Welcome to Competitions

The Craft Guild of Chefs is proud to celebrate with them.

Here you will find everything you need to know about the various culinary competitions that take place throughout the year - everything from the flagship National Chef of the Year contest through to the specialist Tilda Chef of the Year Competition.

This section will reveal where each is taking place, how you can get involved and those all important winners and runners up.

Current competitions:

Previous competitions:

Latest Competition News

31st Jul 2025

10 chefs in running for National Chef of the Year culinary title

By: Edward Waddell

With an exceptionally high standard of entries this year, the competition has once again proven why it remains the title every ambitious chef aspires to win. From creativity and technical skill to

21st Jul 2025

Sixteen young chefs lined up for Le Cordon Bleu London Scholarship final

By: Edward Waddell

A spokesman said that following ‘incredibly competitive semi-finals’, 32 candidates were whittled down to just 16 finalists. “The level of passion for the culinary arts demonstrated by the semi

11th Jul 2025

Rebecca Britton claims Best in Show accolade at 2025 Finishing Touches

By: Edward Waddell

Finishing Touches, which is sponsored by McDougalls, is a competition organised by LACA in association with the Craft Guild of Chefs. The competition is aimed at staff employed in any aspect of

10th Jul 2025

Kraft Heinz launches its first-ever culinary competition with James Cochran

By: Edward Waddell

The competition will give five chefs the chance to receive one-on-one mentorship from Cochran, developing their business acumen and culinary skill before competing in a two-round cook-off. The overall

More Competitions News

10th Aug 2021

Pandemic forces Wales to cancel WorldChefs Global Chefs Challenge

The Culinary Association of Wales (CAW) had to cancel the WorldChefs Global Chefs Challenge, which was scheduled to take...

05th Aug 2021

BSCC offers students first taste of competition experience

A separate entry form must be completed for each competitor and submitted by post to reach the Craft Guild of Chefs by the...

03rd Aug 2021

Nestlé Professional announces Toque d’Or winners

This year the competition judges included former Toque d’Or winner Julie Jones and MasterChef the Professionals winner Louisa...

26th Jul 2021

Knorr Professional launches 2021 Great Roast competition

Celebrating one of the most iconic dishes found on menus across the country, the Great Roast competition returns in 2021 for...

23rd Jul 2021

Young Chef Young Waiter 2020 winners announced

The overall winners of the Young Chef Young Waiter UK and China & South East Asia competition for 2020, were: Peter Meechan...

19th Jul 2021

National Chef of the Year competition narrows field to 33

For the next round, these 33 will be invited to present a small signature dish of their choice via video which should reflect...

15th Jul 2021

Chefs challenged to twist ‘Best of British’ in YNCOTY

The criteria for the three courses centres around ‘British themed dishes’ with a twist. Here, the ‘sky is the limit’ for a...

07th Jul 2021

Craft Guild reveals 13 finalists for Graduate Awards

The heats were were observed by former National Chef of the Year winner, Russell Bateman who heads up the Kitchen exam and...

24th Jun 2021

Essential Cuisine crowns ‘turn up the heat’ competition winner

Chefs were tasked with submitting their ‘hero summer dish’ to be in with a chance of winning a commercial kitchen appliance...

24th Jun 2021

YCYW 2021 final to be hosted by UK at Expo 2020 Dubai

They will be joined by judges including Michelin star chef Theo Randall, Theo Randall at the InterContinental and Simon King...