LACA starts search for 2026 Grab ‘N’ Go Challenge winner
Competitors have been tasked to prepare cook and present four portions of a Grab ‘N’ Go savoury snack with a total cost per head of 85p. Grab ‘N’ Go is a fundamental part of the school food service, particularly in secondary schools and academies, so LACA are delighted that the challenge is returning for 2026.
The competition is open to all staff that hold a kitchen based post and who are involved in the daily preparation of students’ meals. Contestants may work in more than one kitchen as a mobile chef. Management, area managers, training managers or development chefs are not eligible to enter.
Brad Pearce, chair of LACA, commented: “We would like to thank SchoolGrid for their continued support of the challenge; the ideas developed by the incredible school chefs who compete are an inspiration and help us all to develop this vital aspect of the service.”
Registrations of interest are open until Friday 27th February 2026. Submit your entry form by Friday 27th March 2026. Entries will be paper judged with the best eight invited to cook off at a central location in mid-May 2026.
Dugald Curtis, chief executive at SchoolGrid, said: “LACA’s Grab ‘N’ Go Challenge is a fantastic opportunity for school chefs to showcase their skills. We’re delighted to be returning as the sponsor for 2026, and we are looking forward to supporting the competitors throughout the process.
“As a proactive supporter of providing good school food for young people, we are excited that all entries this year will use our award-winning kitchen management software to nutritionally analyse their recipes. We wish all competitors good luck!”
Marks will be awarded for originality of the finished dish; ease of eating on the go; practicality of the dish in a school setting; how well the flavours and ingredients work together; variety of textures in the finished dish and whether it is appealing to look at.
Three finalists will be invited to the LACA School Food Show on Tuesday 7th July 2026 to cook their Grab ‘N’ Go item in a competition environment to decide the winner. The 2025 Grab ‘N’ Go winner was Andre Alto from Kings Norton Girls School (OCS Group Ltd) who made a longganisa rice burger.
The overall winner for 2026 will be announced at the Informal Dinner on Tuesday 7th July. The winner will demonstrate their winning recipe on the LACA Live demonstration theatre at the School Food Show on Wednesday 8th July. The prizes include:
- 1st prize: £500 for the winning school chef, plus a £500 set of Wüsthof professional chef’s knives donated by SchoolGrid.
- 2nd prize: £250 for the second place school chef, plus a £100 Amazon voucher donated by SchoolGrid.
- 3rd prize: £100 for the third place school chef, plus a £100 Amazon voucher donated by SchoolGrid.