Scotland’s premier showcase for food, drink, hospitality, retail, and tourism is set to welcome back the renowned Scottish Culinary Championships at the SEC Glasgow from February 26-27, 2025.
The celebrated event promises to deliver an exhilarating showcase of culinary talent, giving chefs across all levels of experience and industry sectors a chance to put their skills to the test on a live stage.
The Scottish Culinary Championships offer a dynamic range of competitions designed to inspire and challenge chefs at every stage of their career. With categories across Live Theatre, Skills Arena, and Culinary Art, there’s an opportunity for participants to exhibit their skills, creativity, and innovation through a variety of competitions.
Highlights of the Championships include:
Live Theatre Competitions: Featuring eight high-energy workstations, the Live Theatre stage will showcase chefs competing in back-to-back cooking challenges suited to all skill levels, with participants demonstrating their interpretation of classic dishes and exploring new culinary trends.
Competitions include a Food for Life challenge, which is open to public sector caterers, and a street food challenge sponsored by Braehead Foods. The main event will be the final of the Scottish Chef of the Year 2025 Competition, sponsored by Lomond Foods, with finalists tasked with creating a four-course meal within a two-hour window.
The Skills Arena: Supporting the Andrew Fairlie Scholarship and HIT Scotland, the Skills Arena is tailored for newcomers to the industry. With cold live classes and front-of-house skills tests aimed at helping students, apprentices, and other trainees hone their skills, these competitions are an ideal stepping stone for chefs and service staff at the start of their careers, with no age restrictions on entry. The schedule includes a cocktail mixology competition, a Scotch Lamb challenge and a fruit-and-veg preparation competition.
Culinary Art Competitions: Bringing artistry to the forefront, the culinary art competitions allow chefs to demonstrate their creativity across a range of mediums. Classes in sugarcraft, pastry, kitchen larder, restaurant plates and food photography will draw attendees eager to witness an array of exhibits, from floral sugar craft to a chocolate showpiece and afternoon tea selection.
Equipment for the Scottish Culinary Championships will be provided by Atosa. Known for their expertise in manufacturing state-of-the-art kitchen facilities for businesses, schools, hotels and restaurants of all sizes, Atosa’s involvement brings an exciting edge to this year’s event.
Scottish Culinary Championships Director, Neil Thomson, (pictured below), said: ‘The 2023 competitions were the most successful in recent years and we’re confident that 2025 will build on that success with the introduction of some innovative new competitions to attract some of Scotland’s finest culinary talent. ‘In my 50th year of being involved in the Scottish Culinary Championships, I still look forward to this week with the same excitement as I did in 1975.
Toby Wand, Managing Director of 365 Events, the team behind ScotHot25, added: ‘ScotHot continues to be a must-attend event for the food, drink and hospitality industries, and the Scottish Culinary Championships always prove to be a highlight of the show, watching chefs in their element do what they do best.’
Sponsors of the 2025 Scottish Culinary Championships include Atosa UK, Lomond Foods, Quality Meat Scotland, The Scotch Beef Club, Food for Life and Soil Association Scotland, Riso Gallo UK, Bellhaven Smokehouse, Braehead Foods, Clarks Speciality Foods, and Wellocks.
Entries for the Scottish Chef of the Year Award close on 13th January. Entries for the Scottish Culinary Championships will close on 31st January. Visit www.scothot.co.uk/scottish-culinary-championships for more information and to enter the 2025 competition.