Competitors are required to prepare, cook and present four portions of a Grab ‘N’ Go/breaktime savoury snack with a total cost per head of 80p. School chefs have until Friday 5th April 2024 to register and submit their entry form.

Three finalists will be invited to the LACA Main Event on Wednesday 3rd July 2024 to cook their Grab ‘N’ Go item in a competition environment to decide the winner. The winner will then be announced by Mark, LACA and SchoolGrid at the informal LACA dinner that evening.

Dugald Curtis, SchoolGrid chief executive and sponsor of the competition, commented: "We are extremely excited that a chef of Mark’s calibre is joining this fantastic competition for school chefs. His experience and culinary skill make him the perfect fit to chair the judges, and as sponsors we are thrilled to be part of this important event.

"As a proactive supporter of providing good school food for young people through our menu management system SchoolGrid, we look forward to working with Mark and LACA to support excellence in school food.”

The winner will re-create their winning recipe on the LACA Live demonstration theatre in Hall 1 at the Main Event on Thursday 4th July. The winning school chef will receive £500, plus a £500 set of Wüsthof professional chef’s knives donated by SchoolGrid.

LACA are also excited to announce that Mark will follow that demonstration with his take on some classic healthy and nutritious school food. For more information about the competition, download the entry pack.