South Africa’s most loved kitchen companion for over 80 years, KOO has solidified itself on the market as the leading canned and jarred goods.
Straight off the helm of a successful second season of the beloved reality cooking competition, Colour Your Plate With KOO this festive season promises to be an exciting culinary journey for all who tuned into the show.
While KOO has been responsible for several memories for as long as South Africans can remember from fond Sunday lunches, Christmas desserts and daily lunchbox memories KOO has been an integral part of our culinary journey as South African’s.
“We pride ourselves on telling authentic South African stories for South African’s to never lose trust in KOO. With locally sourced fruit and vegetables that do not lose their nutrients due to long hours of travelling before packaging. We want to ensure a clear thread of farm to can freshness and goodness while contributing to the South African economy by ensuring that all farmers both big and small contribute to KOO’s catalogue so our consumers never lose trust in our brand,” said Edna Mohale – Maphita.
KOO has been the backbone of South Africa’s culinary experience with their wide selection of canned goods that have been a huge part of our childhood memories for as long as we can remember.
KOO’S brand heritage spans over 80 years with a catalogue as diverse as our Rainbow Nation and remains open to interpretation as boldly and flavorful by every culture, and ethnicity this beautiful country holds.
Speaking on the success of the second season of Colour your Plate With KOO and the anticipation of a third season Edna said; “this season showed the caliber of culinary enthusiasts that know and understand the brand and can think outside the box to create unique, flavourful, nutritious and colourful plates that won’t only impress the judges but inspire South African’s to create meals that speak to our diverse rainbow nation. What it takes to be on the show is the ability to think outside the box and constantly challenge yourself to create sensational dishes that are unexpected and full of creative ideas that is colourful and nutritious.”
To find out more about the third season of Colour Your Plate With KOO keep your eyes peeled on the KOO website.
QUESTIONS
What is the meaning behind Colour Your Plate?
Over the last few years, we’ve observed that maintaining good health has been a struggle for most people. Even before the global pandemic our health as a nation was already declining at an alarming and exponential rate. As leaders in food, we've really taken this problem to heart and realized we need to educate South Africans on how they can make changes to their eating habits in an easy and sustainable way. By colouring your plate, individuals not only have increased appetite appeal on their plate but are also getting more nutrients in their body, the more colour you add to your diet the more nutritional benefits you are getting. The show Colour Your Plate with KOO allowed us to provide viewers with ways in which they could incorporate KOO products into their meals to add colour, whilst showcasing the immense culinary talent in our nation.
What are you looking for in the next season’s contestants?
We look for passion and creativity. In order to withstand the culinary career, these are the two most important attributes that a Chef requires, and we want to ensure that they use the platform and the learnings from the show to make a name for themselves and springboard their careers to new heights. At KOO we are passionate about growing talent, and the willingness to learn and for self-improvement is something we look for in all our contestants, as this will take them far.
Will there be a season?
If South Africans continue to love and engage with our show, we would love to be on air. At KOO we are passionate about making eating better easier for all South Africans and the show provides us with the tools to do this.
Is there anything exciting that we can look forward to in KOO’s canned goods catalogue?
As a brand we are continuously innovating to ensure we provide our consumers with accessible and affordable nutritional offerings. We have recently launched into KOO Pilchards to provide an affordable source of protein for our consumers with the benefits of heart wellness and omega 3. We have also expanded our fruit range to include Pineapples, so in these summer months South Africans will be able to enjoy it whether in a baked good, a blended drink or just as is. KOO will continue to innovate in the near future, so consumers just need to watch out for any announcements.
What is KOO doing to give back to South Africa?
KOO has a bursary programme for culinary students at the prestigious Jackie Cameron School of Food & Wine. This programme allows young aspiring chefs the opportunity to not only attend this school, but to be mentored by Chef Reuben Riffel, thus providing them with the necessary skills and experience to enter into the culinary industry.