New World Champion of Guacamole crowned at California Avocado Festival in Carpinteria

A new World Champion of Guacamole was crowned on the final day of the 32nd Annual California Avocado Festival in Carpinteria.

Emcee Drew Wakefield got the crowd fired up along with co-Emcee John Palminteri, who is also the Senior Reporter at NewsChannel 3.

There were 19 entries this year and a team of judges made up of local chefs, celebrities and media personalities sampled each guacamole to determine the winner.

The judges chose Santa Barbara resident Cathy Smith as this year’s champion. Smith was a first time competitor.

Her winning guacamole recipe included Haas avocados, red onion, Roma tomatoes, garlic, salt and lemon.

Smith said she also adds a secret ingredient, “like my family says I put a lot of love into it.”

Simi Valley resident Robert Mitchell won for Best in Presentation.

All proceeds from the contest go to the local Future Farmers of America chapter.