Giant Landover Becomes Name Sponsor of Barbecue Battle
Giant Food LLC will be the title sponsor of the 24th Annual Giant National Capital Barbecue Battle, set for June 25-26 in Washington, D.C. Attended by more than 100,000 barbecue and music fans annually, the award-winning event features a cooking competition, 30 bands on three stages, and appearances from celebrity chefs, TV cooking personalities and cookbook authors.
Gordon Reid, president of Landover, Md.-based Giant, a division of Ahold USA, noted that visitors to the Barbecue Battle “will have an opportunity taste many of the very best products we offer in our stores, including delicious local offerings.”
To that end, the two-day event will include Giant’s Sampling Pavilion, Nature’s Promise Airstream trailer, Giant’s cooking demonstration stage and Giant’s Own Brand tent, as well as dozens of popular national brands featured in the main sampling pavilion. Further, BrightFarms, an exclusive partner providing Giant with locally sourced baby greens and tomatoes from a greenhouse in Culpeper County, Va., will showcase its products in the “local flavors” pavilion. The event will also offer consultations with Giant pharmacists and in-store nutritionists.
To date, the Barbecue Battle has raised $1.5 million for area nonprofits. This year, event fundraising will support the Capital Area Food Bank’s mission to alleviate hunger in Washington D.C., area, and the USO-Metro in Washington D.C., Maryland and northern Virginia, with which Giant has teamed on an annual in-store giving campaign.
Giant operates 169 supermarkets in Virginia, Maryland, Delaware and the District of Columbia, employing about 20,000 associates.