California Giant Berry Farms said its national Chef Invitational has received enthusiastic participation from national and regional foodservice organizations in its first year. With less than one month until the deadline to receive recipes, many have already been submitted for the competition.
The Chef Invitational was launched in March by California Giant Berry Farms Director of Foodservice, Tom Smith, with the aim to further cement relationships with key members of the foodservice industry and recognize their chefs that create innovative recipes with California Giant brand berries.
Participating companies include Markon, Performance Food Group, Produce Alliance, Renaissance Food Group, Sysco and US Foods. Each distributor company invited chefs within their network to participate by creating new recipes featuring California Giant brand berries. Each company was invited to submit multiple chef entries in the competition by May 18, 2018 for judging in hopes of being one of the six coveted finalists traveling to Monterey, California for the showdown at Tehama Golf Club. “We are pleased with the recipes we have already received from chefs and look forward to seeing all the great new and different ideas submitted by this wide network of professionals” says Tom Smith, Director of Foodservice. “There is so much talent in our industry, we know as an annual event this will continue to build relationships, innovation and increased usage of our brand of berries”, he adds.
Tehama Golf Club
The event will culminate with a showdown on July 10, 2018 where each chef will prepare their recipe entry after field tours and social events. Judges for the showdown will include professional chefs from the Monterey and Carmel area and a representative from the trade press. The chef showdown will also feature sponsors from the Monterey area serving local wines, cheeses, olive oil, and chocolate while guests have the chance to watch each chef in action. The top six chefs will each re-create their winning recipes at the beautiful Tehama Golf Club competing for the title of Top Chef.
Guests attending the event in July will have the opportunity to taste each recipe created for the judges and have a chance to vote for a People’s Choice award in addition to the professional judges award. “We expect a group of about 50 people from industry, trade press and sponsoring foodservice companies to attend and enjoy the ocean view while tasting the innovative berry offerings, sipping wine and following up with a delicious local cheese or chocolate” adds Smith.
The winning recipe will be featured at the California Giant Berry Farms booth at the PMA Foodservice Conference in Monterey, CA in July. Further details about the promotion can be obtained by contacting Tom Smith at tsmith@calgiant.com.
For more information:
Cindy Jewell
California Giant Berry Farms
Tel: +1 (831) 728-1773