Toque d’Or 2022 winners announced

Nestlé Professional has announced this year’s Toque d’Or competition winners.

The 2022 winners are back of house student winner Samantha Watkins of Loughborough College; back of house apprentice winner James Shuttleworth of the Tower Hotel, London; and front of house student winner Tara Humphrey of City of Glasgow College.

The final stages of the competition with the theme 'Balanced diets and sustainable futures', consisted of a week of tasks for the nine finalists.

Each day offered a new challenge, including a visit to Loddington Farm, where the finalists learned about regenerative agriculture, a visit to Bolney Vineyard for a tour of the winery and tasting of wines, and a day at Dingley Dell pork farm to highlight the importance of animal welfare, conservation of wildlife and bee pollination.

Part of Shuttleworth, Watkins and Humphrey’s prize will see them attend the Worldchefs Congress & Expo 2022 in Abu Dhabi as well as a gastronomic weekend in Dubai. The Savoy Education Trust will also be providing £1,000 for each of the colleges in the finals and an extra £2,500 for the winning colleges to be used to purchase equipment from Russums.

Watkins said: “I am so happy to have won, I have made so many good friends during the Toque d’Or 2022 competition and learnt so many new skills and experiences. I would like to travel the world learning more about different food cultures starting with the winner’s trip to Dubai and Abu Dhabi.”

Shuttleworth, said: “Toque d’Or 2022 has been a fantastic experience for me. Taking part has been a real confidence boost for me and I would like to thank everyone who has supported me throughout the competition.”

Humphrey, added: “I am incredibly proud of what I have achieved, it was a tough competition against two incredible finalists, but we worked well as a team, and I have made friends for life. The competition has been a huge learning experience and the finals week enabled us to learn so many new processes and to see the bigger picture from farm to fork which is essential for front of house.”

Katya Simmons, managing director of Nestlé Professional UK&I, said: “The standard was incredibly high, and we are so proud to support the young talent within the hospitality industry, equipping them with the experience and skills to succeed in their careers.

“We would also like to give a big thank you to our fantastic panel of judges. As well as giving our finalists solid skills based on real-world experience, they’ve served as an inspiration to competitors throughout.”

The awards presentation took place on 29 April at Soho House in London and the competition will be presented in on Toque d’Or's Youtube channel on 10 June.

Pictured top: Samantha Watkins, James Shuttleworth and Tara Humphrey