Today was SF’s annual chili cook-off! Every November for three years now, the studio has been taking this special lunch to eat great chili together, show off our best new recipe, and decide who made the definitive superior chili of the year.
This time we had five crockpots of chili simmering away throughout the morning, and filling the studio with the smell of spices. Each pot was made by one of our team members who would all be revealed after the winner was announced.
At every SF chili cook-off, a variety of unique flavors and different twists on the traditional recipe are brought to the table. This year, we had everything from a Cincinnati-style chili to one that was packed with smoky barbeque flavor and sweet potato undertones!
This year, we also had a very special edition to the spread. Our spice-loving Senior Industrial Designer and HMI Specialist, Evan Carpenter Crawford, hand-made us some amazing hot sauces. Made with homegrown habanero peppers that our Design Research Manager, Sara Dickerson, had brought to the studio over the summer, Evan’s hottest sauce weighed in at 700,000 units on the Scoville heat scale. Each sauce even had its own graphically designed label, made, of course, by Evan himself.
As we all chowed down on our chili, some of us were brave enough to try one drop of the least spicy sauce, while others of us, like Jeevak, our Director of Strategic Growth, and Tomer, our CFO, had no trouble enjoying 10-12 drops of the hottest sauce! Needless to say, the sauces were an absolute hit!
With bellies full, the chili eaten, and the judging ballots filled out, we held our breath to hear the name of this year’s champion…
Jeevak won third place with his delicious beef and pork chili.
Dave Byron, our Manager of Design and Innovation Strategy, won second place with his smoky pulled pork and beef chili with a sweet potato base and smoked Gouda garnish.
Finally, the first place went to Evan with his rich and colorful chili of shredded meat, corn, peppers and a host of other succulent veggies!
There you have it! The results of another successful year for our SF Chili Cook-Off! And hey, if you have a project that could use some design expertise, or just want to talk human-centric design with us, drop us an email at hello@sundbergferar.com! We’re sure to have some delicious chili leftovers to share if you happen to stop by our studio this week!