Who will create the most creative sustainable dish? Nine talented chefs have advanced to the final round of the Sustainable Chef Challenge

In the semi-final rounds held in Shanghai, Chicago and Wittenheim (France) at the end of November, Sodexo chefs presented their ideas for sustainable cuisine.

Organised by Sodexo and RATIONAL, this year’s competition was the most extensive to date, with a total of over 600 Sodexo chefs from 30 countries applying. Twenty-four of these chefs impressed in the preliminary rounds and went on to compete in the regional semi-finals. These took place on three continents for the first time, hosted by RATIONAL at its locations in Shanghai, Chicago, and Wittenheim. The nine finalists have now been decided. On 23 March 2026, they will present their creations to an international jury at RATIONAL in London.

For the fourth time, the competition focuses on creative and responsible culinary concepts. The requirements for the final dishes are clearly defined: they must be prepared in a sustainable and resource-efficient manner, and will be evaluated based on criteria such as creativity, technical skill, economic feasibility and presentation.

The dishes will be cooked using RATIONAL intelligent iCombi Pro and iVario Pro cooking systems, which can also be found in numerous Sodexo kitchens. These cooking systems help chefs to achieve outstanding food quality and save around 48% of water and 24% of energy, thereby making an important contribution to sustainable processes in professional kitchens.

“Every year, the Sustainable Chef Challenge shows just how much innovative power there is in professional kitchens,” says Martin Wolf, Segment Director Industry Catering at RATIONAL. “We are proud to be the co-organisers and hosts of this special event, and to support restaurateurs worldwide by helping them to implement sustainable practices with our solution.”

You can find further information about RATIONAL at rational-online.com.