Skip to main content

News

LACA starts search for 2024 Grab 'N' Go champion

31 Jan 2024
The 2024 Grab ‘N’ Go Challenge, which is sponsored by SchoolGrid, has been launched to find the nation’s best grab & go recipe for the school meals sector.

LACA has unveiled the Grab ‘N’ Go Challenge entry pack that includes the 2024 competition rules and entry criteria.

Competitors are required to prepare cook and present four portions of a grab & go/breaktime savoury snack with a total cost per head of 80p. Register now and submit your entry form by Friday 5th April 2024.

The competition is open to all staff that hold a kitchen based post and who are involved in the daily preparation of students’ meals. Contestants may work in more than one kitchen as a mobile chef. Management, area managers, training managers or development chefs are not eligible to enter.

Dugald Curtis, chief executive at SchoolGrid, said: “LACA’s Grab ‘N’ Go Challenge is a fantastic opportunity for school chefs to showcase their skills. We’re delighted to be the 2024 sponsor, and we are looking forward to supporting the competitors throughout the process.

“As a proactive supporter of providing good school food for young people, we are excited that all entries this year will use our award-wining kitchen management software to nutritionally analyse their recipes. We wish all competitors good luck.”

Entries will be paper judged with the best eight invited to cook-off at a central location in May. Three finalists will then be invited to the LACA Main Event on Wednesday 3rd July to cook their Grab ‘N’ Go item in a competition environment to decide the winner.

Marks will be awarded for:

  • Originality of the finished dish
  • How well the flavours and ingredients work together
  • Variety of textures in the finished dish
  • How appealing the grab & go item is to look at

The overall winner will be announced at the LACA Informal Dinner on Wednesday 3rd July 2024. The winner will demonstrate their winning recipe on the LACA Live demonstration theatre at the Main Event on Thursday 4th July. The winning school chef will receive £500, plus a £500 set of Wüsthof professional chef’s knives donated by SchoolGrid.

REGISTER YOUR INTEREST IN TAKING PART IN THE 2024 GRAB ‘N’ GO CHALLENGE

For more information, download the entry pack below.