SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — A grocery store chain based in Iowa recently hosted a burger competition among its employees, and a team from Sioux Falls emerged victorious.
There’s a new addition to the meat counter at Fareway on South Sycamore Avenue, the Samuel Adams So-Dak Pickle Burger. It was created by employees Bill Wehrkamp and Doug Walls for a burger competition at Fareway headquarters.
“Sam Adams sponsored it, so it’s their new American Light Beer, our cheddar cheese, pickles, pickled jalapenos, and soy sauce,” Walls said.
But Walls is the first to admit that the finished product didn’t happen overnight.
“It was about 60 pounds of burger and about 70 different recipes, so yeah, my cholesterol took a hit for that,” Walls said.
“We’d have like 12 patties, all different, laying out on the counter and we kept tasting and tasting and then finally we involved the team here, which everybody’s so great here, and we had taste testing and everybody trying them and what they liked and what they thought was really good,” Wehrkamp said.
The event had 48 overall entries. The top ten advanced to the finals. Once the field was narrowed to four, the champion was selected through a blind taste test among corporate employees.
“They didn’t say our name or who did it, they had each one labeled by color and then they voted on the color they liked the best and we won,” Wehrkamp said.
As for what set their entry apart, earning the title and traveling trophy, it’s the little things.
“I think it’s the crunch from the pickles and then the combination of the soy sauce and the beer, they really compliment each other,” Walls said.
The burger will now be featured at all 142 Fareways across seven states.
“We’re all foodies, so to get an award for it, it’s amazing,” Wehrkamp said.
“I’ve been cooking almost my whole life, I think I started when I was like nine with my grandpa, my parents, so really just seeing it all come to fruition to win a competition is pretty big,” Walls said.
The Samuel Adams So-Dak Pickle Burger will be available at all Fareway locations through the end of summer.
