Butterball, LLC hosted the first annual Turkey Hot Dog Showdown June 3 at the poultry producer's Garner facility. The hour-long competition helped raise money for the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life and encouraged creative cooking and competitive fun.
Nine Butterball associates tied on their aprons and donned their chef hats for the company's Turkey Hot Dog Showdown, including the Director of Purchasing, Corporate Communication Specialist and Marketing Brand Manager. The event brought more than 50 Garner associates and local celebrities, like Senator David Rouzer, to partake in the food and fun while supporting the American Cancer Society. Garner's District Fire Chief Alan Dudley and NCSU Poultry Resident Rosemary Marusak, Ph.D., DVM were on hand to judge the friendly competition.
The event was tied to a weeklong "pay to penalize" campaign, which raised more than $200 for Relay for Life. The fundraiser required teams, each consisting of a chef and fellow associates from their department, to reduce opponents' final scores by filling their jars with change, bills and checks. On the day of the "showdown," each chef was penalized based on the amount of money in their team's jar. The chef whose jar contained the most money incurred a 20 percent point deduction from the score given to them by the judges. The chef with the next highest dollar amount received a 15 percent deduction, then the third highest received a 10 percent deduction and finally a 5 percent deduction for the chef whose jar had the least amount of money.
"It was exciting to see the strategies unfold as to who the biggest perceived threats were on the culinary battle field," said Chuck Dove, Butterball, LLC's Corporate Communication Specialist. "It was a pretty electric event here in Garner and our hope is that future events continue to be such a well received success."
Butterball's Demand Manager Jamie Blondin created the winning dish with Asian Style Mini Corn Dogs seasoned with curry, cayenne, and sesame. The entre was complemented by teriyaki, sweet and sour and wasabi dipping sauces, and curried cole slaw to add an Asian flair to the traditional hot dog side dish. Other dishes included Carolina Slaw Dogs, Chili Dog Gobblers and Turkey Frank Stir-Fry.
About Butterball, LLC:
Butterball, LLC is the largest producer of turkey products in the United States. Headquartered in Garner, N.C., Butterball produces more than 1 billion pounds of turkey each year, and the company supplies its products to more than 15 countries. Perhaps best known for its succulent whole bird products, the company also has a broad array of offerings for deli, retail and foodservice.
As the industry leader in quality and food safety, the company employs numerous processes to ensure the health of birds and implements recognized prevention measures to exceed food safety standards in its seven plants located in North Carolina, Colorado, Arkansas and Missouri. In addition, Butterball has surpassed important workplace safety and health benchmarks set forth by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's Voluntary Protection Program.
The company's three-pronged approach to Doing Business Right focuses on self-governance, sustainability and social responsibility. The initiative plays a key role in providing internal oversight for integrating values that are important to the company, in particular its efforts to reduce its environmental footprint.
For more information about Butterball, visit www.butterball.com. You can also call
1-800 BUTTERBALL for answers to your most puzzling questions about turkey preparation.
For more information, please visit: www.butterball.com
Source: About Butterball, LLC
