ChefsBest adds content creation to offerings

Research and sensory testing organization ChefsBest is expanding its services. The San Diego-based company, which works to enhance product image through a taste validation process and seal of approval, now offers digital content support for marketing programs aimed at engaging consumers beyond the shelf. 

Qualifying brands will have access to programs designed exclusively for food and beverage companies. ChefsBest said the content creation will be part of a turnkey process for brands alongside its proprietary Sensory Attribute Quality Analysis, or SAQA, evaluation and its medallion. 

“Brand managers are under pressure to produce more digital marketing content, not only internally, but from retailers as well.  We all know, the power to connect with customers on digital platforms is immense, so buyers are asking them 'What is your digital plan?'" said Chris Faridniya, ChefsBest director of sales and marketing, who contributed to Store Brands’ February issue. “The challenge is to generate engaging content – photo, video and more – at scale that consumers can relate to, and we can help with that through unmatched authenticity, as a third-party organization where brands prove their value following our rigorous tasting and award programs.”

In his February column, Faridniya discussed how private brands used the tasting service to prove its quality matched that of national brands. The service here would push it to marketing online, too.

The company noted that Keurig Dr Pepper brand Mr & Mrs T was one of the first brands to engage with the new content creation offering. “As a beverage brand, we understand the value of the ChefsBest seal," said Katie Webb, vice president of marketing at Keurig Dr Pepper. "Extending our partnership with ChefsBest was a natural progression to amplify our message to a wider, digital audience and communicate authentically about the high-quality taste and excellence that Mr & Mrs T provides."

As part of the ChefsBest licensing agreement, brands receive professional photos from the tasting. Now, qualifying brands can choose to extend the collaboration to include social-sized images with taste validation quotes, recipes from ChefsBest’s Certified Master Tasters that use the product, recipe videos, videos summarizing the tasting process and results from ChefsBest’s sensory director, and video and other content to support brand sales teams throughout the sell-in process. 

"Third-party valuations are powerful for marketers, and with our ability to substantiate advertising claims, legal teams are embracing what we do as well," Faridniya said. "We want to be an industry resource that can help brands make better content, while staying true to our core value of taste claims validation. Not all brands will qualify, but those that do can unlock the power of an endorsement from ChefsBest, which has proven effective for nearly two decades. There is simply no other organization that can provide what we can."