Tilda opens entries to 2026 Chef Team of the Year competition
Tilda is inviting chef teams of two to rise to the challenge of creating a nutritionally balanced, high-protein, high-carb main course that reflects the theme ‘Food as Fuel’.
The competition is about great food with a purpose – nutrient-dense, high-protein and high-carb meals that show rice not just as a side dish, but a key functional component in fuelling active lifestyles and supports energy, recovery, and overall wellbeing – something that would be suitable for an elite athlete or sportsperson.
Open to chef teams of two working in any catering setting - eight teams will be shortlisted to compete live. Each team will have 45 mins to prepare:
- Two portions of a main course and dessert that uses Tilda rice as a core ingredient (any variety) of both.
- Meals high in complex carbs and protein
- Includes at least two functional ingredients known to support energy, recovery, or immunity (e.g. oily fish, pulses, spinach, turmeric, seeds, etc.)
Judges will score on nutritional impact – does it support physical or mental performance?; use of Tilda rice – skill, creativity, and integration; flavour & texture; presentation – professional, but appropriate to the setting as well as teamwork & kitchen skills.
The winning team will be crowned the Tilda Chef Team of the Year 2026 - featured across Tilda’s social media and website. The winning team will get a day with a professional sports chef with a behind the scenes tour of a major sports stadium.
A spokesperson for the competition said: “They will spend the day alongside a top performance chef who cooks for elite athletes getting first-hand insight into how nutrition, flavour, and function come together to support peak performance. Learning how training menus are built, how recovery meals are crafted, and what it takes to feed champions.
“Go behind the scenes at one of the world’s most iconic sporting venues, exploring areas normally off-limits to the public, from the locker rooms to the players’ tunnel. See where sport, energy, and nutrition meet at the highest level.”