National Holiday program

Canadian cheese has always had a starring role to play during the holiday season. Under the theme “Holidays, Made in Canada,” DFC’s National Holiday program (running across Canada with the exception of Quebec) reminded consumers of the central role Canadian cheese plays in the festive season and promoted sales during this period.

The campaign was brought to life through two stop-motion videos produced for the Web, outdoor billboards, in-store visibility and activations, a recipe booklet and purchase incentives in partnership with Checkout 51.

The creative played on the popular Canadian winter themes of tobogganing, cozying up, snowball fights and snowflakes. From Nov. 30 to Dec. 31, consumers were directed to a single, inspiring destination: all you need is cheese.

In grand style – celebrating Canada’s best cheeses

This special edition of our quarterly all you need is cheese magazine was entirely devoted to the winning cheeses from this year’s Canadian Cheese Grand Prix (CCGP). Held every two years, this national competition is a showcase of Canadian cheese-making artistry and the best cheeses made from 100% Canadian milk.

In addition to show-stopping recipes featuring this year’s winners, DFC presented two uniquely inspiring cheeseboards created by CCGP jury member chef Michael Howell and food columnist Sue Riedl.

The first showcased all of the winning Goudas from the Grand Prix, and the second, the Cheddars. We also featured a full-length article signed by cheese expert Anne-Marie Rajabalee on the Grand Champion – the triple-cream Laliberté produced by Jean Morin at Fromagerie du Presbytère.

Some 800,000 magazines were distributed through a polybag insert with the following publications: Canadian Living (West), Food & Drink, Ricardo (Ontario and West), Canadian House & Home (Ontario and West) and Toronto Life. A further 323,000 were inserted into newspapers, 135,000 distributed within the industry, and nearly 100,000 copies were mailed to subscribers.

Campaign reaches out to South-Asian Canadians in Toronto

DFC also reached out to South-Asian shoppers with a recipe booklet authored by well-known culinary personality and cookbook author Bal Arneson. Under the theme “Canadian Cheese, A Fresh Take On Tradition,” it featured delicious South-Asian recipes starring Canadian cheese.

The campaign was timed to coincide with the Diwali (Festival of Lights) festive period, which is celebrated by thousands of South-Asian Canadians in the greater Toronto area. The booklet was distributed in stores and through newspaper insertions.

Inspired by the success generated by these creative initiatives, DFC will keep on reaching for new heights in 2016: to bring more cheese onto Canadian families’ tables. And that firm intent is most certainly worthy of being its No. 1 New Year’s resolution!  PD

Founded in 1934, Dairy Farmers of Canada (DFC) is the national organization, which defends the interest of Canadian dairy farmers and strives to create favourable conditions for the Canadian dairy industry. Working in accordance with supply management principles, DFC promotes safe, high quality, sustainable and nutritious Canadian dairy products made from 100% Canadian milk through various marketing, nutrition, policy and lobbying initiatives. Driven by a strong sense of community and pride, DFC and Canadian dairy farmers actively support a number of local and national initiatives. Visit the website for more information.