The Bojangles’ made-from-scratch buttermilk biscuit, baked fresh every 20 minutes, is an icon. Southeastern locals crave the simplicity of a hot, fresh Bojangles’ buttermilk biscuit, while out-of-towners count down the days until they can again experience the wonders of a Bojangles’ biscuit. The biscuit is so important to Bojangles’ broad menu of home-style favorites that each year the company holds an internal biscuit-making competition, the Master Biscuit Maker Challenge.
The prestigious competition begins every summer with Bojangles’ certified biscuit makers rolling dough in local communities involving more than 600 Bojangles’ restaurants across the Southeast, and concludes with the final round in the Research and Development Kitchen at the Bojangles’ Support Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. Following this year’s competition, Roger Hudson, Jr. of Boiling Springs, North Carolina, was named Master Biscuit Maker representing Bojangles’ company-owned restaurants, while Royce Vereen of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, was awarded the honor for Bojangles’ franchised locations.
“At Bojangles’ we are very proud of all of our menu items, but for us, it all starts with the biscuit,” says Bojangles’ president and CEO Clifton Rutledge. “Our fans know there’s nothing like the taste of a delicious, made-from-scratch Bojangles’ biscuit. We have been baking the perfect biscuit for our customers all day, every day for years, and the Master Biscuit Maker Challenge is the ideal competition to ensure we continue serving our customers nothing but the very best. I personally want to congratulate Roger and Royce on earning this prestigious award, and we’re proud to call them our Bojangles’ Master Biscuit Maker Champions.”
As champions, Hudson and Vereen will each take home a $2,500 prize, a championship trophy, company-wide recognition, and bragging rights as the 2015 Master Biscuit Maker Champions. Additionally, all finalists will receive a $250 cash prize and a trophy.
Master Biscuit Maker finalists, including eight from company-owned locations and 10 from franchise-owned restaurants, were first required to take a written exam on the proprietary Bojangles’ biscuit-making process. Then, team members prepared a batch of biscuits that adhere to Bojangles’ strict specifications, including the company’s signature 48-step process. Judges from Bojangles’ Support Center score biscuits based on a variety of factors, including appearance, color, and of course, taste.
