Chef Jon-Luc Maggi of Tiki Tom’s wins Battle of the Blades in Napa, named Sysco Northern California Culinary Artisan of the Year
Sysco (NYSE:SYY) named Chef Jon-Luc Maggi of Tiki Tom’s Culinary Artisan of the Year after he won Northern California’s Battle of the Blades on March 16, 2026.
Rhea-AI Summary
Sysco (NYSE:SYY) named Chef Jon-Luc Maggi of Tiki Tom’s Culinary Artisan of the Year after he won Northern California’s Battle of the Blades on March 16, 2026.
The timed 45-minute final used five judging criteria and featured Sysco Pantry items plus three local mystery ingredients.
Details
News Market Reaction – SYY
On Mar 17, the first trading day after this news, SYY closed 0.27% below the previous close.
Data tracked by StockTitan Argus for the Mar 17 session.
Key Figures
- Competition duration
- 45-minute
- Timed rapid-fire cooking contest final round
- Judging criteria
- 5 criteria
- Visual appeal, creativity, execution, ingredient use, taste and flavor
- Mystery ingredients count
- 3 ingredients
- San Joaquin Gold Cheddar, tarragon, almonds
- Participating chefs
- 71 chefs
- Total chefs who took part in Battle of the Blades
- Current share price
- $84.52
- Price before this news, SYY
- Price change 24h
- -1.13%
- Move prior to publication of this article
- 52-week range
- $67.12–$91.845
- Low and high over the last 52 weeks
- Market capitalization
- $40,943,781,183
- Equity value of SYY prior to this news
Historical Context
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Media invite to Battle of the Blades grand finale in Napa.
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Details on grand finale cook-off and Culinary Artisan of the Year award.
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Announcement inviting media to chef competition using Sysco products.
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CFO change with reaffirmed fiscal 2026 EPS and sales growth outlook.
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Quarterly cash dividend announcement with business scale metrics.
24h Move is the share-price change in the day after each event; other market factors may also have contributed.
AI-generated analysis. How Rhea-AI works. Not financial advice.
NAPA, Calif., March 16, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Chef Jon-Luc Maggi, executive chef at Tiki Tom’s in Walnut Creek, Calif., has been named Culinary Artisan of the Year after winning Northern California’s Battle of the Blades, a high-stakes cooking competition hosted by Sysco Corporation, the global leader in food distribution.
Chef Jon-Luc Maggi prevailed in a final round Monday over semi-finalists Chef Robert Root, executive chef of The Century, and Chef Dean Hiatt, executive chef at Poor Red’s Bar-B-Q. A five-judge panel selected the winner following a timed, 45-minute, rapid-fire cooking contest, using five criteria to reach a decision: visual appeal, creativity, execution, ingredient use, and taste and flavor.
Each finalist prepared a dish using an unlimited number of items from the Sysco Pantry and three locally produced mystery ingredients – San Joaquin Gold Cheddar from Fiscalini Farmstead, Sysco-branded Santa Cruz-grown fresh Tarragon and Gustine, Calif. Sysco-branded almonds.
Chef Jon-Luc Maggi’s won with a dish of tarragon marinated lamb chops, a shaved arugula salad with a citrus tarragon dressing, resting on a parmesan beet puree and garnished with a toasted almond and beet tuile.
“It’s an honor. It’s amazing to be named the first champion but again I couldn’t do it alone,” Maggi said, crediting Erasmo Garcia, his sous chef, for being an amazing partner and friend. “I’m just grateful for all the support I have,” Maggi said.
The contest is part of a larger annual Sysco Northern California food expo that allows the region to showcase its offerings, the uniqueness and breadth of supplier partners and connect customers to the assortment and the people committed to their success.
“Food is what we do at Sysco and so having the opportunity to both mingle with some of the best chefs in Northern California and allow to showcase their talents in a fun contest while also highlighting the amazing assortment of products we offer is truly the highlight of the year,” said Northern California Region President Steve Buer.
“I want to congratulate Chef Jon-Luc Maggi for his amazing feat today as well as the other 71 chefs who participated in the competition from the beginning. From the very start to our finals today, these chefs truly showed what great food can do – connect us all around a communal table,” Buer added.
Download here for b-roll and a quote from the winner.
About Sysco
Sysco is the global leader in selling, marketing and distributing food and related products to customers who prepare meals away from home. This includes restaurants, healthcare and educational facilities, lodging establishments, entertainment venues, and more. Sysco operates 339 distribution centers, in 10 countries, with 75,000 colleagues serving approximately 730,000 customer locations. The company generated sales of more than
As the world’s largest food-away-from-home distributor, Sysco offers customized supply chain solutions, bespoke specialty product offerings, and culinary support to drive customers to innovate and optimize their operations. We act as a trusted business partner to our customers, helping them grow through our industry-leading portfolio that includes fresh produce, premium proteins, specialty products, sustainably focused items, equipment and supplies, and innovative culinary solutions.
For more information, visit www.sysco.com. For important news and key information for Sysco investors, visit the Investor Relations section of the company’s website at investors.sysco.com.
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For more information contact:
Media Contact
Ramit Plushnick-Masti
media@sysco.com
713-703-4898
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/e726e389-aae8-4f3d-b922-44da2cd192f6
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