Jarrod & Amanda Taschuk
Brisket Butts BBQ
Our journey into the world of barbecue was ignited while living in Texas. We are a husband and wife duo, Jarrod and Amanda Taschuk, behind the Brisket Butts BBQ Team. We started our adventure in competitive barbecue in 2021. The beginning of our achievements came in June 2022, when we won our first Grand Champion in Invermere, BC, and also the first team to achieve a perfect score in chicken in Canada. This win propelled us to the prestigious Jack Daniels World BBQ Competition in Lynchburg, Tennessee, where we won fourth place in ribs. In March 2023, our journey led us back to Texas, where we competed against 82 other teams, winning first place in Brisket. We were honored to represent Canada at the KCBS World Invitational BBQ Competition and the American Royal World Series of BBQ Competition in Kansas. Our success continued into the following season in Calgary where we won Reserve Grand Champion at the BBQ on the Bow competition. Then, at the Embers and Ice Competition in Edmonton, we were the second team in Canada to achieve a perfect score in Brisket and won Grand Champion. Most recently, we competed in Texas, securing fourth place overall, and also competed in the Iowa State BBQ Competition, where we finished in fifth place. Hopefully in the near future our brisket will be available for everyone to enjoy.

Patricia Thompson
King Cole Ducks
VP Sales and Marketing
“Great farmers make great food” and with that mantra, the King Cole ‘flock’ has farmed for 7 decades to serve great duck to kitchens across Canada and beyond.

Patti Thompson and her three sisters are 3rd generation duck farmers operating Canada’s largest farm to fork duck business. Now in its 73rd year, King Cole Ducks Ltd. boasts 2000 years collective experience in farming this specialty bird from egg to finished plate.

King Cole’s sustainability and animal welfare programs lead the industry in North America.
With a commitment to zero product waste, they use ‘everything but the quack’ from duck tongues to duck feathers and even compost manure for garden centres.

Patti is on the board of the Canadian Commercial Waterfowl Producers Association, is active with York Farm Fresh, is a contributor to York Region Economic and Agri Development and is an avid volunteer in the community.

Always grateful for the support of the Canadian Culinary Federation chefs across the country, the King Cole team sends a thank you for your BOH expertise that inspires our family and staff to bring the best of Canada to your tables.

Allison Vaux-Wilson
GoodLeaf Farms
National FoodService Manager
Allison has been part of the Foodservice Industry for over 25 years. She began her career as a Chef, and after becoming a successful Entrepreneur with her Catering company, she joined the world of Distribution. She held many positions with Gordon Food Service in Sales and Marketing. She honed her skills with Flannagan Foodservice as a Business Development Manager and served on the Board of Directors with the Ontario Culinary and Tourism Alliance. Her passion for local led her to GoodLeaf Farms in 2021 where she developed a Foodservice Sales strategy to introduce Vertical Farming to Chefs across Ontario. In 2023 GoodLeaf opened their Alberta and Quebec locations, making them the worlds largest network. In 2024 she accepted the role of National Foodservice Manager and continues to advocate for sustainable agriculture across Canada winning over Chefs one ‘leaf’ at a time.

Ron Yoneda
You Need a BBQ
You Need a BBQ is a company focused on taking your BBQ to the next level. We focus on premium grills, ingredients and meat. If you take our class we focus on teaching our students how to bring all of these elements together to make world class BBQ that will make your neighbours jealous, get you more likes on Instagram and maybe even one day have you competing against us in BBQ competitions for cash prizes!

Ron has been doing competitive cooking and BBQ for 6 years. He started out as a backyard hobbyist but quickly rose to prominence after winning the Canadian Bacon Championships. Ron has received dozens of awards for BBQing chicken, pork shoulder and is usually the team captain for the Chef’s challenge category at BBQ contests as well. Using his Japanese heritage, Ron often infuses Asian fusion into his BBQ flavours and always finds a way to perk up your taste buds. The highlight of Ron’s cooking career was getting 2nd place in the World Bacon Championships as well as winning the Joy Award at BBQ on the Bow for showing the true BBQ spirit for camaraderie and sportsmanship

Russell has been a competitive cook and BBQer for 10 years. In his early days of competitive cooking he was named Edmonton “Pork Chopped Champion”, he cooked Edmonton’s best smokie at Taste of Edmonton and he was the Atco Blue Flame Kitchen Champion. Russell has traveled across north America for cooking contests and flavour exploration, always tasting local food and exploring other cultures to bring back to Alberta the best of what other places offer. The highlight of Russell’s cooking career was getting 2nd in Pork Ribs at the World BBQ championships.

2nd Place World Food Championships, Rib Category
Canadian Bacon Champions
2nd Place, World Food Championships: Bacon Category
Edmonton Elks Tailgate BBQ Ambassadors
8th Place, American Royal World Seasoning Championships
KCBS Perfect Score x 2