Melissa’s Lunar New Year Cook Off
NO PURCHASE OR PAYMENT NECESSARY. A purchase or payment of any kind will not increase your chances of winning. You must have access to a computer or mobile device with internet access in order to enter.
By participating in this promotion, you declare that you have read the official rules below and that you fully agree to all of these terms and conditions.
Eligibility: The Lunar New Year cook Off(the "Promotion") is open only to legal residents of the lower-48(48) United States (including the District of Columbia) who are at least twenty-one (21) years old at the time of entry. Void in Guam, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, other U.S. territories and possessions, overseas military installations, and where prohibited by law. Employees of World Variety Produce, Inc., or any of their respective affiliates, subsidiaries, advertising agencies, or any other company or individual involved with the design, production, execution, or distribution of the Promotion and their immediate family (spouse, parents and step-parents, siblings and step-siblings, and children and step-children) and household members (people who share the same residence at least three (3) months out of the year whether related or not) of each such employee are not eligible. The Promotion is subject to all applicable federal, state, and local laws and regulations. Participation constitutes entrant’s full and unconditional agreement to these Official Rules and Administrator’s decisions, which are final and binding in all matters related to the Promotion. Winning a prize is contingent upon fulfilling all requirements set forth herein.
Sponsor and Administrator: World Variety Produce, Inc., P.O. Box 514599, Los Angeles, CA 90051.
Timing: The Promotion begins on January 28, 2025, at 12:00 p.m. Pacific Time (“PT”) and ends on February 12, 2025, at 11:59 a.m. PT (the “Promotion Period”). The Administrator’s computer is the official timekeeping device for this Promotion.
How to Enter: Visit https://www.melissas.com/pages/lunar-new-year-cook-off during the Promotion Period and access the online entry form. You will receive one (1) entry into the Promotion upon the successful completion and submission of the online entry form. The Administrator and Sponsor reserve the right to contact entrants whose email address is submitted as part of this promotion. Entrants may then choose to opt out of future email notifications. Opting out of future emails will not affect an entrant’s odds of winning a prize.
To participate and enter this Contest, individuals will need a mobile device (e.g., mobile phone or tablet) that can access the Internet and uses either the Apple or Android platform. Additionally, individuals will need to download the Instagram application from their mobile device’s app store and sign-up for an Instagram account (“Instagram Account”) if they do not already have an Instagram Account. Creating an Instagram Account is free. By submitting your information and creating an Instagram Account however, entrants will be required to agree to the Instagram terms of service and privacy policy. If you do not agree to Instagram’s terms of service and privacy notice, you cannot create an Instagram Account or participate in this Contest. After the entrant has an Instagram Account, log-in to your Instagram Account. To enter, during the Entry Period, follow the call-to-action provided in any advertising for the Contest on how to receive an entry. The call-to-action for this Contest will require entrants to follow these instructions:
• Create It: Using at least one (1) Melissa’s Produce product, create an original Lunar New Year recipe. A Melissa’s Produce product is defined as anything currently sold on melissas.com or in partnering retailers. The recipe should be easy to recreate using utensils and appliances commonly found in an average home kitchen.
• Snap It: Take an original photo of your creation. Editing and/or enhancing the original image is permitted but not required. Only photo submissions will be considered; video-only submissions will be disqualified. Photos may not contain any text overlay, added graphics, or watermarks.
• Caption It: You must include a complete list of ingredients, recipe instructions, and the contest hashtag (“#LNYCookOff2025”) in your caption. Entries without this hashtag and written recipe instructions in the caption will not be considered. An image of the written recipe will not count. Recipe instructions must be typed out in the caption and not in the form of an image for the submission to be considered.
• Post It: Post your photo and caption as noted above (collectively, the “Submission”) to your own Instagram Account during the Entry Period. Any submission of copyrighted material is strictly prohibited. IMPORTANT: Your Instagram account must be set to “Public” in order for your photo to be seen and to participate in this Contest. Previous winners of Melissa's Produce Instagram contests may submit but will not be eligible to win the Grand Prize.
When entrants post the Submission(s) from their Instagram Account, entrant must include the unique hashtag “#LNYCookOff2025” in the caption field part of their Instagram post. Sponsor may not receive entries that fail to include this hashtag. However, Sponsor, at its sole discretion, may accept a technically incorrect unique term. NOTE: Sponsor cannot receive entries from Instagram users with “private” account settings (i.e., user has set their Instagram Account so that only people already “following” their accounts can view their photos), due to the way Instagram operates its service. Messages not received by Sponsor will not be entered into the Contest. In addition, by including the hashtag “#LNYCookOff2025” in the post, entrants are confirming their acceptance and agreement to these Official Rules.
A Submission may, in Sponsor’s sole and absolute discretion, be rejected if it fails to follow the technical, creative, and legal requirements disclosed in the advertising for the Contest and in these Official Rules. Proof of sending (such as an automated computer receipt confirming entry or a screenshot of the entry as it appears on Instagram) does not constitute proof of actual receipt of an entry. A designated database clock of Sponsor’s will be the official timekeeper for the Contest. Those who do not follow all the instructions, provide the required information in their entry form, or abide by these Official Rules or other instructions of Sponsor may be disqualified at Sponsor’s sole and absolute discretion. All entries that are late, illegible, incomplete, damaged, destroyed, forged or otherwise not in compliance with the Official Rules may be disqualified from the Contest at Sponsor’s sole and absolute discretion. Entries generated by script, macro or other automated means and entries by any means which subvert the entry process are void. All entries become the physical property of Sponsor and will not be acknowledged or returned. Assurance of delivery of entries is the sole responsibility of the entrant. In the event of a dispute as to the identity of any entrant who submits an entry, the entry will be deemed submitted by the account holder of the email or other account (e.g., Instagram) from which it was posted, but only if such person is otherwise eligible. The “account holder” is the person assigned an email address or username by the entity responsible for assigning it (e.g., Yahoo). Winners may be required to show proof of being the registered account holder. If a dispute cannot be resolved to the Sponsor’s satisfaction, the entry will be deemed ineligible. Sponsor and affiliated entities are not responsible for lost, misdirected, misplaced, stolen, tampered with, deleted, or invalid entries.
Rights to Use Entries: By participating in the Contest and submitting an entry, each entrant grants Sponsor a perpetual, worldwide, irrevocable, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to broadcast, publish, store, reproduce, distribute, syndicate, and otherwise use and exhibit the submission (along with their names, voice, performance, and/or likeness) in all media now known and later come into being for purposes of trade or advertising without further compensation. Participants represent and warrant that they have full legal right, power, and authority to grant Sponsor the foregoing license and if applicable, have secured all necessary rights from any participants in, and contributors to, their submission in order to grant such a license.
Sponsor is under no obligation to use the submissions but may do so and may edit such submissions at Sponsor’s sole discretion, without further obligation or compensation. By submitting an entry, each entrant consents to Sponsor’s use of the content for promotional purposes, including but not limited to the inclusion of the entrant’s name and content on Sponsor’s social media pages, websites, and physical marketing materials. The entrant will be credited for their work whenever their content is used.
Limit: One (1) entry per person. In the event that multiple entries are received from the same person, only the first submission will be valid and the additional submissions will be discarded. Multiple participants are not permitted to share the same email address. Use of any automated system to participate is prohibited and may result in disqualification.
Winner Selection: On February 17, 2025, three (3) potential winners (one Grand Prize winner, one Second Prize winner, and one Third Prize winner. Each Submission will be reviewed by a team of judges (the “Judges”) assembled by Sponsor, who will review and judge all eligible Submissions based on the following judging criteria (collectively, the “Judging Criteria”):
• 60%: Taste (e.g., points given for appealing taste, as determined by Judges once selected recipes are prepared by Melissa’s Produce);
• 30%: Photo (e.g., points for appealing presentation, styling, lighting, etc.).
• 10%: Creativity (e.g., points given for originality, thoughtfulness, interesting interpretation of the theme, unexpected flavor combos, etc.)
Based on the total score the Judges assign to each Submission using the Judging Criteria, one (1) grand prize-winning Submission and two (2) runner-up Submissions will be ultimately selected by the Judges and each individual who posted each selected Submission will be potential “Winners” (three (3) total Winners), subject to confirmation that the potential Winners have met the eligibility requirements and complied with these Official Rules. If there is a tie after the Judges apply the Judging Criteria, Sponsor will bring in a tie breaking Judge to apply the same Judging Criteria to break the tie and determine the Winners.
Prizes:
• Grand Prize: $1,000 cash + Melissa’s Lunar New Year Gift Box andhave his/her/their recipe featured in a post on the official Melissa’s Produce Instagram account (@melissasproduce) and on the official Melissa’s Produce website front page.
• Second Prize: $750 cash + Melissa’s Lunar New Year Gift Box + official Melissa’s Produce website.
• Third Prize: $500 + Melissa’s Lunar New Year Gift Box + official Melissa’s Produce website
TOTAL ARV OF ALL PRIZES: $2,500.
Prizes are non-transferable and no cash equivalent or substitution will be offered, except at the sole discretion ofthe Sponsor. Odds of winning depend on the number of eligible entries received during the Promotion Period.
Verification of Potential Winners: The potential winners will be notified by email. If a potential winner does not respond within three (3) days orif the prize notification is returned as unclaimed or undeliverable to such potential winner, such potential winner will forfeit his or her prize and an alternate winner may be selected.
