Fifteen Grocery Store Chefs Named Finalists in 2015 Supermarket Chef Showdown

Fifteen top grocery store chefs from around the country have been named finalists in the 2015 Supermarket Chef Showdown. Next, they compete for the title of Grand Champion during the annual FMI Connect conference in Chicago, June 8-11. “FMI started this competition in 2012 to shine a spotlight on the culinary talents of the chefs who are driving the fresh-prepared food trends,” says Dagmar Farr, senior vice president of member services at the Food Marketing Institute.  “And, we could not be more delighted by the record-breaking response from chefs.  We received close to 300 recipes from 95 individual chefs across the nation.  Without a doubt, the competition is tough.  The dishes that the 15 finalists will prepare at the cook-off in Chicago are superb.  Our judges will certainly have a difficult job!” The 15 finalists include:

Each of these chefs represents one of three finalists in one of the five following categories: Breakfast to Go; Holiday Party Platters; Ethnic Dishes; Affordable Family Meals; and Desserts.  Each has won a trip to Chicago to prepare their winning recipes at the 2015 Showdown, to be held June 10 at McCormick Place.  The chef with the best recipe in each category will receive an additional prize of $1,000.  One grand champion – the best in the entire competition – will win an expense-paid trip for two to the Italian Culinary Institute in Calabria, Italy. The FMI Supermarket Chef Showdown is made possible by sponsors, including McCormick & Company, Campbell Soup Company, The Hershey Company, Hillshire Brands Company, The J.M. Smucker Company, Mondelez International, The Pictsweet Company, and Good Cook kitchenware products.  Ingredients for this year’s cook off are being donated by Roundy's Supermarkets, Inc. The Supermarket Chef Showdown and Supermarket Chef Culinary Community are programs provided and owned by the Food Marketing Institute, an organization that advocates on behalf of the food retail industry, officials say. FMI’s U.S. members operate nearly 40,000 retail food stores and 25,000 pharmacies, representing a combined annual sales volume of almost $770 billion. Through programs in public affairs, food safety, research, education and industry relations, FMI offers resources and provides benefits to more than 1,225 food retail and wholesale member companies in the United States and around the world, officials add.