American Pie Council
 | |
| Headquarters | Lake Forest, Illinois[1], USA |
|---|---|
Key people | Linda Hoskins, Executive Director[1] |
| Website |
piecouncil |
The American Pie Council (APC) is an organization committed to "preserving America's pie heritage and promoting America's love affair with pies".[2] As America's only purely pie-focused national organization,[3] the APC combines aspects of a hobby club, professional association, trade group, and pro-pie interest group.[1]
Activities
The Council offers both personal and commercial memberships which allow individual participants to have discussions and swap recipes with fellow pie lovers, while providing commercial members with business networking opportunities and promotional support.[1] The APC has run the APC National Pie Championships since 1995.[4] The event is usually held in Celebration, Florida.[5] The competition is open to amateur, professional, and commercial bakers. The categories at the 2014 competition are:[4]
- Apple
- Blueberry
- Chocolate
- Citrus
- Cream
- Cream Cheese
- Comstock/Wilderness (Apple, Cherry, Blueberry, Strawberry, Combination 2+ flavors)
- Fruit/Berry
- Innovation
- Key Lime
- Nut
- Paramount Peach
- Peanut Butter
- Pumpkin
- Special Dietary (gluten free, no sugar added)
- Open Competition
The APC also sponsors or promotes other pie-centric events throughout the year.[6] The APC council also conducts surveys of pie consumption. APC research has shown that Apple is Americans' favorite pie, that 59% of Americans consider pie an appropriate late-night snack, and that 20% of Americans have eaten an entire pie.[7]
National Pie Day
National Pie Day, which is held annually on January 23, is now sponsored by the APC since 1986.[2] The holiday was started in the mid-1970s by Boulder, Colorado teacher Charlie Papazian[8] after he declared his birthday to be National Pie Day.[9] This should not be confused with Pi Day which the U.S. Congress recognizes as March 14.
In 2014, the APC partnered with Paramount Pictures in promoting the romantic thriller film Labor Day in conjunction with National Pie Day.[10] (A pie-making scene features prominently in the film, and the film's general release was within a few days of National Pie Day.)
The APC distributed a promotional poster to pie shops and bakeries featuring images of the film's stars Kate Winslet, Josh Brolin, and Gattlin Griffith in the pie-making scene. New York Post writer Lou Lumenick noted dryly that the scene was an "eccentric choice for a promotion" since Brolin's character is an escaped murderer and "before they all make pies together, he abducts them from a supermarket and ties both of them up... A bond does emerge between Brolin and his hostages before he surrenders to police. But still." The poster is captioned in part "It makes the time we spend together, just a little sweeter. Pie. Grab a slice of life."[11]
(Notwithstanding any problematic overtones, though, Variety's take on the scene was "What damage [the 1999 film] American Pie did for the pie industry, Labor Day has reversed.")[10]
Publications
- American Pie Council; Hoskins, Linda (2012). America's Best Pies: Nearly 200 Recipes You'll Love (1st ed.). Skyhorse Publishing. ISBN 978-1620871652.
- American Pie Council; Hoskins, Linda (2014). America's Best Pies 2014-2015: Nearly 200 Recipes You'll Love (2nd ed.). Skyhorse Publishing. ISBN 978-1629146720.
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "Company Overview of The American Pie Council". Bloomberg Businessweek. Retrieved January 23, 2014.
The American Pie Council provides personal, professional, and commercial memberships to pie lovers. The company allows consumer members to exchange recipes, in-store coupons, and ideas, as well as commercial members to participate in a variety of network and promotional opportunities.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Who We Are". American Pie Council website. Retrieved January 23, 2014.
- ↑ American Pie Council (January 15, 2014). "American Pie Council's Survey Gives a Taste of Country’s Relationship With an All-American Dessert Celebrated on National Pie Day, Jan. 23". Yahoo Finance. Retrieved January 23, 2014.
The American Pie Council is the only organization committed to maintaining America’s pie heritage...
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Announcing the 2014 APC National Pie Championships®". American Pie Council website. Retrieved January 23, 2014.
- ↑ Heather McPherson (April 25, 2013). "A slice of life: Celebration's American Pie Festival". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved January 23, 2014.
- ↑ "Happenings in the Pie World 2014". American Pie Council website. Retrieved January 24, 2014.
- ↑ "Pie Fun Facts". American Pie Council. Retrieved January 24, 2014.
- ↑ "National Pie Day: A Colorado-born holiday". The Denver Post. January 23, 2014.
- ↑ Aasen, Eric (January 21, 2012). "Sunday is National Pie Day, when pie takes center stage". The Dallas Morning News.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 "'Labor Day' Partners with American Pie Council for National Pie Day". Variety. January 15, 2014. Retrieved January 23, 2014.
- ↑ Lou Lumenick (January 15, 2014). "Poster celebrates 'Make a Pie With a Murderer Day'". New York Post. Retrieved January 23, 2014.