The competition offers catering colleagues at HC-One an opportunity to showcase their talents for preparing high-quality and nutritious meals for residents living in HC-One care homes.
The first stage will see catering colleagues submit their signature dishes that are designed for a care home setting, outlining the nutritional benefits and explaining why the dish deserves to win.
The dish must be a regular meal offered at their care home as well as being a Level 5 Minced and Moist alternative to cater for residents with specific requirements.
HC-One’s executive chef and nutrition & hydration lead Chris Bonner will be leading a team of judges including Ben Ross from Unox, Jamie Clews from Metcalf and Nick Vardis from Foodbuy to judge and shortlist 12 semi-finalists from the first stage of the competition at the end of April.
The chosen 12 will then progress to the second stage of the competition which will be a semi-final live cook off taking place in Leeds on 18th June.
The semi-finalists will be invited to bring their dishes to life in front of a panel of selected judges. The semi-finalists will receive support and mentorship from their HC-One Group development chefs to help them to perfect their skills and elevate their dishes further.
Six finalists will go head-to-head on 24th July, where one care chef will be crowned the winner of the first HC-One Chef of the Year competition. The winner will receive a trip to a destination that is famous for its 'rich culinary heritage and breath-taking views', providing the winning colleague the opportunity to indulge in some of the world’s most ‘exquisite cuisine’ themselves in a top secret yet to be announced destination.
The judges will be looking for a dish that is nutritionally balanced, caterers for those with special diets and mostly importantly delicious. Hydration and wellbeing will also be judged as well as how they minimise waste and how sustainable their dish is.
Mark Meacham, head of catering and housekeeping support services at HC-One, said: “We are proud to be launching HC-One’s Chef of the Year competition for the first year. We are looking forward to seeing the incredible entries from our catering colleagues who go the extra mile to create exceptional meals.
“The competition provides a fantastic opportunity for our HC-One catering colleagues to be inspired and receive recognition for their amazing culinary talents they showcase in our care homes day in day out and celebrate the dedication of our culinary colleagues.
“Working in catering within the care sector is highly rewarding – there’s great career progression, flexible working hours and you get to play a vital role in maintaining the health and wellbeing of residents.”
The HC-One Chef of the Year competition is being supported and sponsored by EF-Group, Unox, Contiquip, Lockharts and Nestle.