Scottish Culinary Championships open for entry

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 be a continuous hub of culinary action as chefs compete in fast-paced, back-to-back cooking challenges suited to all skill levels, with participants encouraged to showcase their interpretation of classic dishes and explore new culinary trends. Competitions include a Food for Life challenge open to public sector caterers to create a healthy main course, a risotto challenge sponsored by Riso Gallo UK, and a street food challenge sponsored by Braehead Foods among others. The main event will be the final of the Scottish Chef of the Year 2025 Competition, sponsored by Lomond Foods, with finalists asked to create 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, including cold live classes and front-of-house skills tests aimed at helping students, apprentices, and other trainees hone essential 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. This year’s schedule includes a cocktail mixology competition, a Scotch lamb challenge and a fruit & veg preparation competition.

Culinary Art Competitions: This category will bring artistry to the forefront, allowing chefs to demonstrate their creativity across edible mediums. Classes in sugar craft, pastry, kitchen larder, restaurant plates, and even food photography will draw attendees eager to witness a stunning array of culinary exhibits from floral sugar craft to a chocolate showpiece and afternoon tea selection.

For 2025, cutting-edge equipment for the Scottish Culinary Championships will be provided by leading catering manufacturer Atosa. Known for their expertise in manufacturing state-of-the-art kitchen facilities for businesses from schools to hotels and restaurants of all sizes, Atosa’s involvement brings an exciting edge to this year’s event with fully stocked facilities.

Following a record-breaking show in 2023 that attracted over 7,500 industry delegates, ScotHot 2025 is poised to build on its success as it celebrates 52 years of showcasing Scotland’s vibrant food and hospitality sectors. ScotHot visitors can look forward to exploring technology trends, networking with industry leaders, and witnessing top-tier culinary competitions, including the Scottish Chef of the Year, Culinary Arts, and Liquid Academy Live. Additionally, the event will feature ScotHot’s Innovation Awards and the Great Taste Market.

Scottish Culinary Championships Director Neil Thomson said, “This year marks the 50^th year I have been involved in the Scottish Culinary Championships, and I still look forward to this week with the same excitement as I did in 1975. 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 new innovative competitions to attract some of Scotland’s finest culinary talent.”

Toby Wand, Managing Director of 365 Events, the team behind ScotHot25, said: “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.

In addition to supporting HIT Scotland and the Andrew Fairlie Scholarship, 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 Culinary Championships are now open, with a deadline of January 31, 2025, while Scottish Chef of the Year entries close on January 13, 2025.

For more information and to enter, please visit https://www.scothot.co.uk/scottish-culinary-championships.