Barilla is aiming to inspire people this Valentine’s Day to express love with a grand gesture of cooking.
Australians currently have the chance to win a ‘Pasta Love’ gift set including limited-edition heart-shaped Barilla pasta, a gift tin with recipes, Barilla Rich Slow Cooked Sauce, a pasta serving spoon and a $25 gift card.
Until 15 February, Australians can buy two eligible Barilla products, register or login to the Barilla website to upload proof of purchase and fill in details for a chance to win. 200 winners will be notified by email.
The new limited-edition pasta fuses two offset hearts, with both smooth and ridged textures. Recipes revolving around the pasta crafted by renowned Academia Barilla chef Marcello Zaccaria encourage people to gift their loved ones a pasta meal with a pasta that’s “not only delicious but part of a healthy, balanced diet”.
Barilla also conducted research that was carried out in five countries – Australia, France, Germany, Greece and the UK – with 5000 respondents, diving into the role of food and the importance of cooking as a love language, especially with pasta. It showed that the key to an Aussie’s heart is through their stomach, with 72% of respondents saying “love” for them means returning home to their favourite food for dinner or cooking with a loved one after a stressful day (56%).
Nearly all (75%) Australian respondents prefer to celebrate intimate moments of romance in private, likely fuelled by the 37% who find public displays of love embarrassing.
“We at Barilla hope to demonstrate the value of letting actions speak louder than words, emphasising that cooking pasta is a sign of love,” says Barilla Chief Category Marketing Officer Ilaria Lodigiani.
“As new love languages emerge, this Valentine’s Day we want to encourage people to express their appreciation and affection in inventive ways, preparing a pasta dish in order to truly say ‘I love you’. After all, when words fall short, Barilla believes that pasta speaks to the heart.”