MINNEAPOLIS (August 26, 2019) —General Mills Foodservice announces that Kevin Brown, executive chef of SELECT Restaurant in Spartanburg, S.C., is the Grand Prize Winner in the 5th Annual Neighborhood to Nation™ Recipe Contest, which celebrates independent family or “neighborhood” restaurants and food trucks and the one-of-a-kind dishes that reflect their local flavor. A team from General Mills, including the Pillsbury™ Doughboy, surprised Brown with the news during a celebratory event at SELECT on Saturday.
As the Grand Prize Recipe Winner, Brown receives a total of $10,000 in cash and $2,000 to share with a local charity as well as a three-day trip for two to the 2019 New York City Wine & Food Festival, the premier food and wine event that celebrates America’s favorite foods. His award-winning Strawberry Pandowdy combines Pillsbury™ Southern Style Easy Split™ Frozen Dough Biscuits, broken into pieces, with a creamy, sweet strawberry mixture that is baked and served warm in a small skillet, adorned with vanilla bean ice cream. The contest judges raved that the dessert was “an authentic signature item,” “very unique” with “fantastic aroma” and “lovely flavor,” among other accolades.
“Our judges loved everything, from the flavor inspiration to the presentation of Kevin’s dessert item,” said Alyca Judge, senior marketing manager for General Mills Foodservice, which supplies restaurants with high-quality products to help make the signature dishes and familiar favorites their customers love. “His modern twist on old-school bread pudding makes innovative use of biscuits with the fresh taste of strawberries, creating a new dessert that his diners are already clamoring for.”
To celebrate its fifth year of recognizing great food and flavors across the country, the Neighborhood to Nation™ Recipe Contest doubled the number of regional winners to give even more independent restaurants and food trucks the chance to win part of the more than $200,000 in cash and prizes awarded in the contest. Restaurants and food trucks from around the country submitted original recipes that used at least one ingredient from General Mills’ list of eligible products. The only foodservice recipe contest of its kind drew entrants from across the country and resulted in 10 regional winners with one being named as the Grand Prize winner. Brown was one of two winners from the South East Region and chose to share his $2,000 donation with Greer Community Ministries, which offers programs and services to ensure no elderly, homebound or disadvantaged person in the Greater Greer area will go hungry.
The other regional winners are:
Each regional winner received $5,000 in cash and an additional $1,000 to share with a local charity of their choice. Throughout August, the Neighborhood to Nation “prize patrol” traveled to each of the winners’ hometowns to host special celebrations with staff, friends , family and the greater community.
“Traveling the country and celebrating with great food, recognition and conversation has provided a wonderful window into the world of cooking, recipes and creativity,” Judge added. “With double the number of prize winners this year, we had even more reasons to connect and celebrate. We enjoyed every minute of it!”
Neighborhood to Nation was created to inspire culinary creativity among independent restaurants and food trucks, giving operators an opportunity to experiment with high-quality and consistent products from General Mills Foodservice as well as exclusive access to trend information, insights and ideas to help them differentiate their menus and delight their diners. For more information, please visit www.neighborhoodtonation.com.
About General Mills Convenience & Foodservice
The General Mills Convenience & Foodservice division serves the convenience, foodservice and bakery industries by providing quality products from time-trusted brands along with culinary, nutrition education and marketing resources to help operators succeed. Its distinguished brand portfolio includes Big G Cereals, Yoplait, Nature Valley, Gold Medal, Pillsbury, Chex Mix, Bugles, Gardetto’s and Annie’s. Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA, the division had fiscal 2019 net sales of $1.97 billion. For more information, please visit www.generalmillsfoodservice.com.
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CONTACT: Sarah Peterson General Mills Convenience & Foodservice 651.646.8233 media.line@genmills.com
*High-resolution photos of Saturday’s event at SELECT, profiles for the Regional Recipe Winners and photography of all of the award-winning recipes are available upon request.