HOUSTON – One Houston area business showed its love for Filipino community in an energetic Lumpia eating contest to celebrate the Fourth of July and give back to small businesses.
The crunchy Lumpia Shanghai egg roll-like treats were consumed by seven contestants in a heated 10-minute competition hosted by Be More Pacific: Filipino Kitchen & Bar in the Heights.
Be More Pacific started the now-popular event in 2021 with hopes of helping to promote local businesses that continue to face challenges due to the pandemic and the uncertain economy.
This year, contestants represented businesses including Clutch City Insurance, Seaside Poke, KetKar Law Firm, and more.
“Last year, businesses were just kind of creeping out of COVID. We’re still kind of creeping out of there, especially with the restaurant businesses. We’re just doing our part to help everybody out and to get out of that funk and get everybody where they need to be,” co-owner of Be More Pacific Giovan Cuchapin said.
Each contestant was tasked to eat as many Lumpia as they could within the timeframe.
KPRC2′s Rose-Ann Aragon emceed the event for the second time.
The winner was Chris Nguyen from Seaside Poke.
He ate a total of 52 Lumpias!