Final chance to register for School Chef of the Year competition
LACA are delighted to be partnering once again with the Bisto brand of Premier Foods as sponsor of SCOTY 2025. The competition is also supported by The Worshipful Company of Cooks of London.
Competitors must prepare, cook and present four portions of a main course and dessert with a total food cost of £1.70 per head in 90 minutes that meet the School Food Standards and Eat Well Guide. The SCOTY competition is the perfect showcase for passionate school chefs to demonstrate what they do best every day.
Judith Gregory, chair of LACA, said: “This showcase event which starts with our school chefs competing in their own regional cook offs, with the regional winners joining the final competition live at the Main Event in July 2025. It is an amazing experience for all those that take part, enabling our amazing staff to showcase their incredible talent and creativity.
“Participants are able to meet and network with school chefs from across the country at both the regional and national stage, and it’s the perfect opportunity to demonstrate their passion and professionalism. I can’t wait to follow the action from the regional heats through to the Main Event Final. Best of luck to you all.”
Jennifer Brown, from Sarum Academy in Salisbury, won the 2024 SCOTY final after she impressed judges with her inclusion of fish, ambitious flavours and creativity.
For her main dish, she cooked ‘Easy like Monday mornay’ - baked pollock with cheese sauce in a potato and spinach case. For dessert, Jennifer prepared a rhubarb and custard meringue tart with raspberry coulis.
Each regional final winner will receive a prize of £100 as well as a place at the National Finals. The National Final winner will get £1,000 cash and a work experience trip.
Register for the competition online at www.laca.co.uk/scoty. This must be received by the organisers no later than Friday 20th December 2024.
Competition schedule:
- Friday 20th December 2024: registration deadline for competition
- Friday 24th January 2025: deadline for full entries to be returned to competition organisers.
- Mid-February 2025: paper judging of all entries. Regional finalists to be notified by end February 2025.
- March – April: regional finals, dates and locations tbc.
- Tuesday 8th and Wednesday 9th July 2025: National Final at the LACA Main Event, Hilton Birmingham Metropole.
- The winner will be announced at the LACA Awards dinner on Wednesday 9th July 2025