The San Diego Food Bank would like to extend our gratitude to Avocados from Peru for celebrating National Avocado Day with us by donating 114,000 avocados to help nourish local families! Grocery Outlet Bargain Market supported the donation by delivering all of the avocados by semi-truck to our Miramar location. The avocados will be distributed to local families in need through our network of more than 500+ nonprofit partners countywide.
“Avocados from Peru is pleased to support the San Diego Food Bank’s hunger-relief efforts by donating 114,000 avocados to help them fight hunger with nutrition,” noted Xavier Equihua, President & CEO of the Washington, DC-based Peruvian Avocado Commission.
We celebrated this incredible donation in our volunteer center with a guacamole-making competition, where we had six teams from a variety of media groups compete for the chance to win the silver avocado trophy.
“The San Diego Food Bank was thrilled to host the Guac-Off Challenge in celebration of Avocados from Peru’s generosity in donating 114,000 avocados,” said Food Bank CEO, Casey Castillo.”The Food Bank believes in the value of distributing fresh, vitamin-rich produce like avocados to nourish the families we serve. We are grateful to Avocados from Peru and Grocery Outlet Bargain Market for helping us make nutritional options readily available at our distribution sites and through our nonprofit partner network.”
Our three judges for the competition included Ross Frederickson, VP of Sales and Merchandising from Grocery Outlet Bargain Market, Xavier Equihua, President and CEO of Peruvian Avocado Commission, and Stacey Poon-Kinney, a celebrity chef and the owner of The Trails Eatery near Cowles Mountain in the community of San Carlos. They all banded together to name the best guacamole at the 2023 Guac-Off Challenge!
What happened during the Guac-Off Challenge?
Two local TV news and four radio stations (100.7 Big FM, Magic 92.5, Z90, 91X, FOX 5 and KUSI) battled for the chance to win the title of the 2023 Guac-Off Challenge winner. Not only did one team ultimately win the coveted avocado trophy, but each participating station helped us fight hunger with nutrition and bring awareness to the Food Bank’s mission!
Each of the groups were challenged to create their best guacamole recipe using specially selected avocados provided by Avocados from Peru and the staple ingredients were supplied by the San Diego Food Bank. During the first bracket challenge, competitors were asked to create a guacamole of their choice and had the chance to utilize ingredients such as tomatoes, onions, peppers, and more.Some of the competitors decided to make a classic guacamole recipe with the ingredients provided while others brought peppers from their own gardens and various fruits and spices to mix into their guacamole concoction.
After a couple chips and dips of guacamole, the judges were able to narrow it down to three groups with the addition of a wild card team. Competitors in the second bracket were joined by Gabriela Castillo, Office Administration Supervisor, and Frank Ortega, Senior Director of Operations, representing the San Diego Food Bank!
Contestants also had to get extra creative in this round by incorporating a surprise ingredient. Each team had to choose one of the following fruits to incorporate: pineapples, pomegranate seeds, mangoes, or peaches.
Ultimately, the judges narrowed the competition down to Magic 92.5 and 91X who went head-to-head one final time after one last guacamole tasting. After tasting the final rounds our three judges named RDub! of Magic 92.5 as the winner!
R Dub! of Magic 92.5 accepted the coveted silver avocado trophy. Check out his winning recipe.
Again, thank you to our wonderful supporters, Avocados from Peru and Grocery Outlet Bargain Market, and thank you to our participating media partners for celebrating this donation in a unique and fun way!Need inspiration in the kitchen to incorporate more avocados into your meals? Avocados from Peru has a variety of cookbooks available for free online.