Welcome to Salon Culinaire 2026, the start of another exciting year of competitions.

I was so pleased to hear that Adam Handling had agreed to be the Chef Ambassador for 2026. Having known Adam for many years and watched his career progress, he demonstrated what every young chef can achieve if they put their mind to it. His restaurant empire has gained critical acclaim and his team of employees have stayed very loyal to him and his approach to supporting them.

In my role as Ambassador for the Grande Cuisine Academy training platform, I have been heartily encouraged by the enrolment numbers of our catering colleges. Across the country from Hampshire to the Humberside and everywhere in between, the same message is coming through and catering student numbers are on the up, especially chef courses. This can only be a great positive for our industry.

The competition line-up for 2026 has all the regular competitions, and with the popularity of dessert-based competitions constantly on the rise, we have added additional static classes to the schedule. Tilda Team of the Year is focussing on “Food as Fuel” and challenging chefs to create a 2-course menu for the elite athlete. Alliance are back sponsoring the lamb classes showcasing their Lumina brand, and The Craft Guild of Chefs Team of the Year event is back showcasing bowl food, including a dish using British Premiere aged Striploin.  

There are many different competitions for chefs of varying levels of skills and experience, so I’m sure you will find a class that will appeal to you. As well as adding new classes to the program we have brought back some of the most popular competitions from previous years, including The Mystery Basket Grand Prix, which is always oversubscribed, and the Alaska Seafood Masters competition.  

Each year the skills theatre goes from strength to strength, with last year over 400 students competing over the 3 days. It was encouraging to see the growth in the service skills area with many medals being awarded.

We will be providing a student lounge as last year so in between competitions and looking around the show they’ll have an area to relax in. Please also remember we are very flexible on covering all classes every day, to assist with your college's transport needs.

Capital City College, formally Westminster Kingsway Colleges, walked away with the “John Retallick Memorial Trophy” for the second year, having the highest number of Gold medals throughout the competition. Will this coveted trophy go to a new winner? We’ll have to wait and see.

As I previously mentioned, Static Salon Display will be seeing additional pastry focused classes along with all the favourites. Our Sugarcraft experts will be on full display in the increased space allocated to the popularity of this section. Remember we will also be crowning the Professional Cake Decorator of the Year, the competitor that scores the most points for all their pieces.   

Please be sure to check out the website for some useful masterclass videos demonstrating some of the skills tests that we will be challenging our students and apprentices with, techniques needed to produce medal-winning Salon Display exhibits, and guides on making the most out of the fantastic equipment on offer. In order to maximise your competing experience, please do check out the competition pages on the Salon website – there is a huge amount of information that you will need and will help to clarify the rules, setting you up for competition success. 

Last year our long standing compare Kevin Byrne decided to hand in his microphone to spend more time on his hobby behind a camera. But I am pleased to announce Will Torrent has stepped forward taking on this responsibility along with a few guest cameos.

Good luck to all competitors, I hope that participating in International Salon Culinaire is both rewarding and enjoyable and gives you an experience and a challenge that will motivate you to reach greater heights in your career. Don’t forget to get all your colleagues to register to visit the event so they can support your entry. 

On behalf of all the Montgomery Group and the International Salon Culinaire team, I would like to thank all of our sponsors, the Salon teams, judges and colleagues for their continued support. 

And of course a huge thanks to the Montgomery Group, who continue to invest in the development of chefs by hosting the Salon.