Loughborough and Hugh Baird college students triumph in Toque d’Or 2025

Thomas Brassington from Loughborough College and Katie Blundell from Hugh Baird College were crowned the winners of Nestlé Professional’s Toque d’Or 2025 competition.

During the ceremony, held at London’s Church House on 6 June, the two students were announced as clinching the back of house and front of house titles respectively.

Brassington dedicated the win to his grandmother, who is currently unwell, and added: “I’m in shock. Everyone deserved the award but I hope I did my nan proud. It’s been the best experience of my life.”

Blundell said: “I’m definitely glad I entered. It means everything to me, not just winning but the opportunity to improve my skills and learn things I didn’t know I was capable of doing.”

Brassington and Blundell were paired together as part of the hospitality student competition’s finals week on 11-15 May.

All 12 finalists, six for each discipline, were set three days of challenges across the week. The first day saw the students visit Wyken Vineyards in Suffolk, where they were set the task of creating and serving hand-stretched pizza paired with wine with Pizza Pilgrims.

Day two involved an NHS culinary challenge at London’s St Bartholomew’s Hospital. Finalists had to plan, prepare and serve a grab-and-go-style lunch to more than 100 frontline staff in the hospital’s café.

The next day a pub menu challenge with Greene King saw back of house finalists create and cost a seasonal starter, main and dessert for a mock Chef & Brewer autumn/winter menu. The front of house competitors created cocktails and mocktails at a London branch of the Alchemist.

Finals week culminated in a visit to Toque d’Or judge Adam Handling’s the Frog restaurant in central London, where the students were set a fine dining challenge at the nearby Cord by Le Cordon Bleu. They were tasked with cooking and serving a three-course meal within three hours, balancing flavour and sustainability, creating a cocktail using food waste and pairing the meals with English wines.

Brassington and Blundell won prizes including a gastronomic trip to Italy, a £1,000 grant from the Savoy Educational Trust and a Russums voucher. The winning lecturers also receive a fine dining experience at the Frog.

This year’s competition marked the introduction of the Green Spatula award, which recognises a commitment to sustainability. Serin Hassan from Westminster Kingsway College won the back of house title on this score, while Coleg Cambria’s Victoria Royer took the front of house prize.

The Toque d’Or judging panel, spearheaded by Handling and his front of house director George Hersey, featured Nestlé’s global executive chef Emmanuel Lorieux and UK development chef Paul Hawkins.

Hospitality professional and 2023 Gold Service Scholar Jupiter Humphrey-Bishop joined Hersey on the panel alongside 2018 Toque d’Or winner and wine expert Antonia Macfarlane. Last year’s champions Geraldine Sierra Torres and Jasmine Ferdinando also gained mentoring experience, supporting this year’s cohort by sharing their ‘do’s and don’ts’.

Handling said: “It was such a privilege to be part of Toque d’Or this year. The energy, the drive and the commitment these young people showed was seriously impressive. Competitions like this are where careers are made and I have no doubt we’ll be seeing many of them doing amazing things in the years to come.”

Katya Simmons, managing director of Nestlé Professional UK & Ireland, added: “Every year Toque d’Or raises the bar and 2025 is no exception. Our final 12 showcased their talent and creativity but also a real understanding of the issues shaping the future of our industry, from sustainability to community impact.

“We’re immensely proud to support the next generation of hospitality professionals, working hand-in-hand with industry partners to give students meaningful, real-life experience. Seeing their passion during finals week in such a high-pressure environment has been truly inspiring. A heartfelt thank you to everyone who helped make this year’s competition another success, and huge congratulations to our brilliant winners Thomas and Katie.”