Seal of Approval Program

The American Culinary Federation Seal of Approval Program is an opportunity for foodservice manufacturers to endorse the solution providing the power of a product(s) with the utmost credibility, through the largest organization of professional chefs in North America.

The ACF Seal of Approval is awarded after a product or service has been scrupulously tested by a dedicated team of ACF-certified chefs. This panel of culinary experts includes industry professionals with extensive culinary experience.

Use of the Seal

The Seal of Approval can be used in almost every marketing opportunity including packaging, advertising, point-of-purchase promotion and trade-show application. Upon passing the product- or service-testing process, ACF will provide digital artwork of its Seal of Approval.

Product-Testing Criteria

Unlike other entities that offer tasting endorsements only, ACF requires extensive testing and evaluation of a product. The purpose of the test is not to measure the product against an ACF tester's personal sense of flavor, taste or overall appeal; rather, ACF's testers all agree to remove personal prejudices regarding the product (or product category it represents) to give unbiased, expert opinions based on measurable criteria.

Products submitted for the Seal of Approval are measured against three sets of general criteria:
• Application: ease of use, versatility of product, adaptability of product
• Physical properties: consistent appearance, texture, color, shape and size
• Performance: use of or applying the product to cooking, baking or service procedures

•The client should also ship all marketing materials associated with each product(s) such as fliers, spec sheets, packaging, etc.  Testing chefs will then be aware of the product claims made by the manufacturer.

Merchandising and Added Value

Products bearing the Seal of Approval receive promotional benefits as follows:

  • A complimentary half-page ad annually in The National Culinary Review, the flagship publication of the American Culinary Federation, distributed bi-monthly to more than  14,000 readers

  • A press release from ACF distributed to all major food industry publications.

  • Exposure on ACF’s website, www.acfchefs.org, which receives more than 31,000 culinary professionals visiting a month.

  • Use of a one-time annual mailing list for all ACF members (ACF must approve all direct mail pieces. Email addresses are not included.).

  • Media relations support and more.

The brand qualify and equity created by the Seal of Approval appeals to a Chef’s sense of excellence and quality. Partnering with ACF opens the door to this high-powered group of buyers.

Becoming a partner with the ACF Seal of Approval program provides your sales staff unique opportunities to build an immediate rapport with culinarians in a variety of segments.

Fees

Testing

All testing fees are paid in advance. The cost to test the initial product is $2,000, which subsidizes the time, effort and resources of our certified-chef testing panel. Testing of additional products is done so incrementally, the next tier (2-15 products) priced at $250 each. As the number of products increases beyond 15 the cost to test each item will continue to decrease.

Licensing

The fee for the initial product in the three-year license program is $15,000, billed in three equal annual installments. The fee for the initial product in the one-year license program is $7,000, billed once. As with testing, licensing more than one product is priced incrementally, as shown in the charts below. 

Procedures

  • Client commits to proceed with Seal of Approval testing.

  • Create a contract for client to sign prior to testing, outlining all testing procedures and costs.

  • All testing fees are paid in advance.

  • Communicate with the Seal of Approval lead to let them know how many products will be tested. The number of products tested determines the number of chefs needed for the testing.

  • Once the chefs are chosen by the Seal of Approval lead, the ACF contacts each chef to ascertain their availability and get addresses for shipping product. At this time, chefs will be informed of proper storage for product.

  • Chefs are paid $200 for testing Seal of Approval products. A check request form will need to be filled out and submitted to accounting.

  • Once chefs are chosen and schedules determined, contact client so they may ship product. Determine when the chefs should expect the product and alert them of arrival.

  • Chefs have up to 20 work days to complete the testing.

  • Once chefs have completed testing, the chefs turn in their results to the Seal of Approval lead and they will determine if the products passed.

  • If a product passes, the ACF, along with the Seal of Approval lead, will notify the client in writing.

  • Once this has been completed, the licensing invoice is sent to the client by the ACF.

  • Once the payment is received, the Seal of Approval logo is sent to the client in the format requested by the client.

  • ACF fulfill any Seal of Approval obligation’s to client to include:

    • Send the appropriate logo in required format

    • Send an ACF mailing list, when requested

    • Schedule the half- page complimentary ad in the National Culinary Review

    • Obtain text for ACF Industry Partners page and update web site accordingly

    • Update the ACF Seal of Approval ad with client logo, web site and phone information

    • Create a press release with input from the client. ACF will distribute press release to culinary trade publications.