Tag Archives: Reuben Robertsons Riffel

kulula and Robertsons #SkyDine demonstrates Partnership Marketing, but is it credible?!

March 31, 2014

A workshop held above Truth coffee shop about ten days ago, at which One Up Agency’s Alex Harrington-Griffin and Cape Town Magazine Managing Director Marcus Zandhuis spoke, focused on the concept of Partnership and Collaboration Marketing, and used Robertsons’ recent #SkyDine collaboration with kulula.com as one example of such marketing.

The Robertsons #SkyDine promotion is an interesting if not bizarre example of Partnership Marketing. Chatting to the brand’s Social Media Manager at The Ultimate Braai Master Cape finals on Saturday, he explained that Liquorice, the company he works for, only handled the Social Media aspects of the campaign. Durban-based ad agency The Hardy Boys, handling the Robertsons’ account, conceptualised the campaign. A planeful of bloggers and food journalists from Cape Town (and Johannesburg) was invited by marcusbrewster, the campaign PR agency, to a surprise flight to Johannesburg, and on the return flight to Cape Town, Reuben Robertsons Riffel introduced the surprise 3-course meal which he had designed, and which was prepared by airline catering company Foodirections. Utilising plane crockery and an airline catering company, food plating and presentation was disappointing. We recognised Continue reading →

Justin Bonello passionate and patriotic Cooked in Africa Films food TV producer! Ultimate Braai Master Season 3 on the grill!

March 30, 2014

Yesterday I was invited to attend the judging of the Cape Finals of Season 3 of Ultimate Braai Master held in the parking area of The Lookout at the V&A Waterfront. Not only was it a good way to catch up with a number of chefs who judged the Cape Finals, but it was also an opportunity to meet Cooked in Africa Films producer Justin Bonello.

Justin chatted to blogger Thuli Gogela of Mzansi Style Cuisine Blog (she appeared in the Bloggers episode of season 2 of MasterChef SA) and I as the judging came to an end at the Finals. One sensed his overriding passion for food, which has grown into TV production, with 21 productions to date, including two previous Ultimate Braai Master seasons, two seasons of Charly’s Cake Angels, as well as ‘Seasons at Terroir‘, which was launched last week and focuses on Chef Michael Broughton, and his restaurant Terroir at Kleine Zalze. Justin denied that Terroir not making the Top 20 Eat Out restaurant list last November was a blow to their production, saying that Chef Michael’s food is beyond Top 10 competitions, clearly a fan of the chef’s food. He is fascinated by the revolution of growing one’s own vegetables and herbs, and proudly showed me a photograph of his vegetable garden at home, out Hout Bay way, which will become the subject of a TV series ‘Green Time’ at the end of 2015, with seven pilot projects of vegetable gardening at schools being developed. Continue reading →

Reuben Robertsons Riffel new MasterChef SA judge: Robertsons MasterChef monopoly?

February 10, 2014

What a surprise to read on Friday that Reuben Robertsons Riffel is to replace Chef Andrew Atkinson as a MasterChef SA judge in Season 3, which is to be filmed shortly. It raises the question as to the role of Robertsons, already the headline sponsor of the reality TV cooking programme, and whether Riffel will continue his endorsement of the bottled herb and spice brand, which would then be a conflict of interest!

Riffel became the Robertsons spokesperson two years ago when MasterChef SA was first flighted, and lost all credibility in selling his soul to Unilever in endorsing Robertsons, and Rama margarine on the side! As Riffel has publicly declared that he only uses Robertsons spices and herbs in his home, and not in any of his restaurants, he already has no credibility. Recently Unilever tried to mislead chefs and restaurants by presenting a media release, which made the unsubstantiated claim that an increasing number of chefs are using bottled herbs and spices!

In the past two years serious chefs have distanced themselves from Riffel, laughing behind his back in him being so stupid to associate himself with a bottled herb brand, when it is completely contra the trend to using fresh Continue reading →

Chefs increasingly using bottled herbs and spices, says Robertsons!

February 6, 2014

One of the more amusing media releases to cross my desk recently was one from Robertsons, proclaiming a trend to a greater use of bottled spices and herbs by chefs, clearly an attempt by the company’s Marketing department to resurrect the reputation of Chef Reuben Robertsons Riffel, who endorses their brand.

Quoting Michael Mellis, MD of Unilever Food Solutions South Africa, the media release praises the quality of the Robertsons’ products: ‘Robertsons has come a long way since it was established almost 90 years ago – but it has never lost sight of the excellent quality that has always been an intrinsic part of the brand heritage. Today our products are used by people who strive to create consistently good and flavourful meals, in fact, sales of the renowned Robertsons Chicken Spice have now reached unprecedented levels, with one unit being sold every 90 seconds‘.

The release gushes on in a sales driven manner, despite being written by Strategic Public Relations: Continue reading →