Blueleaf Care, a nationwide business dedicated to helping care homes deliver better outcomes, is the Hygiene Sponsor of the 25th NACC Care Chef of the Year Competition, organised and run by the National Association of Care Catering (NACC). The competition celebrates the creativity and ingenuity of chefs working in care homes, care facilities, and communities across the country.
The NACC has been committed to raising care catering standards in the UK, and its National Care Chef of the Year Competition, launched 25 years ago, champions the positive effects that nutrition, hydration, and mealtimes can have on the well-being of elderly and vulnerable people in care settings. It has helped to raise the quality of food served to some of our society’s most vulnerable.
The competition challenges each applicant to prepare a two-course (main and dessert) menu in 90 minutes, costing no more than £4.50 per head. The menu is judged on its appeal, nutritional balance, and suitability for a care setting, with a £1,000 prize for the winner.
“Catering for those in care, who are often elderly and have a range of health and dietary needs is challenging,” says Elizabeth Butcher, Head of Marketing for Blueleaf Care. “Yet mealtimes play such an important part in the residents’ physical and mental well-being, and providing well-prepared, nutritious, and appetising meals is a crucial part of treating them with the dignity and respect they deserve. We are proud to sponsor this competition, which continues to set new standards in the quality of food prepared in care home kitchens.”
Nick Dutton, NACC Care Chef Lead explains the importance of the competition: “The event showcases the often-underestimated skills and talent of chefs in social care across the country,” says Nick. “Chefs not only work with incredibly tight budgets, as reflected in the £4.50 per head limit of the competition, but they also must cater for an ever-increasing number of dietary needs and restrictions while keeping menus varied, exciting and nutritious. Compared to the average £7.50 cost of a meal at a fast-food restaurant, what they achieve – and the contribution it makes to the health and well-being of residents – is incredible.”
“We are extremely proud to have reached this 25-year milestone of the NACC Care Chef of the Year Competition,” says Nick, “and it is fantastic to have Blueleaf Care as one of our new sponsors, to help us take the competition to new heights.”
The Care Chef of the Year competition’s silver anniversary was launched in February, by Baroness Barker at the House of Lords, and regional cook-offs will take place throughout the year, culminating in the final at Loughborough College on 1 October 2025.
