National Pie Day
January 23rd

ORRVILLE, Ohio/PRNewswire/ -- Pie enthusiasts have reason to celebrate this year!  January 23, 2012, is National Pie Day and the deep dish dessert is taking center stage.  Pie pundits have claimed pie's victory over cupcakes as the hottest confection for 2011(1)(2). Food authorities are calling pie the trendiest dessert of 2011(3).   Crisco is also celebrating 100 years as a brand and a rich tradition of helping home bakers create moist, flaky pie crusts every time.

Even though pie is taking center stage with stand alone pie shops across the country, the pie trend started at home.  Many home bakers still have warm ovens after a busy holiday pie baking season in 2010.  According to a recent on-line Crisco National Pie Survey conducted by Wakefield Research, 66 percent of respondents planned to bake at least one pie during the holidays.  Plus, younger bakers are making more pies; those ages 25-34 reported plans to bake an average of three pies during the 2010 holiday season.  

" Crisco has always been passionate about pies so it is no surprise to us that pie would top menu trends in 2011," said Maribeth Badertscher, Vice President Corporate Communications, The J.M. Smucker Company.  "For 100 years Crisco All-Vegetable Shortening has been helping home bakers make great pies starting with a moist and tender crust.  We're proud to continue the Crisco tradition of making home bakers feel at ease in the kitchen and equip home bakers with all the right techniques, ingredients and resources to make beautiful and delicious homemade pies from scratch."

To provide a little expert advice and ensure that everyone's pies are baked to delicious perfection, Crisco offers the Pie Hotline, a one-stop resource for tips, techniques and trends to help make pie baking easy.  Live pie experts can be reached Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. ET by calling 1-877-FOR PIE TIPS (877-367-7438) to answer some of the most common pie-baking questions including: How can I bake a flakier pie crust? How do I prevent my pie crust from shrinking? How long can I freeze an unbaked pie crust?  

Pie lovers can also find Crisco on FaceBook and visit www.crisco.com and click on the Pie Central tab for new recipes, step-by-step instructions, visual demonstrations and helpful hints and tricks.

For more than 110 years, The J.M. Smucker Company has been committed to offering consumers quality products that help families create memorable mealtime moments.  Today, Smucker is a leading marketer and manufacturer of fruit spreads, retail packaged coffee, peanut butter, shortening and oils, ice cream toppings, sweetened condensed milk, and health and natural foods beverages in North America. Its family of brands includes Smucker's®, Folgers®, Dunkin' Donuts®, Jif®, Crisco®, Pillsbury®, Eagle Brand®, R.W. Knudsen Family®, Hungry Jack®, White Lily® and Martha White® in the United States, along with Robin Hood®, Five Roses®, Carnation®, Europe's Best® and Bick's® in Canada. The Company remains rooted in the Basic Beliefs of Quality, People, Ethics, Growth and Independence established by its founder and namesake more than a century ago. The Company has appeared on FORTUNE Magazine's list of the 100 Best Companies to Work For in the United States 12 times, ranking number one in 2004. For more information about the Company, visit www.smuckers.com.

The J.M. Smucker Company is the owner of all trademarks, except Pillsbury, the Barrelhead logo and the Doughboy character are trademarks of The Pillsbury Company, LLC, used under license; Carnation is a trademark of Societe des Produits Nestle S.A., used under license; and Dunkin' Donuts is a registered trademark of DD IP Holder, LLC, used under license. Borden and Elsie are trademarks used under license.