FMI's Stir It Up! Serves Up $1.1M

Food Marketing Institute (FMI) kicked off the first month of 2018 by raising $1.1 million to support research and education in the areas of food safety, nutrition and health. The FMI Foundation's event called Stir It Up!, held at the trade organization's recent Midwinter Executive Conference in Miami, featured all-star teams of retailer and supplier executives creating their finest family meals.

While its participants vied for top honors and bragging rights, the event shone a spotlight on the importance of family meals as well as the food retail industry’s dedication to National Family Meals Month, which occurs every September.

Susan Borra, the executive director of the FMI Foundation, said that the presence of a variety of well-known brands contributed to the success of the event. “Five hundred Stir It Up! attendees participated," Borra said, "serving as judges, voting on their favorite family meals in an array of categories."

The competing meals encompassed more than 20 main dishes and sides.

The following kitchen teams received 2018 Gold Mitt Awards based on popular vote:

• The Coca-Cola Co. won the accolade for Healthiest Family Meal, serving its Quick & Easy Kale + Chorizo Toast, along with the Barq’s Root Beer-Glazed Salmon Bowl, topped off by peach cobbler for dessert and two specialty flavors of Coca-Cola to wash it all down. 
• Hy-Vee Inc., along with its partner Wahlburger's, won Tastiest Family Meal for coupling a hearty serving of The Our Burger with the restaurant chain's BBQ Bacon Burger. Guests also got a sampling of tater tots and sweet potato tater tots, along with a S’Mores Frappe or the Boston-inspired Fluffanuttahh Frappe. 
• PepsiCo won the award for Most Affordable Family Meal, a supper featuring its Bison Sliders with Tostitos Queso Blanco and Quaker Oats sliders and lettuce wrap tacos with Tropicana Slaw, followed by ice cream sandwiches accompanied by Quaker Oats Real Medley Blueberry Pecan and Naked Mighty Mango Sorbet.
• Wakefern Food Corp.'s ambitious selection took home two awards, with its Grilled Mojito Shrimp Cocktail, Grilled Guava Chicken Tacos with Pickled Cabbage featuring grilled pineapple rice, and Arroz Con Leche rice pudding winning both Best Culinary Adventure and Easiest Family Meal.

The FMI Foundation and host hotel Trump National Doral Miami donated remaining foodservice items, packaged goods, and cleaning supplies -- the equivalent of 10 cargo loads of food and supplies -- to the event's nonprofit partner, Branches, which supports area working families and their children in an effort to break the cycle of generational poverty.