National Chef of the Year sponsorship up for grabs

Sponsorship for one of the industry’s biggest culinary competitions is now up for grabs, after Unilever Solutions announced it would step down as headline sponsor.

The National Chef of the Year competition run by the Craft Guild of Chefs attracts a whole host of media attention and it sees some of the country's most talented and skilled chefs compete.

Previous winners of this prestigious event include Gordon Ramsay, Mark Sargeant, Steve Love, Eyck Zimmer and this year's champion Simon Hulstone.

In a statement Unilever Foodsolutions said the ten years of association with the competition had been "great" and that the company had reaped "the benefits of sponsorship".

Simon Marshall, managing director of Unilever Foodsolutions said: "We have decided to phase out our involvement over the next 18 months, prior to withdrawing altogether from the 2012 competition, leaving the way clear for others to make their mark. Supporting culinary excellence remains a key part of our customer strategy. We have therefore started the process to look for fresh opportunities which engage more directly with chefs in all stages of their careers and culinary associations including of course, The Craft Guild of Chefs."

Craft Guild of Chefs vice-president David Mulcahy thanked Unilever for its support adding that this is now a fantastic opportunity for other companies to get involved with the industry's 'most sought-after title'.

"We would like to say a huge thank-you to Unilever Foodsolutions for their support in making this title the most sought after for top chefs in our industry. Whilst we are, of course, disappointed, we understand their need to realign their activity in line with their communications strategy and look forward to working with them on the competition in a smaller capacity, as well as other initiatives, going forward.

"What we would like to emphasise, however, is that this particular competition has been an enormous part of the industry calendar for 34 years now and this latest development simply opens up an important opportunity for equally high calibre organisations, keen to promote training and development and connect with chefs at the very top of their profession. We are looking forward to finding other partners."

Words: Clare Riley

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