Pink Lady America & Bob’s Red Mill Partner For Gluten Free Treat

When the marketing arm behind the Pink Lady Brand Apple went looking for a new partner who could match the quality of its apple, it didn’t look any further than Milwaukie, Ore. and Bob’s Red Mill.

“We’ve been focusing on Valentine’s Day for several seasons with a major stress on giving a loved one a gift box of Pink Lady brand apples,” says Alan Taylor, marketing director, Pink Lady America LLC (PLA), headquartered in Yakima, Wash.

“But with a recent Scripps Networks Interactive’s Great American Country Lifestyle report showing apple pie as the number one dessert and by a wide margin (66%), we decided to move in a different direction this year especially if we could find a partner known for its quality.”

What PLA discovered in Bob’s Red Mill is a state-of-the-art milling, packaging and distribution company which does make pie crust mix. However, it’s just one selection in a product line which includes whole grain flours, cereals and baking mixes, as well as a full line of gluten-free products.

In business over 30 years, employee-owned Bob’s Red Mill does it milling, testing, packaging and distributing for thousands of units all under one roof. They also do factory tours.

“We didn’t need to know anything more,” Taylor says. “This would be a perfect fit starting with the pie crust mix so we contacted Cassidy Stockton."

"Cassidy Stockton is the Social Media Manager at Bob’s Red Mill and a big fan of the Pink Lady apples, and was immediately on board with a program involving our complementary products.”

It was agreed the best way to start the partnership would be to involve social media and to provide the best and most delicious way to put the products together for a Valentine’s Day treat. “Actually, we liked the idea so much we decided to kick off our partnership with a recipe for a Pink Lady treat for the remainder of February and into early March,” Taylor says. “And yes, it uses Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Pie Crust Mix but through the magic of Sarah House in Bob’s test kitchen, it forms the foundation for a Pink Lady Tarte Tatin.” They are now co-promoting a recipe bringing Pink Lady Brand Apples together with Bob’s Red Mill wheat-free, gluten-free and dairy-free pie crust mix. The recipe uses two pounds of Pink Lady Apples and Bob’s says it will be “Easy As Pie.” All that’s required is to “Mix It, Chill It, Roll It, Fill It and Brake It.” And in the end, “Enjoying It!” Pink Lady America and Bob’s Red Mill will be using the Bob’s Red Mill blog to get the word out on the co-promotion along with their Facebooks, websites and extensive email lists. “We’re really looking forward to working with Cassidy and Bob’s Red Mill in what we see as just the first step in a really tasty collaboration,” Taylor says. “Bob’s Red Mill has a lot of other products also working very well with Pink Lady so everyone can look forward to even more ‘deliciousness’ in future seasons.”