COMPETITOR

Golden Toad BBQ

HEAD COOK: Todd Jilbert

COMPETITION: World Barbecue Championship

QUALIFYING EVENT: Colorado BBQ Challenge - Frisco, CO

The Golden Toad was launched by Todd Jilbert in March of 2004 with three products and a dream. Todd’s first three products were his Chipotle Pepper Sauce, Chipotle BBQ Finishing Sauce, and Prime Steak Rub. In 2006 Todd and his wife Sara were convinced to vend at the 13th Annual Colorado BBQ Challenge. Although they didn’t start competing as a BBQ Team until 2010, the Frisco Colorado event is where their competition BBQ adventure began.

The dream actually began on the beaches of San Diego in the early 1990’s where Todd spent his time bartending and managing restaurants while attending San Diego State University. At one particular restaurant in La Jolla, Todd began experimenting with his recipes. On Wednesday nights the restaurant ran a Lobster Taco special and Todd started offering his Chipotle Pepper Sauce to the locals. The Locals started to ask if they could purchase the sauce, and the idea was born.

The name was next. Todd’s father Chuck, who is also a member of the BBQ Team, gave him the nickname Toad. Many of Todd’s college friends knew of this nickname and one of his friends told him about an extinct amphibian that was once endemic to the Monte Verde Cloud Forest in Costa Rica, the Golden Toad. The name fit. Probably because Todd always believed that a company should give a little back and Todd wanted to make sure that his company gave to wildlife conservation efforts. Todd eventually registered his trademarked tag line “Saving the Planet One Tongue at a Time®” and the Golden Toad currently donates a portion of its proceeds to the Children’s Hospital, the Colorado Wildlife Heritage Foundation, the Denver Zoo, and several military charities.

The product line and business continued to grow year after year, and with the help of Todd’s signature item, Shrimp Bombs, the Golden Toad quickly became a favorite vendor at many of the local events in Colorado. In 2010 at the Colorado BBQ Challenge in Frisco, Todd decided to join KCBS and RMBBQA (the Rocky Mountain BBQ Association) and start competing. Since that competition, the team has been rewarded with consistent calls to stage and multiple People’s Choice awards. The Golden Toad BBQ Team won its first Grand Championship in May of 2012 at the Sam’s Club National BBQ Tour in Thornton, Colorado.

Todd continues to BBQ competitively around Colorado and plans to add more and more competitions throughout the country in the coming years. In addition to the manufacturing and catering side of the business, Todd is looking for the right opportunity to launch his restaurants.

BBQ Team Sponsors

~ ACE Hardware Highlands Ranch

~ Ruffs BBQ Shop

~ Wildcat Wine & Spirits Highlands Ranch