WATSONVILLE, CA – MAR 13, 2023 – California Giant Berry Farms today shared further details about its upcoming Chef Invitational. Now in its 5th year, the event is a nationwide culinary competition that calls upon chefs to think outside the box and create innovative, original dishes featuring fresh strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries as the hero of the plate.

Unique to 2023’s submission guidelines is the requirement for the recipe to fall under one or more of key trends as identified by Flavor & the Menu, including:

• Asian Breakfast Wakes Up
• Mustard’s Moment
• The Dark Side of Butter
• True Colors
• Time for Thai

“Hosting the 5^th Annual Chef Invitational is momentous,” said Tom Smith, director of sales at California Giant Berry Farms. “For this year’s event, we wanted to focus on how berries are the ideal complement for trends—which inspired us to revamp the guidelines and ask that participants use their culinary ingenuity to incorporate fresh berries into trends that resonate with today’s consumer.”

Also unique to the event’s 5^th iteration is an educational session led by Chef Rosalyn Darling. The workshop introduces her culinary innovation methodology that combines macro societal trends and Culinary Compassion™ for meaningful menu development.

“My work around Culinary Compassion™ re-examines current methodologies of food and beverage innovation, determining that there is a deeper, more impactful way strategists and chefs can approach innovation—through the spectrum of universal human emotions and a desire to help address these emotions through intentional, sensory-based culinary innovation. I’m thrilled to share this technique at California Giant’s Chef Invitational and unlock another way for chefs to create impactful innovation in their respective operations,” shared Rosalyn Darling.

California Giant’s Chef Invitational continues to garner more awareness of the brand and highlight the abundant talent within the foodservice industry.

For more information on how to apply to the 2023 California Giant Chef Invitational and to read the full guidelines for entry, click here.