How to become a champion sustainable chef?

Corporate Responsibility Food
Sep. 24, 2024

The countdown is on, in less than two months the finalists of Cook for Change will be gathering in Paris to showcase their culinary skills AND sustainability expertise.

What is Cook for Change?

Cook for Change is our sustainable chef challenge. Competing chefs create mouthwatering dishes which incorporate sustainably sourced ingredients and clever food waste solutions.

Our chefs from all over the world have entered the challenge and the regional heats have already taken place. The final will be taking place in November and we’ll be finding out the names of the regional winners who will be going through to the final very soon.

This challenge celebrates the amazing culinary talent we have across our organization whilst also providing learning and development opportunities for our fantastic chefs. When you work for Sodexo, you don’t just have a job but a career and a place you can grow, develop and win competitions.

Amazing sustainable and delicious dishes

Previous winners and finalists have set the culinary bar extremely high, creating delicious and inspired dishes which also make a positive impact on the planet.

Last year the joint winners Chef Sharon McConnell, from Northern Ireland and Chef Ricardo Machado, from Brazil impressed the judges with their ingredient creativity. Sharon created a pistachio crusted celeriac steak and a vegan chocolate mousse with dates and nuts whilst Ricardo created a sautéed banana peel medallion with sweet potatoes and a banana and coconut mash.

Be creative in the way you use your ingredients.
Take the time to improve your dishes before you arrive in Paris, practice, practice, practice!
Take advantage of every opportunity while you are in Paris learning as much as possible from the other finalists and chefs.
And perhaps most importantly - enjoy the experience!

Life as a champion sustainable chef

During the high-pressure final of the challenge, the finalist chefs are on a tight schedule but both Sharon and Ricardo felt that their participation was a career turning point for them.

They both loved competing together with talented chefs from all over the world and learnt a huge amount from cooking alongside so many passionate and skilled chefs.

The challenge brought new perspective on day-to-day activities like preparing vegetables. Peeled skin, seeds and stems of vegetables which would previously have been discarded never looked the same again after the competition.

Cooking for a sustainable future

We can taste the anticipation in the air to find out what the finalists have planned for us this year.

We are holding this competition for the third consecutive year because we know the enormous difference that cooking in a sustainable way can make on a global scale.

As a company we are continuing to introduce new ingredients and design plant-forward recipes for our chefs all over the world to prepare as we work towards 70% of our main dishes being labelled as ‘low-carbon’ by 2030.

With so many chefs who are passionate about sustainability we know that our ‘low-carbon’ dishes will be delicious too!

This is just one of the ways we are working towards Net Zero by 2040!

Find out more about Sodexo sustainable food.

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