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Six of the UK’s best young chefs in Southeast have been battling it out to be crowned 2022 FutureChef champion in one of a series of regional finals taking place across the UK this month.

The Southeast finals are due to take place at Southeast on Wednesday February 9 at Crawley College, with six students from across the region hoping to finesse their cooking abilities and progress into the national final, which takes place at Westminster Kingsway College in London on Monday 14 March 2022.

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Chris Gamm, CEO of Springboard, said: “With the hospitality sector taking a big hit over the last 18-months, the FutureChef competition is an important programme to introduce new young talent to the world of hospitality. It’s more important than ever to keep the idea of a career in hospitality at the forefront of students, teachers, and parents’ minds. Many well-known industry heavy weights have supported FutureChef, from Monica Galetti to Michel Roux Jr and Clare Smyth – it is simply a great steppingstone into the industry.

The Southeast finals are due to take place at Southeast on Wednesday February 9 at Crawley College

“We look forward to our FutureChef competitions every year, and love witnessing talented young individuals entering the industry and discovering their passions for what the sector has to offer. Competitions such as these are pivotal to the recovery of the sector, through the injection of talented and motivated individuals to the workforce and the promotion of the industry.”

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The competition calls on young budding chefs across the region to compete and develop their culinary skills. Throughout the four-staged competition, young people in the Southeast heats will be introduced to important themes such as sustainability and plant-based and zero-waste cooking.

Since the FutureChef competition began in 1999, almost 200,000 young people aged 12-16 have taken part and learned how to cook, developing their skills and knowledge with many going on to establish themselves within the industry. Throughout this time, the competition has progressed and developed to form part of the overall FutureChef programme which offers industry links, online resources, module learning, careers advice and guidance, and a suite of teacher resources.

Crawley College to host industry-leading 2022 FutureChef competition regional finals