What’s for Dinner? Try the Menu of a Supper Bowl Contender

By: David Fikes, Executive Director, FMI Foundation

The competition is getting hot. The field has narrowed in The Supper Bowl battle for best family meal menu, with eight companies still in the hunt for the honor of being named the first-ever Supper Bowl Champ.

From November 4^th until November 11^th, some 7,163 consumers cast their votes for the company’s dish they deemed to be the best family meal menu.

The battle for a semi-final berth was incredibly tight with only three votes separating the covenanted eighth place slot advancing to the next round and the ninth-place finisher left with thoughts of what could have been and hopes for next year.

Here is the list of the eight companies advancing to the next round of competition:

• Hy-Vee, Inc. came in hot with stuffed pork chops with a Brussels sprouts side and apple pie rosettes.
• The J.M. Smucker Company submitted a tasty chicken and quinoa Supper Bowl dish and even included menu elements for the furry members of the family to enjoy.
• Brookshire Grocery Company aimed for the comfort food vote with their chicken and broccoli mac and cheese casserole with a fall apple salad.
• Southeastern Grocers, Inc. whipped up goat cheese and herb stuffed meatballs and showed us all how the kids can get in on the dinner-preparing action.
• Unilever spiced things up with their Latin street food inspired family meal bringing an ethnic flair to the competition.
• Schnuck Markets, Inc. scored big in the Midwest with their rosemary infused prosciutto stuffed chicken with cacio e pepe and roasted green beans. Yum!
• Wakefern/ShopRite made making gourmet look easy with their braised short rib with creamy polenta, and crispy Brussels sprouts with a chipotle aioli. Hard to say, but very easy to swallow.
• The Kraft Heinz Company brought burger flipping to a new level with some family favorite bacon onion cheeseburgers with air-fryer fries that were pleasing to the palette and easy on the wallet.

Our thanks to all who entered the competition. All entries can be viewed, along with a video highlighting the winners, and copies of all the menus are available at www.fmi.org/supperbowl.

The next round of voting will take place between January 4 -13^th with the top two vote getters advancing the Supper Bowl finals playing out at a luncheon at the Midwinter Executive Conference on January 26, 2011.  For more information go to www.fmi.org/supperbowl.