The Food Marketing Institute (FMI) has named the 25 finalists for the Supermarket Chef Showdown, the food retail industry’s unique competition for culinary talent. The finals will be held June 11 at FMI’s new annual FMI Connect show. That will determine five grand-prize winners and one overall champion.
The 25 contestants entered their recipes in one of five categories: Healthy Meals; Family Meals; Ethnic Meals; Dessert; and Side Dishes/Mini Meals/Snacks. In order to qualify, the recipes used at least three eligible sponsor ingredients and took 20 minutes or less to prepare.
Among 130 entries, representing a record 30 different retailers, the finalists represent retailers from across the country, including: Balducci’s, Dorothy Lane Market, Farm Fresh Supermarkets, Foodland Super Market, Fresh by Brookshire’s, Fry’s Food Stores, Hy-Vee Inc., Kowalski’s Markets, The Kroger Co., Meijer Inc., Orchard Fresh, Publix Super Markets, Roche Bros. Supermarkets, ShopRite, Whole Foods Market and Winn-Dixie. The reigning champion from the 2012 competition, Keoni Chang from Foodland Super Market, also will return to defend his title.
Prizes include an all-expense paid trip for two to Mardi Gras 2015; an all-expense paid trip to California to participate in the olive harvest; a “Chicago experience;” an all-expense-paid trip to the Country Music Awards in Nashville; cash prizes; food-centric prizes; bragging rights and more.
Sponsors for this year’s Showdown include McCormick, Campbell’s, ConAgra Foods, Hass Avocado Board, Hershey’s, Hillshire Brands, Mondelez International, Musco Family Olive Co., Pictsweet and Smucker’s.
