CLICK HERE TO VIEW EACH TEAM’S AMAZING RECIPES!

The steam’s been building. The kitchen’s getting hot. You could cut the tension with a chef’s knife. The official rings the dinner bell, and it’s on…

let the Holiday Feud Fight begin!

Creative St. Louis partners, united by their work supporting entrepreneurs in the food and beverage arena and emboldened by their professed kitchen proficiency, have challenged each other to a good-natured culinary duel of epic proportions. Teams will engage in this holiday cooking contest in an effort to showcase some amazing food brand startups and raise funds for St. Louis area food-related nonprofits. And yes, to secure bragging rights – obviously. Each team will craft a dinner entrée, dessert, and drink using products from Upstart Food Brands’ clients as ingredients.

The steam’s been building. The kitchen’s getting hot. You could cut the tension with a chef’s knife. The official rings the dinner bell, and it’s on…

let the Holiday Feud Fight begin!

Creative St. Louis partners, united by their work supporting entrepreneurs in the food and beverage arena and emboldened by their professed kitchen proficiency, have challenged each other to a good-natured culinary duel of epic proportions. Teams will engage in this holiday cooking contest in an effort to showcase some amazing food brand startups and raise funds for St. Louis area food-related nonprofits. And yes, to secure bragging rights – obviously. Each team will craft a dinner entrée, dessert, and drink using products from Upstart Food Brands’ clients as ingredients.

MEET THE TEAMS

UpstartFoodBrands.com

JOSH & SARA

When you receive samples of tremendous food and beverage products on a regular basis, it’s almost impossible not to get inspired to eat and cook new things! From grilling to smoking to baking to broiling to sautéing to mixing cocktails, our profession fuels our personal passion for culinary exploration.

REPRESENTING:
We’re representing the St. Louis Area Food Bank. Last year alone, through community support, the organization was able to provide 35 MILLION meals to people in our region facing hunger! Hunger is a senseless, tragic thing in our modern society, which has been made even more challenging this year due to the effects of the COVID 19 pandemic. We ask for your help.

COOKING WITH THE FOLLOWING PRODUCTS FROM THE UPSTART FAMILY OF BRANDS:

CLICK HERE TO DONATE TO THE ST LOUIS AREA FOODBANK TO VOTE FOR TEAM JOSH & SARA!

JOSH & SARA

When you receive samples of tremendous food and beverage products on a regular basis, it’s almost impossible not to get inspired to eat and cook new things! From grilling to smoking to baking to broiling to sautéing to mixing cocktails, our profession fuels our personal passion for culinary exploration.

UpstartFoodBrands.com

REPRESENTING:
We’re representing the St. Louis Area Food Bank. Last year alone, through community support, the organization was able to provide 35 MILLION meals to people in our region facing hunger! Hunger is a senseless, tragic thing in our modern society, which has been made even more challenging this year due to the effects of the COVID 19 pandemic. We ask for your help.

COOKING WITH THE FOLLOWING PRODUCTS FROM THE UPSTART FAMILY OF BRANDS:

ChrisMalacarne.com

CHRIS & SHANEY

With Shaney’s restaurant background and food styling prowess, and Chris’s food photography skills, this duo is a very experienced, well-equipped food producing powerhouse, ready to knock out the competition with the click of a shutter.

REPRESENTING:
We’re representing the Community Interfaith Food Pantry. Belleville and Swansea area churches – 9 participating churches in total – pool their efforts to eliminate hunger within the location community. This cooperative approach to supporting the physical, spiritual, and emotional needs of so many in need is an inspiration to us all.

COOKING WITH THE FOLLOWING PRODUCTS FROM THE UPSTART FAMILY OF BRANDS:

CLICK HERE TO DONATE TO THE COMMUNITY INTERFAITH FOOD PANTRY TO VOTE FOR TEAM CHRIS & SHANEY!!

CHRIS & SHANEY

With Shaney’s restaurant background and food styling prowess, and Chris’s food photography skills, this duo is a very experienced, well-equipped food producing powerhouse, ready to knock out the competition with the click of a shutter.

ChrisMalacarne.com

REPRESENTING:
We’re representing the Community Interfaith Food Pantry. Belleville and Swansea area churches – 9 participating churches in total – pool their efforts to eliminate hunger within the location community. This cooperative approach to supporting the physical, spiritual, and emotional needs of so many in need is an inspiration to us all.

COOKING WITH THE FOLLOWING PRODUCTS FROM THE UPSTART FAMILY OF BRANDS:

UpstartFoodBrands.com

JASON & KITTY

As Upstart’s Creative Director, Jason’s creativity and appetite for clients’ tasty products extends to the world of culinary craftsmanship. Collaborating with Kitty, his Holiday Feud Fight partner (and partner in life), this duo finds relaxation and imagination in the kitchen. While not every dish may be prize-winning, this underdog team brings the heat when it comes to ingenuity and exploration around the oven.

REPRESENTING:
We’re representing Food Outreach, the only St. Louis area organization whose mission is to provide nutritional support and enhance the quality of life of men, women and children living with HIV/AIDS or cancer. Knowing the power food has to nourish and heal, we firmly feel everyone should have access to the meals and support they need to eat well and be well. We hope you’ll join us in supporting this inspiring organization that’s making a vital impact in our community.

COOKING WITH THE FOLLOWING PRODUCTS FROM THE UPSTART FAMILY OF BRANDS:

CLICK HERE TO DONATE TO FOOD OUTREACH TO VOTE FOR TEAM JASON & KITTY!

JASON & KITTY

As Upstart’s Creative Director, Jason’s creativity and appetite for clients’ tasty products extends to the world of culinary craftsmanship. Collaborating with Kitty, his Holiday Feud Fight partner (and partner in life), this duo finds relaxation and imagination in the kitchen. While not every dish may be prize-winning, this underdog team brings the heat when it comes to ingenuity and exploration around the oven.

UpstartFoodBrands.com

REPRESENTING:
We’re representing Food Outreach, the only St. Louis area organization whose mission is to provide nutritional support and enhance the quality of life of men, women and children living with HIV/AIDS or cancer. Knowing the power food has to nourish and heal, we firmly feel everyone should have access to the meals and support they need to eat well and be well. We hope you’ll join us in supporting this inspiring organization that’s making a vital impact in our community.

COOKING WITH THE FOLLOWING PRODUCTS FROM THE UPSTART FAMILY OF BRANDS:

SPOT.studio

T.K. & JASON

When the SPOT guys aren’t at work making content, they’re still out there making. You can usually find a Spottie or two at any given time around a grill cooking up good food, making a nice drink, having fun, and – of course – capturing it all with photos and videos.

REPRESENTING:
We’re representing Wings Love & Care Youth Center, a local division of Crisis Aid International. Their bi-weekly food distributions help meet some of the most basic needs of families by providing meat, fresh vegetables, fruit, canned goods, and dry goods, providing around 17,000 people in need with more than 100,000 pounds of food!

COOKING WITH THE FOLLOWING PRODUCTS FROM THE UPSTART FAMILY OF BRANDS:

CLICK HERE TO DONATE TO WINGS LOVE & CARE YOUTH CENTER TO VOTE FOR TEAM T.K. & JASON!

T.K. & JASON

When the SPOT guys aren’t at work making content, they’re still out there making. You can usually find a Spottie or two at any given time around a grill cooking up good food, making a nice drink, having fun, and – of course – capturing it all with photos and videos.

SPOT.studio

REPRESENTING:
We’re representing Wings Love & Care Youth Center, a local division of Crisis Aid International. Their bi-weekly food distributions help meet some of the most basic needs of families by providing meat, fresh vegetables, fruit, canned goods, and dry goods, providing around 17,000 people in need with more than 100,000 pounds of food!

COOKING WITH THE FOLLOWING PRODUCTS FROM THE UPSTART FAMILY OF BRANDS:

MEET THE JUDGES

Our esteemed judges come from a variety of food backgrounds, cultural perspectives, and distinct life experiences. They have committed to tasting our crazy creations in order to help us determine who is the true Holiday Feud Fight champion! They will rate our submissions based on a 1-5 rating scale for overall taste, presentation, and creative use of ingredients. Winners will be named for each of the three categories, and one grand champion will receive the coveted Holiday Feud Fight Championship Belt!

DANIEL MOVITZ

Daniel Movitz is the owner of Movitz photography, co-founder of Kosher Food Truck STL and the general manager of STL Foodworks, the commercial kitchen space where our competition will take place.

VISIT STL FOODWORKS

VITO LAFATA

Vito LaFata III and his family own Vito’s Sicilian Pizzeria & Ristorante in Mid-Town. He launched his own brand of marinara, Mama’s Sugo, based on a family recipe handed down through generations.

VISIT MAMA'S SUGO
VISIT VITO'S

ESTIE CRUZ-CUROE

Estie Cruz-Curoe was born and raised in Cuba and moved to the United States in the 1960s. She launched Del Carmen Foods, a line of black bean products in 2009. She now crafts her products in the commercial kitchen at STL Foodworks.

VISIT DEL CARMEN

MEET OUR HOST

STLFoodworks.com

Our gracious host is STL Foodworks. This new, state-of-the-art shared-use kitchen facility boasts several professional kitchens, a conference room, shared work space, dry, cold, and freezer storage, and a variety of other tremendous amenities for St. Louis food makers.

This is where the fight goes down! Teams will compete in a fully-outfitted, commercial kitchen space. Socially-distanced judging will also take place here.

STLFoodworks.com

Our gracious host is STL Foodworks. This new, state-of-the-art shared-use kitchen facility boasts several professional kitchens, a conference room, shared work space, dry, cold, and freezer storage, and a variety of other tremendous amenities for St. Louis food makers.

This is where the fight goes down! Teams will compete in a fully-outfitted, commercial kitchen space. Socially-distanced judging will also take place here.

THE DETAILS

DETAILS

The competition will begin in December, with the red and black Holiday Feud Fight championship belt being presented to the grand champion on December 31st, 2020. Winners will be decided based on a combination of votes from donations and our judges’ weighted scores. We will release content on social media to show off each team’s culinary creations and to vie for your votes. Together, we can help local food charities do critical work in our community this holiday season! (and have a little fun in the process!)

VOTING

Voting is simple. Once the competition is complete, we will begin asking for donations (via GoFundMe) to support each team and their charity of choice. Every dollar donated to a team’s charity will count as 1 vote for that team/charity. On this page, with each team’s bio, you’ll find a button to donate. Simply click that button, donate to your team/charity, and we’ll keep watch on the tallies. There are no restrictions – donate as much or as little as you like (minimum of $1), vote as many times as you like, and donate to multiple teams if you like. Once voting is closed, we’ll use these donations/votes, in combination with the judges’ votes, to determine who will be crowned the Holiday Feud Fight Grand Champion!

JUDGING

With 3 judges and 3 categories (taste, presentation, and creative use of ingredients) and a 1-5 scale for each category, each team can earn from 9-45 points from the judges. We’ve developed a complex algorithm to give weight to the judges’ assessments, since they’re the only ones who will experience each team’s culinary creations, and this weighted point total will be added to the total votes from donations to determine the grand champion!

THE BELT

In addition to bragging rights, the grand champion team will be presented with the coveted Holiday Feud Fight Championship belt! This is a one-of-a-kind, authentic, custom, real-deal red leather championship belt with engraved black metal plates commemorating the competition. Help our contestants win this special prize, and maybe they’ll let you take ‘er out on the town!