Top 10 kitchen porters named in 2022 Kitchen Porter of the Year competition

The judges of the annual Kitchen Porter of the Year competition, organised by The Caterer in association with warewash manufacturer Winterhalter UK, have announced the top 10 kitchen porters in the UK.

The competition was launched in 2013 to recognise KPs working in restaurants, pubs, schools, contract caterers and hotels across the country. It is now in its ninth year and has gone from strength to strength with consistently high numbers of entries, and is the only competition in the industry to recognise and celebrate the back-breaking work that KPs do in our kitchens.

The top 10 finalists are:

• Gerry Daly, head kitchen porter, Cameron House, Loch Lomond, Scotland
• Moustapha Diongue, kitchen porter, the Langham, London
• Andrea Geraci, kitchen porter, Apricity, London
• Geoff Goater, kitchen porter, Rick Stein, Cornwall
• Marcin Kwasniewski, head kitchen porter, BaxterStorey, London
• Roy Madden, kitchen porter, Daish's Esplanade Hotel, Scarborough
• Victor Shooter, head kitchen porter, Baxterstorey, British American Tobacco, London
• Remy Tingson, kitchen assistant, the Red Lion, Fuller's, London
• Michael Toader, head kitchen porter, Victory Service Club, London
• Lango Wyaba, supervisor, Act Clean at Le Cordon Bleu, London

The judging panel consists of James Horler, chief executive of Ego Restaurants and chairman of Notes Music & Coffee and Ping Pong; Hayden Groves, chef consultant; Deborah Homshaw, managing director, education and healthcare, CH&Co; Stephen Kinkead, managing director, Winterhalter UK; and Lisa Jenkins, managing editor, The Caterer.

Kinkead said: "We've had eight winners of this competition now and it's been fantastic to see how the contest highlights the job that KPs do. It's back-breaking work that deserves due recognition."

Joining the judging panel for 2022, Homshaw said: “I was impressed with the breadth of experience, professionalism and care from all the many nominators. To read the outpouring of such depths of appreciation and respect from each of the nominee’s own teams was indeed moving. Long may that pride in the job be heard and recognised. It truly cements my belief that our kitchen porters are pivotal in the success of our industry’s kitchens in so many diverse ways.”

The 2022 KP of the Year prize includes £1,000 cash for the individual winning KP and a celebratory meal for the KP and their friends and family in a casual-dining restaurant of their choice. The winner's place of work wins one of Winterhalter's warewash products, worth up to £8,000.

This year, the judges will announce a winner, two runners up and two highly commended KPs with a cash prize arranged for all. Every KP who enters will receive an Oliver Hardy KP of the Year branded apron in recognition of their duties in their kitchens.