Germans are going to be hired by the Foreign Affairs department to promote poutine at Munich's Oktoberfest..Blacklock's Reporter says the idea was to “promote Canadian food and beverage products to German-speaking end consumers.".Diplomats in a notice to contractors proposed a Taste Of Kanada social media blitz beginning in October aimed at “educating German consumers about Canadian food and beverage products.”.The campaign includes a German-language website selling “typical Canadian products” like maple syrup, blueberry jam, poutine gravy mix and Moosehead canned lager..No budget was detailed..Promoters would be paid to write Facebook messages, YouTube and Instagram posts..“Posts must include the development of recipes, videos and background information on Canadian foods,” said the notice..The department said it wanted a “long-term marketing and promotional strategy to raise awareness and increase visibility of Canadian food and beverage products available in German, Austrian and Swiss markets.”.The initial contract runs to next June..The Oktoberfest campaign follows a 2017 attempt by federal agencies to develop a distinctively all-Canadian meal for use in tourism promotions..Staff at one point hired a research firm Twenty31 Consulting Inc. of Vancouver at $59,212 to “provide options for developing a strategy.”.Results were never made public..Authorities acknowledged Canada had numerous regional dishes like fiddleheads, salmon pie, Winnipeg goldeye, tourtière, Saskatoon berries and other homespun favourites, but no famous single national dish. Federal efforts to find one date back nearly a century..The Empire Marketing Board in a 1929 Book Of Empire Dinners listed a “Canadian Salad.” The side dish consisted of a cored apple filled with pineapple and banana in a mayonnaise sauce.
