The international culinary competition Southern Europe Culinary Challenge has successfully completed. Congratulations to all participants!
The international culinary competition Southern Europe Culinary Challenge 2026 was completed on Monday, 2nd of March. The competition is organized every two years by Culinary Professionals Greece, in collaboration with TIF HELEXPO SA, and is supported by Worldchefs.
The Southern Europe Culinary Challenge 2026, the largest gastronomic event in Southern Europe, was a great success. The event welcomed 300 student and professional chefs, as well as international judges from 15 countries around the world. It took place from February 27 to March 2, 2026, at the International Exhibition & Congress Centre (TIF HELEXPO SA), Thessaloniki, Greece.
This year’s competition included 26 different categories based on the rules, regulations, and judging criteria as specified by Worldchefs.
The Competition Prizes
The top 20 competition prizes awarded to the winners:
- Top Class Award School according the medals by TIF-HELEXPO, to the SAEK ALFA, Greece
- Top Class Award Young Team of the Year by Region of Central Macedonia, to the team of Cyprus chefs association, with Prodromo Prodromou and Konstantino Konstanti, Cyprus
- Top Class Award School of the Year by Ginox, to the team of TESEK Makarios G’ with Styliano Mario Haralampous, Nefeli Perikleous and Eliza Ioannou, Cyprus
- Top Class Sustainable Award Young Team by P&G, to the team of Cyprus chefs association, with Prodromo Prodromou and Konstantino Konstanti, Cyprus
- Top Class Award Student Pastry Chef of the Year by Afoi Gali, to Christina Kalogirou from Intercollege Culinary Arts,Cyprus
- Top Class Award Chef of the Year by Kontopoulos Equipment, to Akis Ragkos from the restaurant Aroma Kouzinas, Greece
- Top Class Award Student Chef of the Year “Christos Vogiannou” by Provil, to Lazar Bursac from AASB – College of Hotel Management Belgrade, Serbia
- Top Score Award Professional Chef SUSTAINABLE SEAFOOD – SEABASS by HAPO, to Antonis Varaklis from the restaurant Ble taste gallery, Greece
- Top Score Award Professional Chef POULTRY by Ambrosiadis Olympus Chickens, to Stefan Šmugović from Department of Geography, Tourism and Hotel Management, Faculty of Sciences, University of Novi Sad, Serbia
- Top Score Award Student Chef SUSTAINABLE SEAFOOD – SEABASS by HAPO, to Loizo Haralampous from TEPAK, Cyprus
- Top Score Award Student Chef RISOTTO by Eutopia – Euricom, to Danilo Milković from Ugostiteljsko- turistička škola sa domom učenika, Serbia
- Top Score Award Student Chef PASTA (FRESH) by ELETRO, to Marija Stevanovic from AASB – College of Hotel Management Belgrade, Serbia
- Top Score Award Student Chef VEGETERIAN by Alterra, to Lazar Bursac from AASB – College of Hotel Management Belgrade, Serbia
- Top Score Award Student Chef BLACK PIG by Boskos Food, to Tenia Polihroni from Experimental SAEK of Tourism of Macedonia, Greece
- Top Score Award Student Chef TRADITIONAL GREEK DISH by Mylopotamos wines, to Iakovo Prevo from SAEK ALFA, Greece
- Top Score Award Student Chef LAMB by MEVGAL¸ to Panagiotis Makris from TEPAK, Cyprus
- Top Score Award Student Chef RESTAURANT DESSERT by IOANNOU Confectionery, to Despina Avraam from MIEEK Larnakas, Cyprus
- Top Score Award Student Chef SALAD WITH COMBINATION by Eurocatering, to Maria Magiria from SAEK ALFA, Greece
- Top Score Award Student Chef FINGER FOOD by Alfa pastry, to Ioanni Dimitriou form TEPAK, Cyprus
- Top Score Award Student Chef POULTRY by Ambrosiadis Olympus Chickens, to Đuro Tintor from Department of Geography, Tourism and Hotel Management, Faculty of Sciences, University of Novi Sad, Serbia
Jury
The chairman of the jury was the international judge Roberto Beltramini from Luxembourg, and the honorary judge was George Damianou, Regional Director for Southern Europe of Worldchefs. The other members of the jury were certified judges Daniel Schade, Ray McCue, Joachim Mueller, Kamput Na Takuatung, Nikolas Konstantinou, Evagoras Hatzipavlou, Nikos Papanikolaou and Michalis Michaelides.
Guest Judges were Dimitris Fatisis, Sotiris Evaggelou, Dimos Kalaitzidis, Georg Wallig, Fredrick Andersson, Emrah Köksal Sezgin, George Kyprianou, Elias Maslaris, Aleksandra Markovic and Kostas Georgatzas.
The Gastronomic Institution of Southern Europe
The international competition Southern Europe Culinary Challenge, organized every two years since 1997, is a great celebration of professionals in the gastronomy industry and has established itself as the leading culinary competition in Southern Europe. The main concern of Culinary Professionals Greece is the development of healthy competition among culinary professionals, the establishment of an institution that brings together culinary schools from all over the world with the aim of exchanging knowledge and culinary techniques, as well as encouraging contestants to test their skills in a demanding competition of international prestige.
The Culinary Professionals Greece and the Organizing Committee of the competition congratulate all participants for their professionalism and commendable effort. The competition this year was particularly demanding, raising the bar of difficulty for the contestants. Students and professional chefs competed, giving their best. With their months of preparation and their passion for the culinary arts, they managed to garner very positive reviews. The Culinary Professionals Greece gave them the motivation to compete and the participants took advantage of it by showcasing their abilities and their morale throughout the competition.
Supporters
The Southern Europe Culinary Challenge 2026 was held with the significant contribution of the jury, whose members are certified as official judges by Worldchefs, the co-organizer TIF-HELEXPO, the culinary schools that took part, the members of the Culinary Professionals Greece, as well and supporters:
GINOX, PROVIL, Hellenic Aquaculture Producers Organization (HAPO), P&G, AMBROSIADIS S.A., MEVGAL, EUROCATERING, ELETRO, BOSKOS FOOD, ALTERRA, EUTOPIA – EURICOM, AFOI GALI, Alfa Pastry, ΑΥΟ, ScanBox, AMT Gastroguss, RAK PORCELAIN, KONTOPOULOS EQUIPMENT, ANTHOULAKIS Ltd, PYRAMIS, EGEM, Panaritis, Magna Carta, BlueRent a Car, IEK ALFA, Ta tria Gourounakia, ΤΗΕ ΜΕΤ HOTEL, ΚΟΡΠΗ, ΣΠΙΤΙΚΟ Παπακωνσταντίνου, SHINE & CLEAN, E-PLASTICS, COLORATO, PETROGAZ, Polizoidis, MYLOPOTAMOS, HILANDAR WINES, ΜΑΜΟΣ, Μαϊάμι, BLE TASTE GALLERY and MILLENNIUM.
