Nestlé Professional Toque d'Or® 2026 Terms and Conditions
These Terms and Conditions prevail in the event of any conflict or inconsistency with any other communications, including advertising or promotional materials. Entry and claim instructions are deemed to form part of the Terms and Conditions and by entering this promotion all participants will be deemed to have accepted and be bound by the Terms and Conditions. Participants should retain a copy for their information.
The Promoter takes data protection seriously. By entering in this promotion, participants confirm that they have read the Privacy Policy and agree to these Terms and Conditions of the promotion. By submitting any information required as part of their participation into the campaign, participants agree to their information being held and processed in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and Data Protection Act 2018.
Eligibility
- The competition is open to Back and Front of House students from levels 2, 3 and 4 (or equivalent levels 5, 6 and 7 in Scotland). Students of all ages can submit an entry, but only students who are aged between 18 and 25 as of 8th March 2026 will be able to progress to the National Heats.
- The competition is made up of six (6) phases as outlined below. Registered students will be notified of any changes to the competition phases at the earliest possible convenience.
Phase 1: LECTURER REGISTRATION - Timing: Deadline for initial Registration is 23:59 on 15.01.26
- To take part in the competition, participants must be a Back-of-house or Front-of-house student, *Level 2 or 3 or 4 who are between 18 and 25 years old *Levels 2, 3 or 4, or equivalent national, e.g.: Levels 5, 6 and 7 in Scotland
- Lecturers can register students out of the age bracket, as these students can submit an entry. We encourage to do so as we would like as many students as possible taking part on the first stage. However, these students will not be eligible to go to the Heats.
- Lecturers are reminded that all completed registration forms including their students’ names MUST be submitted by no later than 23:59 on 15.01.26. Please note that there will be no entry deadline extension.
N.B. Apprenticeship students will not be accepted to progress to the National Heats.
New for 2026 – the first 20 Lecturers who register their qualifying students, as outlined above, will each receive a gift of a MAGGI product bundle worth approximately £40 at RRP containing the following items: MAGGI Hot & Sweet Sauce, MAGGI Tamarind Sauce and MAGGI Masala Chilli Sauce. The items will be despatched to the relevant Lecturers when the first 20 registrations have been received. No cash or other alternative available in lieu of the stated items. In the event of unforeseen circumstances, the Promoter reserves the right to substitute the stated item(s) in whole or part with item(s) of equal or greater value.
Please fill in the registration form here: https://www.nestleprofessional.co.uk/toque-dor/how-to-enter/lecturer-form
Phase 2: STUDENT ENTRY Task - Students must submit their entry by 23:59 on 13.02.26
Location: At the student’s college.
Nestlé will send out MAGGI® Coconut Milk Powder, Rich & Rustic Tomato sauce, Demi-Glace Sauce and a 500ml bottle of NESCAFÉ® Espresso Concentrate to student colleges between 19th - 23rd January 2026.
The entry task should take place at the colleges under the supervision of the students' lecturers between 23rd January to 13th February 2026.
Please see the full detail of the entry task: HERE
The Promoter reserves the right to alter/amend all, or any, of the above dates if deemed necessary but will always endeavour to minimise the effect to participants to avoid undue inconvenience or disappointment.
The college is responsible for sourcing all other ingredients; however, colleges will be given a budget of £5.00 per student taking part in this stage for the purchase of ingredients.
Lecturers must ensure that their students submit their entries, so Toque d’Or can refund £5.00 per student entry.
Following the closure of entries, our events agency YES (Your Events Solution) will reach out to all college lecturers to confirm the submission of entries by their students, in order to process the refund per student entry.
Students need to submit their entry by 13.02.26.
All Heats finalists will be notified by social media and email by 25.02.26. There will be 48 students shortlisted to attend the National Heats - 24 Back of House and 24 Front of House.
The Promoter’s agent and organisers of Toque d’Or 2026 (YES – Your Event Solutions) will be in direct contact with all successful competitors (24 Back of House entrants and 24 Front of House entrants) by 26.02.25 to confirm arrangements for taking part in the Heats. Competitors will be informed at this stage which day they will compete, agree uniform requirements, and discuss any other relevant challenge information. Travel to and from York accommodation, and meals, will be organised for competitors.
Phase 3 – HEATS – Timing: 09.03.26 to 12.03.26
Location: The Grand Cookery School, York
The Heats will take place over four (4) days at The Grand Cookery School in York. Competitors will be advised which days and timings they will need to attend. All reasonable expenses incurred to attend on the allotted day/time will be covered by Toque d’Or. Competitors will be required to bring their own knives.
After this phase, 12 competitors will go forward to take part in the Grand Finals.
Finalists will include six (6) Back of House students and six (6) Front of House students.
All finalists will be notified by social media and email by 20.03.26.
Phase 4 – GRAND FINALS - Timing: 10.05.26 to 14.05.26.
Location: To be confirmed
Taking part in Toque d’Or 2026 Grand Finals will give an opportunity for students to meet fellow competitors, learn new skills, take part in educational/fun challenges, network with industry peers and have direct feedback from the expert panel of judges.
All reasonable expenses incurred to attend the Grand Finals will be covered by Toque d’Or. Toque d’Or’s third-party agency will contact each finalist to make the necessary travel arrangements and agree what cost elements will be covered.
Phase 5 – AWARDS - Timing: Friday, 12.06.26.
Location: Venue To be confirmed
All 12 finalists, plus their lecturers will be invited to attend the awards ceremony planned to take place on 12.06.26 in London. The two (2) Toque d’Or 2026 overall winners’, one (1) Back of House student and one (1) Front of House student, will be announced at the awards.
Phase 6 – Winner’s Trip to Scandinavia
The overall winners of the competition will receive an incredible trip to Scandinavia. The trip will take them to various locations in the region, where they will experience the country's renowned gastronomy and culinary traditions. The winners will have the opportunity to explore Scandinavian cuisine, taste regional specialties, and immerse themselves in the culinary culture of Sweden and Denmark. The trip will take place during the first full week of July 2026 (between 5th – 12th, exact dates and number of days to be confirmed). The Promoter reserves the right to amend the travel dates in the event of circumstances outside its control but will use all reasonable endeavours to minimise the effect to participants and to avoid undue disruption or disappointment.
Students need to make sure they are available first full week of July for the winners’ trip. Should the original winner(s) be unavailable for any reason whatsoever, the prize entitlement will be withdrawn and the trip awarded to the best runner(s) up. All necessary visas and a valid passport will be required.
Toque d’Or will cover the cost of any necessary visas, however, it will be the sole responsibility of the attending students to ensure that they have a current, valid passport with the necessary validity time for the duration of the trip.
PRIZES TO COLLEGES
Throughout the years, the Savoy Educational Trust has generously sponsored the college prizes for the Toque d'Or® competition. Historically, these prizes have been redeemed at Russum's, where the colleges had the chance to select top-quality catering equipment to enhance their culinary programs and provide an even better learning experience for their students.
Stay tuned to discover the 2026 college prizes!
By taking part in the promotion, the winners agree that the Promoter may contact them to ask whether they want to participate in marketing activities relating to the promotion. Such publicity may include, without limitation, the entrants’ name and/or if consent given, image or statements made by entrants concerning the promotion and/or prize obtained as part of the promotion. The winner(s) are not obliged to agree to any request.
By providing an entry, each participant grants the Promoter and its agents the right to publish, use, reproduce, distribute, make available, edit and/or modify the entry including recipes, in any way, in whole or in part, in commerce and in any and all media worldwide now known or hereinafter developed, in perpetuity and without consideration or notice to the participant. Providing any entry further constitutes the participant’s transfer to the Promoter of any and all rights, title, and interest in and to the entry and the entrant’s likeness, including, without limitation, all intellectual property rights.
DATA PROTECTION/PRIVACY POLICY
Subject to Nestlé’s Privacy Policy, the surnames and colleges/venues of verified winners will be available upon request by sending an email to: toque.dor@uk.nestle.com. with the subject line ‘WINNERS LIST: ‘Nestlé Professional Toque d’Or® 2026’ for a period of three (3) months following the end of the promotion. If any winner objects to their information being published, then they can contact us by emailing UKI.Dataprotection@uk.nestle.com with the subject line: ‘Nestlé Professional Toque d’Or® 2026 Promotion’.
Data Protection: The Promoter will only use the personal details supplied for the administration of the promotion and the auditing of the entries where necessary and for no other purpose, unless we have your consent/you have opted-in to receive future marketing communications. The surnames and colleges of verified winners will be made available as set out in Clause above and winners can object to this by emailing UKI.Dataprotection@uk.nestle.com. Otherwise, your personal details will at all times be kept confidential and in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018 as applicable. Click here for the Promoter’s Privacy Policy. You can request access to your personal data, have any inaccuracies rectified or request deletion of personal data by sending an email to UKI.Dataprotection@uk.nestle.com. By participating in the promotion, you agree to the use of your personal data as described here. Personal details entered on the Nestlé website will not be shared with any other third party. For the purpose of this promotion, requests to delete personal data can only be actioned after the promotion has concluded and the winner(s) accepted their prize. Any data obtained via this promotion will be deleted after three (3) months of the promotional end date with the exception of the winner(s) and reserve(s) whose data will be deleted after fulfilment of the prize(s).
GENERAL
Limitations of liability: Neither the Promoter, its agents, or anyone professionally connected to the Promotion, assume any responsibility or liability for:
- Any for any faulty or failed electronic data transmissions.
- Communications line failure, regardless of cause, with regards to any equipment, systems, networks, lines, satellites, servers, computers, or providers utilised in any aspect of this Promotion.
- Inaccessibility or unavailability of the internet or the website or any combination thereof.
Incomplete, illegible, misdirected or entries received outside any promotional period will not be accepted. Proof of sending will not be accepted as proof of delivery. The Promoter takes no responsibility for entries delayed, incomplete or lost due to technical reasons or otherwise.
If, for any reason, any aspect of this promotion is not capable of running as planned, including by reason of infection by computer virus, network failure, bugs, tampering, unauthorised intervention, fraud, technical failures or any other cause beyond the control of the Promoter which corrupts or affects the administration, security, fairness, integrity or proper conduct of this promotion, the Promoter may in its sole discretion modify or suspend the promotion or invalidate any affected entries.
If an act, omission, event, or circumstance occurs which is beyond the reasonable control of the Promoter and which prevents the Promoter from complying with these Terms and Conditions the Promoter will not be liable for any failure to perform or delay in performing its obligation but will always endeavour to minimise the effect to participants in order to avoid undue disappointment.
If any of these clauses should be determined to be illegal, invalid, or otherwise unenforceable then it shall be severed and deleted from these Terms and Conditions and the remaining clauses shall survive and remain in full force and effect.
The Promotion and these Terms and Conditions will be governed by the laws of England and Wales and any disputes as to the meaning of these Terms and Conditions will be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the participants’ local courts.
In the event of circumstances outside the Promoter’s reasonable control and only where circumstances make this unavoidable, the Promoter and those partnered with the competition reserve the right to cancel or amend the competition, or these Terms and Conditions, at any stage but will endeavour to minimize the effect to entrants in order to avoid undue disappointment.
Promoter: Nestlé Professional UK, Nestlé UK Ltd, Nestlé House, Haxby Road, York YO31 8TA