Each card leads with the number that made it a story — read straight out of their results, no editorialising.
93.9% of a perfect 720
Their best day on record: 675.8512 at American Royal World Series of Barbecue - Open Contest — 93.9% of a perfect 720.
Off the trail for 8.2 years, then back at Smokin in the Bogs (2023-09-01).
The nearest teams in the power rankings, with a different reason on each card — six teams on one rating are rarely on it for the same reason. Rating decides who makes the list; where teams tie on it, the ones this team has actually cooked against come first, then teams at a similar point in their own career. KCBS doesn’t publish where a team is from, so nothing here is inferred from geography.
Croix Valley Foods has 3 rated contests — short of the five it takes to earn a power ranking — so this rating has barely moved off the 1500 every team starts on and 108 rated teams sit within a point of it. Read the list as the nearest company at a number nobody here has moved far from, not as a verdict on who this team belongs with.
One contest in common so far: too few to settle anything, but a team Croix Valley Foods has actually stood beside rather than a stranger on the same rating.
⚔ Head-to-head13 contests to 4: their number has had years to settle where Croix Valley Foods's is still finding its level.
⚔ Head-to-headThey turned up 10 years after Croix Valley Foods did, first appearing in 2025.
⚔ Head-to-headLevel with Croix Valley Foods on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.
⚔ Head-to-headCareers of much the same size, 5 contests to 4, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.
⚔ Head-to-headCareers of much the same size, 5 contests to 4, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.
⚔ Head-to-head| Category | Entries | Calls | Wins | Podiums | Best | Worst | Average | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 177.7028 | 165.1200 | 169.71 | top 34% |
| Pork Ribs | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 170.8228 | 154.8112 | 164.73 | top 59% |
| Pork | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 165.1200 | 158.7884 | 162.81 | top 65% |
| Brisket | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 165.6800 | 151.9428 | 160.14 | top 67% |
“Calls” = top-10 category finishes (getting called to the stage). Scores here are the final weighted totals KCBS publishes; per-criterion appearance/taste/tenderness marks aren’t in the public results feed.
| Where | Contests | GCs | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|
| WI | 2 | 0 | top 66% |
| KS | 1 | 0 | top 51% |
| Field | Contests | GCs | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small (<20 teams) | 1 | 0 | top 86% |
| Large (40+) | 2 | 0 | top 49% |
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| +3.3 | American Royal World Series of Barbecue - Open Contest | 2024-10-30 |
| +3.3 | Gold Ribbin' BBQ Fest of Greater Green Bay | 2015-07-10 |
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| -5 | Smokin in the Bogs | 2023-09-01 |
| Season | Contests | GCs | Top-10s | Category wins | Walk rate | Avg finish | Best overall (% of perfect) | Avg overall (% of perfect) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 51% | 93.9% | 93.9% |
| 2023 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100% | top 86% | 89.5% | 89.5% |
| 2015 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 46% | 90.5% | 90.5% |
| Date | Event | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-10-30 | American Royal World Series of Barbecue - Sides Kansas City, KS | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2024-10-30 | American Royal World Series of Barbecue - Open Contest 🏅 Kansas City, KS | 226 / 444 (675.8512) | 26 (177.7028) | 182 (170.8228) | 304 (164.5256) | 316 (162.8000) |
| 2023-09-01 | Smokin in the Bogs 🏅 Warrens, WI | 12 / 14 (644.4000) | 9 (165.1200) | 8 (168.5488) | 13 (158.7884) | 14 (151.9428) |
| 2015-07-10 | Gold Ribbin' BBQ Fest of Greater Green Bay Green Bay, WI | 37 / 80 (651.9196) | 25 (166.3084) | 64 (154.8112) | 26 (165.1200) | 24 (165.6800) |