RANCHO DOMINGUEZ, Calif., Aug. 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- A new survey shows that one major ingredient in helping families connect by cooking together is missing in most kitchens: confidence. This new research, conducted by the UNCLE BEN'S® Brand, found that nearly all parents know how important it is to teach their kids to cook, but many are lacking their own cooking confidence and identified that as one of the reasons they struggle with inviting their kids into the kitchen with them.  As a result, only 35 percent of U.S. parents are very confident their child can boil an egg.

The UNCLE BEN'S® Brand research, dubbed the Kitchen Confidence Survey, asked more than 4,000 parents of kids under 18 in the United States, Canada and United Kingdom about their family's cooking skills and traditions. The Survey led to surprising resultsⁱ:

• 96 percent of parents in the U.S. feel it is important that their children know how to cook or bake. However, only 33 percent cook with their children weekly, while 47 percent cook with their children monthly or less.
• 28 percent of U.S. parents feel they are cooking less often with their children than they did growing up with their own parents.
• 64 percent of U.S. parents do not have a high level of confidence in their children's ability to follow a recipe.

To help families improve their kitchen confidence, the UNCLE BEN'S® Brand, the number-one global rice brand, is expanding its Ben's Beginners™ program by providing interactive, step-by-step cooking instructions and family-friendly recipes at beginners.unclebens.com.

"We believe in the power of families coming together to cook and have fun in the kitchen, and feel that cooking is an essential life skill as important as reading and writing," said Andrew Cops, Vice President of Marketing, Mars Food North America, the parent company of Uncle Ben's®. "With Ben's Beginners™ we have encouraged families to cook together. Now, with our digital hub, we are eager to provide more tools for families to come together and explore new recipes."

The Ben's Beginners™ website will help families learn how to cook family-friendly meals together in fun and unique ways. With interactive skills like stirring, chopping, pouring, peeling and measuring available through the website, families will be guided to cook recipes together. Along the way, users will be encouraged to take a family photo of their creations and share on social media using #LookWhatWeMade.

This year, the Ben's Beginners™ Cooking Contest has teamed up with four-time GRAMMY-winning singer, songwriter, actress and mom Kelly Rowland to launch the contest in New York City. Rowland will invite families to take a look into some favorite family-friendly recipes and offer tips to get kids and their parents cooking.

Families who share their photos will be entered into the fifth annual Ben's Beginners™ Cooking Contest for a chance to win one of five Grand Prize packages, each of which includes a $15,000 cash prize and a $30,000 cafeteria makeover for their child's school. Beginning today, parents with kids in Kindergarten through eighth grade can submit a photo of their family preparing a rice-based dish together through beginners.unclebens.com. Submissions will be accepted on beginners.unclebens.com until 11:59p.m. ET on October 16, 2016. The Ben's Beginners™ Cooking Contest offers an exciting way for parents and kids to make lifelong memories in the kitchen as they cook for the chance to better their community and school with a single dish.

About the UNCLE BEN'S® Brand

The UNCLE BEN'S® Brand, the number one global rice brand, is proud to offer a wide range of rice dishes with flavors and textures that will help bring more to your meals, both for savory main courses and convenient side dishes. The UNCLE BEN'S® Brand offers a wide variety of white, whole grain brown, and flavored rices in cook times ranging from 30 minutes to 90 seconds, as well as rice for food service operations such as restaurants, schools and hospitals. The first mass-produced parboiled rice, UNCLE BEN'S® Brand products can be found in more than 100 countries worldwide. The UNCLE BEN'S® Brand products are manufactured by Mars Food, part of Mars, Incorporated. For more information, visit www.unclebens.com.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160822/400328-INFO 

SOURCE UNCLE BEN’S Brand

Related Links

http://www.unclebens.com