough, gently ease it into pie pan, nestling it into the inner elbows of pan. Trim excess dough with kitchen shears to create 1-inch overhang. Fold overhang back under, creating an elevated edge. Crimp dough all around pie edge. Freeze pie shell solid, about 15-20 minutes.
To blind-bake, line frozen pie shell tightly with foil. Fill to top with pie weights and place on rimmed baking sheet to catch any butter drips. Bake 35 minutes until foil no longer sticks to dough. Remove foil and pie weights, then bake another 10-15 minutes or until crust begins to brown.
Pour prepared filling into par-baked pie shell; smooth surface with spatula. Set aside.
Peel uncooked sweet potatoes. Use sharp chef’s knife or mandolin to slice potatoes thinly. The slices shouldn’t be too thick to bend, but neither should they be translucent. They will need to stand upright in sweet potato filling.
Gather six slices of purple potato and lay them in slightly overlapping line on cutting board. Carefully transfer line of potatoes as single unit and stand them up in sweet potato filling, curving line slightly and using filling to hold everything securely in place.
Gather six more slices of potato and repeat process, then transfer to pie, placing adjacent to first line and following curve. Continue process of fitting lines of potatoes—staggering lines and varying curves—until entire surface of pie is covered. Vary number of slices in each line depending on remaining space. If using orange sweet potatoes for color variance, intersperse occasional lines of orange sweet potatoes.
Using pastry brush, brush small amount of melted coconut oil over tops of potato slices and cover pie securely with aluminum foil. The foil will help steam potato slices during baking and prevent them from drying out. Place pie on rimmed baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Brush a little more coconut oil on potato slices and continue baking for another 30-45 minutes or until potato slices are tender.
Serve pie warm or at room temperature. Store well-sealed leftovers in refrigerator; consume within three days.
Makes: 16 / Prep time: 20 min / Cook time: 20-25 min
Ingredients
Pie Filling
1 cup cooked Stokes® Purple sweet potato (roughly 1 medium potato)
1/4 cup organic granulated sugar
1 large organic egg
1/2 teaspoon Madagascar vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons coconut milk
Crust
1 (14-ounce) box double-crust ready-made pie dough
Cooking Steps
Preheat oven to 400 degrees, 375 degrees for convection.
In food processor bowl, pulse all filling ingredients gently until smooth and well combined.
Gently unroll pie dough. Cut 4-inch circles using round cookie cutter or ring mold. Gather leftover dough, re-roll and cut more circles.
Transfer rounds to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Add 1 1/2 tablespoons sweet potato filling to center of rounds, smoothing tops. Gently fold edges over to partially cover filling.
Bake 20-25 minutes depending on desired color.
Adapted from a recipe by Chef Brandon Hall, Owner of Thyme Well Spent
Makes: 16 / Prep time: 22 min / Cook time: 20-25 min
Ingredients
Pie Filling
1 cup cooked Stokes® Purple sweet potato (roughly 1 medium potato)
1/4 cup organic granulated sugar
1 large organic egg
1/2 teaspoon Madagascar vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons coconut milk
Crust
2 (14-ounce) boxes double-crust ready-made pie dough
Cooking steps
Preheat oven to 400 degrees, 375 degrees for convection.
In food processor bowl, pulse all filling ingredients gently until smooth and well combined.
Gently unroll pie dough. Cut 4-inch circles using round cookie cutter or ring mold. Gather leftover dough, re-roll and cut more circles.
Cut 2-inch circle, square, triangle, diamond or other shape from center of half the rounds; leave the other half uncut.
Transfer uncut rounds to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Add 1½-2 tablespoons sweet potato filling to center of whole rounds, smoothing filling to within ½-inch of edges. Add more sweet potato pie filling if desired—depends how full you want your pies. Brush edges with water. Top with rounds with shapes of cut outs. Crimp edges with fingers or fork.
Bake 20-25 minutes depending on desired color. Keep oven light on. Halfway through baking, check to see if pies need rotating depending on how evenly they’re baking.
Adapted from a recipe by Chef Brandon Hall, Owner of Thyme Well Spent
For more recipes that inspire.taste.love. visit Friedas.com. For media materials, visit and download Frieda’s media kit.
Los Alamitos, CA (September 2021) – Stokes Purple® sweet potatoes are back in season, and it’s the ideal time to showcase these colorful tubers. Frieda’s makes it easy with eye-catching, stand-alone shippers that help consumers realize they can easily add color and flair to their holiday meal.
Research shows that rich-hued purple vegetables are in demand, and pie is hotter than ever. A recent survey reveals that half of consumers plan to serve sweet potato pie this Thanksgiving, and more than one-third of consumers specifically said that they plan to make Stokes Purple® sweet potato pie with maple whipped cream. Surprisingly, men showed a bias for this versus women, and the purple pie over-indexes in popularity with consumers ages 18-44. 1
Why, you might ask? It might have something to do with the mixed sentiment of the holidays this year. Consumers want to celebrate but are still cautious to do so, so they’re looking for small ways to dial up the mood this Thanksgiving. In fact, 20% of consumers agreed that Thanksgiving would feel more festive if the food were more colorful (and this was as high as 25% amongst those with children). Additionally, 64% of consumers agreed that they wanted to make a beautiful dessert that adds color to the table, especially amongst consumers ages 25-34. 1
What better way to add display space for Stokes Purple sweet potatoes than an exclusive shipper, available only from Frieda’s? The eye-catching display showcases a camera phone-friendly ingredient list and QR code for the full recipe.
“Shopper interest in Stokes just keeps going up. Previously thought to be a specialty potato, our research shows that all demographics are buying Stokes year-round, and Thanksgiving is a great opportunity to gain trial in all stores,” says Alex Berkley, Frieda’s director of sales. “Our tastebud-tantalizing signage will leave your shoppers craving our signature Stokes Purple® sweet potato pie.”
Organic and conventional Stokes Purple® sweet potatoes are available now through May in 15-lb. and 40-lb. cartons. Every potato is labeled to reduce front-end checker error. An organic 12/3-lb. bag option is also available.
Call your Frieda’s account manager today for help in planning your ads now and pre-booking supply.
1 C+R 1,000 person study, August 2021
About Frieda’s Inc.
Frieda’s Specialty Produce has been inspiring new food experiences for friends, families, and food lovers everywhere since 1962. From kiwifruit and dragon fruit, to Stokes Purple® sweet potatoes and habanero peppers, Frieda’s has introduced more than 200 unique fruits and vegetables to the U.S. marketplace. Founded by produce industry trailblazer Dr. Frieda Rapoport Caplan, subject of the 2015 documentary “Fear No Fruit,” the family company is owned and operated by Frieda’s daughters, Karen Caplan and Jackie Caplan Wiggins, in Orange County, California. Find Frieda’s on Facebook, @FriedasProduce, and Friedas.com. Inspire. Taste. Love.
Los Alamitos, CA(August 2021) – The new school year is here but with mask mandates, mask bans, and unpredictability around when vaccines will be available for kids under 12, the only thing certain about this school year is uncertainty. But no matter how the year evolves, one constant involves inspiring your shoppers to make healthy, fun and delicious lunches for their kids.
“With a kindergartner and third-grader at home, we know all about back-to-school. It’s the perfect time to press the reset button on healthy lunches and encourage even your pickiest eaters to try something new,” says Cindy Sherman, mother of two and Frieda’s director of marketing & innovation.
Merchandising new favorites next to old standbys is a great way to shake up the daily routine with fruits that have familiar flavor profiles. Try merchandising Rambas™ rambutans next to grapes, highlighting their grape-like interior. An added bonus? The fun, rambunctious exterior of Rambas™ rambutans will make kids the talk of the lunch table and might even make “playing with their food” acceptable. Remind parents that rambutan packs an abundant amount of Vitamin C, perfect for those looking to boost their immunity.
As another option, create displays with Honey Dragons® dragon fruit next to pineapple, making this yellow-skinned dragon fruit an instant fan favorite for shoppers who are looking for a hint of sweet, honey-like juiciness. Or, cross merchandise dragon fruit with other tropical staples like kiwi and jackfruit. Round out the display with Frieda’s handy recipe card for the lunchbox-worthy Jackfruit, Dragon fruit & Kiwi Salad.
Want to promote an easy way to add an extra serving of veggies? Watermelon radish can bring a pop of color and crunch to kid-friendly lunches. Or, “In our house, Stokes Purple® Sweet Potato Power Bites are an easy lunchbox recipe must-have,” Sherman says. “It’s so delicious, the kids don’t even realize we’ve snuck in another serving of vegetables!”
Looking for more ideas to make your produce department the ultimate lunch-making destination? Call your Frieda’s account manager today for more product ideas and in-store marketing support that will keep your shoppers inspired all school-year long.
About Frieda’s Inc.
Frieda’s Specialty Produce has been inspiring new food experiences for friends, families, and food lovers everywhere since 1962. From kiwifruit and dragon fruit, to Stokes Purple® sweet potatoes and habanero peppers, Frieda’s has introduced more than 200 unique fruits and vegetables to the U.S. marketplace. Founded by produce industry trailblazer Dr. Frieda Rapoport Caplan, subject of the 2015 documentary “Fear No Fruit,” the family company is owned and operated by Frieda’s daughters, Karen Caplan and Jackie Caplan Wiggins, in Orange County, California. Find Frieda’s on Facebook, @FriedasProduce, and Friedas.com. Inspire. Taste. Love.
Los Alamitos, CA (September 2020) – October 1 marks the 43rd annual World Vegetarian Day. World Vegetarian Day was started in 1977 and serves to kick off Vegetarian Awareness Month, a month-long celebration of plant-based foods.
More and more people are embracing a plant-based lifestyle, and the emergence of COVID-19 has only accelerated that movement. Healthy, plant-based eating is fast emerging as a way for shoppers to feel in control of their health, while also giving their bodies the best chance of fighting off disease. According to IRI, fresh produce sales are up over 10% compared to last year, versus flat growth at the start of the pandemic1.
“The pandemic has resulted in what we like to call a ‘health trigger moment,” which is the point where consumers start to rethink their approach to diet and lifestyle. Right now consumers are making shifts in how they eat fueled by the quest for immunity, which is why World Vegetarian Month is the perfect opportunity to plug into the immunity-boosting benefits produce shoppers are looking for,” says Cindy Sherman, director of marketing & insights at Frieda’s.
How can your produce department capitalize on this movement and capture the shoppers’ attention? We suggest focusing on plant-based, immunity-boosting items, including the Stokes Purple® Sweet Potatoes (with almost 4 times the vitamin C of an orange sweet potato); Turmeric, known for its immunity-boosting, inflammation-fighting properties; and Ginger with its antioxidant, antimicrobial, and anti-inflammatory properties.
This World Vegetarian Day, be sure to have the fruit and vegetable variety shoppers are seeking for their health and wellness. Call your Frieda’s account manager today for ideas on how to make your store a vegetarian destination all month long!
Source: 1IRI, 210 Analytics, Produce Marketing Association data 8/23/20
About Frieda’s Inc.
Frieda’s Specialty Produce has been inspiring new food experiences for friends, families, and food lovers everywhere since 1962. From kiwifruit and dragon fruit to Stokes Purple® sweet potatoes and habanero peppers, Frieda’s has introduced more than 200 unique fruits and vegetables to the U.S. marketplace. Founded by produce industry trailblazer Dr. Frieda Rapoport Caplan, subject of the 2015 documentary “Fear No Fruit,” the family company is owned and operated by Frieda’s daughters, Karen Caplan and Jackie Caplan Wiggins, in Orange County, California. Find Frieda’s on Facebook, @FriedasProduce, and Friedas.com. Inspire. Taste. Love.
