The World Food Championships has named Monument Grills its Official Gas Grill for the 2026 event, placing the Atlanta-founded brand at the center of what organizers bill as the world's largest Food Sport competition. The partnership takes effect October 15–18 in Indianapolis at the Indiana State Fairgrounds & Event Center, where hundreds of culinary competitors will vie for a share of a $400,000+ prize purse across ten categories.
The Burger Battle
The deal's highest-profile activation is Monument Grills' role as the featured partner of the inaugural Burger Battle, set for Thursday, October 15, inside Kitchen Arena. The format puts competitors head-to-head preparing slider-sized burgers that attendees can sample, with crowd participation driving a People's Choice vote to determine the winner. For operators and culinary professionals tracking competitive cooking as a marketing channel, the Burger Battle model — live heat, fan interaction, and brand-integrated equipment — represents a growing template for connecting equipment manufacturers directly with serious cooks.
Brand and Event Fit
Monument Grills was founded in 2016 by three friends in Atlanta and is marking its 10th anniversary in 2026. The company, which says it is trusted by more than one million grillers, positions itself as the "Gas Grill Expert" and builds products around features such as quick-start ignition, LED knob controls, Clearview® glass lids, ThermaSear™ technology, and app-connected temperature control. That combination of precision hardware and consumer-facing storytelling aligns with the WFC's competitive grilling audience, which skews toward cooks who treat outdoor cooking as a serious discipline rather than a backyard pastime.
Mike McCloud, Founder and CEO of the World Food Championships, framed the fit around shared values. "Monument Grills understands something we know very well at WFC; great food has a way of bringing people together, and great results come from respecting the craft," McCloud said. "Their commitment to community and craftsmanship makes them a natural fit for Food Sport, and the Burger Battle is the perfect place to put that philosophy into action."
Beyond the Burger Battle, Monument Grills will be integrated throughout all four days of competition, giving the brand exposure to WFC competitors, culinary professionals, and thousands of attendees. For equipment brands pursuing the prosumer and competitive-cooking segment, event partnerships of this kind offer a direct sampling environment that retail shelf placement cannot replicate — a dynamic increasingly recognized across the outdoor cooking and grilling equipment space.
To extend the partnership's reach into the consumer market, Monument Grills is offering 10% off any online purchase through December 31, 2026, using code WFC10 at checkout — a direct-to-consumer mechanic designed to convert event awareness into sales.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
