California Giant Berry Farms has launched the California Giant Chef Invitational Academy, a unique program designed to empower and inspire its past California Giant Chef Invitational winners, while elevating berries as a menu item.

The immersive, four-day event, held in the greater Portland, Oregon area in mid-July, went beyond the classroom.

The Academy provided its winning chefs – Luis Reyes (Sysco, 2018 winner), Travis Peters (The Parish, 2019 winner), Sam Blackburn (Sodexo, 2020 winner), Derek Seigfried (Gordon Food Service, 2022 winner), and Steven Halliday (Gordon Food Service, 2023 winner) – with a firsthand look at the journey of California Giant berries from field to table through tours of the company’s blueberry operations.

The Academy doesn’t stop in the field. Under the guidance of the renowned Chef Rosalyn Darling, the Top Chefs participated in an exclusive culinary expertise workshop designed to spark fresh inspiration, elevate their culinary skills and promote blueberries as a menu item.

“We are excited to celebrate the talent of our past Chef Invitational winners,” said Tom Smith, director of sales at California Giant Berry Farms. “The Chef Invitational Academy is an opportunity to foster their ongoing culinary development and provide them with a platform to further hone their craft.”

The California Giant Chef Invitational is a celebrated event and nationwide culinary competition that calls upon chefs to think outside the box and create innovative, original dishes featuring fresh berries as the hero of the plate.

The event has garnered brand partnerships with the chef participants and continues to drive fresh berry consumption, according to Cal Giant, which is committed to finding new, exciting uses for berries.

This article is an excerpt from the August 2024 issue of Supermarket Perimeter. You can read the entire Berries feature and more in the digital edition here.