Once again, PEI Burger Love returns beefier than ever.
For the 6th annual event, there’s a record 73 restaurants vying to be crowned Prince Edward Island’s ‘Most Loved Burger’. This is up from the 60 restaurants that participated in 2015.
PEI Burger Love is a multi-award winning campaign that celebrates Island beef through unique gourmet hamburgers, and is created and marketed by Fresh Media in partnership with PEI Cattle Producers and PEI Department of Agriculture and Fisheries.
"With chefs and restaurants across PEI showcasing Island beef in creative and tasty burgers, the department is very pleased to be a partner once again in PEI Burger Love," said Agriculture and Fisheries Minister Alan McIsaac. “This campaign provides a great opportunity to promote the high quality of Prince Edward Island beef, and recognizes a group of committed producers, chefs and business owners who are strengthening Prince Edward Islands reputation as Canada's Food Island."
When the grills were turned off last year, PEI Burger Love sold over 145,000 burgers during the 30 day campaign. The total sales of just the burgers equaled over $1.9 million.
In addition to the 73 burgers to choose from, the campaign will also feature new initiatives such as a ‘Burger Love at Home’ contest in partnership with Sobeys, ‘Roadtrip Weekends’ with Fair Isle Ford, and new ‘FryDays’ promotion co-presented by PEI Potato Growers and Cavendish Farms. Islanders will also be able to obtain ‘Burger Bucks’ coupons with the purchase of select products at PEILCC corporate retail locations, which can then be used towards the purchase of 2016 PEI Burger Love entries at participating restaurants.
“Thanks to the support of Islanders, we’ve been able to grow the campaign and create such a positive economic impact that helps so many sectors”, said Melody Dover, President of Fresh Media. “Once everyone sees what our talented chefs have cooked up this year, we’re confident the appetite to support local will be stronger than ever.”
This year, PEI Burger Love will also dedicate its official ‘PEI Burger Love Day’ to pay it forward in the beefiest way. On Saturday April 23rd, for every PEI Burger Love burger sold during this 24-hour time period, Atlantic Beef Products will donate 1/4 lb of beef to Food Banks across Prince Edward Island.
The star ingredient for the campaign remains Island beef, with unique flavours and toppings that include teriyaki-infused bacon, Belgium waffles, homemade carrot ketchup, haddock fillets or tequila citrus aioli.
"On behalf of all the PEI farm families who work hard every day to produce quality products, I would like to invite Islanders to enjoy and share this year’s new and creative burgers with their own families and friends”, said PEI Cattle Producers' Chair Brian Morrison. “Our farmers appreciate Islander’s continued support of buying local homegrown products."
The full list of PEI Burger Love creations will be unveiled on April 1st with the campaign running until April 30th. For more information on PEI Burger Love, visit www.peiburgerlove.ca.