

The 2021 Toque d’Or Competition is now officially open and entering couldn’t be easier. Below you will find all the information that you need.
Toque d’Or® Competition: Key Dates
Interested in our competition for chefs and front of house students, including waiters, baristas or hosts? Mark these dates in your calendar:
Entry task communicated – w/c 1st March
Registration closes – 16th March
Virtual Assessment Live – 18th March 09:00-23:59
Heat task communicated – 26th March
Heat tasks submitted – 15th April
Finalists announced – 30th April
Finals hosts – w/c 28th June
Awards (on the last day of the finals) - w/c 28th June
Awards broadcast – July date TBC

Entry
Register here before the 16th March, by selecting your registration type and submitting your details. Once registered, candidates should start thinking about the Entry task.
The Entry task will consist of :
- Assessment: Candidates will need to complete a virtual assessment, accessible on the link below and which will go live on the 18th March. This will consist of multiple-choice questions about sustainability and nutrition which will be available for contestants to complete on 18th March from 08:00-23:59 (so make sure to set a reminder and bookmark the link below).
- Video: Contestants will also need to record a 1-minute video to tell us why they are passionate about the hospitality industry and why they should be in the Nestlé Professional 2021 Toque d'Or Competition. Contestants will need to upload to their video to their YouTube channel (this video explains how to create a YouTube channel), so they can include a link to it during the assessment on the 18th March (start thinking about this now). They will need to set the video's privacy settings to - UNLISTED, this way we can view it but no one else can unless they share the URL with them..
You will be judged based on both the exam and the video and only successful candidates will go through to the heats.
Virtual Assessment link
(live on 18th March from 08:00 – 23:59)
https://www.nestleprofessional.co.uk/toque-dor/how-to-enter-the-competition/Entry-assessment
Lecturers – we ask you to please share these links with your students as soon as possible so that they have enough time to prepare for the exam
Apprentices / aspiring professionals – please share this information with your employer so that they can support you through the process.
Study Links
In order to prepare for the virtual assessment, contestants will need to study the following links:
Nestlé Professional Balancing Plates report
FDF Sustainable sourcing guide | The Food & Drink Federation
Footprint Media & Nestlé Professional Sustainability Trends Report

National Heats

While we are still navigating our way through Covid-19, we have decided for safety to host the heats virtually, like we did last year.
The shortlisted students, apprentices and young professionals for both the chef competition and the front of house competition for waiters, baristas or hosts will each be given their task on 26th March and they will have to complete the challenge on 15th April.
A maximum of 320 x competitors will go through to the Heats (80x Back of House students; 80x Back of House apprentices / young professionals; 80x Front of House students and 80x Front of House apprentices / young professionals).

Grand Finals
Finalists will be announced on 30th April with the finals hosted in the last week of June. We are hoping that we will be able to do this in person, but we are following government guidelines and will confirm in due course.
A maximum of 12 competitors will go through to the Finals (3x Back of House students; 3x Back of House apprentices / young professionals; 3x Front of House students and 3x Front of House apprentices / young professionals).


Awards

The winners of Toque d’Or® 2021 will be revealed to finalists, judges and those directly involved with the event organisation on the last day of the Final’s week at the end of June. The winners will be publicly announced via a live virtual awards ceremony on YouTube in July, day TBC.
There will be 4 winners to the competition: 1 Back of House Student, 1 Back of House Apprentice / Young professional, 1 Front of House Student and 1 Front of House Apprentice / Young Professional.