Brand Evolution

Although the Mr. Food Test Kitchen that we know today is headed up by Howard Rosenthal, our CFO (Chief Food Officer and on-air personality) and Steve Ginsburg, CEO, along with a team of seasoned professionals, it’s important to remember that it all started with the vision of Art Ginsburg.

Companies like The Walt Disney Company, Orville Redenbacher’s Gourmet Popping Corn, The Hershey Company, and Wendy’s International all started with one man and one dream; we’re no different.

Such is the story of our founder, Art Ginsburg, “the originator of “Quick & Easy Cooking”. Just like Ginsburg envisioned, today’s Mr. Food Test Kitchen is a multi-media corporation with a diverse audience. It continues to be a respected source of original recipes and engaging food-related content, even 40 years after its inception. In addition to its strong foundation in television broadcasting and traditional publishing, the brand has expanded its digital footprint with two hugely popular websites: MrFood.com, and EverydayDiabeticRecipes.com, as well as a robust presence in social media. Beyond its television and online divisions, the Mr. Food Test Kitchen has a flourishing creative services division.

The breadth of the corporate team includes a diverse group of professionals who are experts in their fields. And the best part? We all adhere to that founding philosophy which is best summed up in our famous tagline: ”OOH IT’S SO GOOD!!®”.

The History of “Mr. Food”
Art Ginsburg
Founder

Founder Art Ginsburg’s “Mr. Food” story is a journey that began in his youth. He followed in his father’s footsteps, first becoming a butcher, then establishing a catering business alongside his wife and children. His flair for community theatre led him to combine his passions for food and the limelight. It didn’t take long for him to make his television debut. In 1975, upstate New York had the pleasure of viewing Ginsburg on a local morning TV talk show. As the first TV personality promoting practical “anybody can do it” cooking and food preparation solutions, his appearances were met with rave reviews. It was there that the host first introduced him as “Mr. Food”. A legend – and an eventual brand – was born.

Before long, he self-syndicated his 90-second “Mr. Food” television segment across the northeast United States. The company eventually teamed up with the budding syndication efforts of King World, which today still syndicates our segments under the title of CBS Worldwide Distribution.

His legacy as a respected industry icon, trusted name, and founding philosophy continues to be the mission of Howard Rosenthal and the Mr. Food Test Kitchen team. Thanks to the guidance and inspiration from Art Ginsburg, the Mr. Food Test Kitchen brand has proudly grown into a nationally known and leading resource for multi-media food related content. For the Mr. Food Test Kitchen, there’s so much more on the horizon.

Case Study #142 – Yancey’s Fancy Cheese Makes an Impression

The Challenge: When Yancey’s Fancy heard from consumers and retailers that they were craving new recipe ideas using their fun-flavored cheeses, their marketing department reached out to the Mr. Food Test Kitchen to develop quick & easy recipes that would “wow” consumers using a variety of the brands fun-flavored cheeses. Once the recipes were created, they wanted to make sure each recipe had a mouth-water photo and or Fast Food video.
The Results: Today the newly developed recipes are a bright spot on the Yancey Fancy site and are a welcome marketing tool for retailers. Amidst digital campaigns, Yancey’s Fancy has witnessed a significant number of impressions. To see these recipes, click here.

Case Study #52 – WPB Winning Results

The Challenge: After the launch of their “Use the Whole Watermelon Recipe Contest”, the Watermelon Promotional Board (WPB) was not seeing the number of entries that they expected. That’s when they reached out to the team at the Mr. Food Test Kitchen to see how they could boost these numbers and to gain additional exposure to make the contest a success.
The Results: After analyzing the WBP’s marketing objectives, the team at MFTK created a multi-media campaign to promote the contest. Within days ads were run on brands daily eNewsletters and it was announced on MrFood.com’s home page, as well as on all their social media platforms. Before long, more and more recipes were submitted – the contest was a huge success. After the winning recipes were selected, they were so good that they were woven into one of the MFTK syndicated TV segments, so viewers could try them at home. Check them out for yourself!

Case Study #91 – NFRA Keeping it Fresh

The Challenge: The National Frozen and Refrigerated Food Association, longtime partners of the Mr. Food Test Kitchen, were looking for new ways to keep their younger readers engaged on social media..
The Results: After reviewing what social media posts and recipes that this targeted demographic best responded to, the Mr. Food Test Kitchen team created regularly scheduled Fast Food Recipe Videos and monthly Instagram stories – to share their key messages with readers.
The combination of these fun-to-view posts were just the thing that helped boost impressions and to keep the association current with a digital savvy consumer. By delivering mouthwatering easy-to-use recipes to viewers, it empowered the audience to try new items from the dairy and frozen food aisles, which ultimately pushes sales in an upward direction.

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