• 7th season of IIHM’s International Young Chef Olympiad (YCO) is all set to commence once again
  • YCO 2021 will witness the participation of student chefs from 50 countries
  • The five-day-long contest will have two rounds of culinary challenges and the winner will be awarded a cash prize of $10,000

Young Chef Olympiad 2021: Dates and Format

THoD Newsdesk, India: Tagged as the world’s biggest olympiad for culinary students, the 7th season of IIHM’s International Young Chef Olympiad (YCO) is all set to commence once again but virtually this time. The event is set to start from the 31st of January and will go on till the 6th of February.

YCO 2021 will witness the participation of student chefs from 50 countries, including Spain, Canada, Switzerland, Italy, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Thailand, South Korea, Turkey, UAE, Sweden, amidst others.

IIHM has partnered up with the International Hospitality Council London for this venture and Swetang Ranjan, a student of IIHM Kolkata, will be representing the country during this season.

The five-day-long contest will have two rounds of culinary challenges and the winner will be awarded a cash prize of $10,000.

Chef Sanjeev Kapoor will be the principal judge of the virtual olympiad and David Foskett will act as the jury chairman.

Due to timezone differences, competing countries will be divided into groups according to their local time’s close proximity. Separate virtual competition rooms will be created for each group of judges, allowing them to interact throughout the full period of the competition and to discuss each competitor while marking them accordingly.

Editorial clarification, 31 October 2026: The round count has been corrected. The quotation previously attributed to Suborno Bose has been replaced with a paraphrase of the organiser’s published statement.

In IIHM’s announcement, founder Suborno Bose emphasised keeping student chefs connected internationally during the pandemic.

The culinary educational institutions which are a part of the participation list are- International Culinary Institute (ICI) of VTC (Hong Kong), IIS Almerico Da Schio – Vicenza (Italy), Canadore College (Canada), B.H.M.S. Business & Hotel Management School (Switzerland), International Centre for Culinary Arts (UAE), Kasem Bundit University (Thailand), Turkish Culinary Academy (Turkey), Escola Superior d´Hostaleria de Barcelona (Spain) and Wellington Institute of Technology (New Zealand) among others.

The participants will be competing for awards such as ‘Rising Star’, ‘Best Vegetarian Dish’, ‘Best Hygiene and Kitchen Practice’, ‘Best Chicken Saute Dish’, ‘Ambassador Award’, ‘Mentor Award’, ‘Sustainability Award’, ‘Best Use of Kitchen Cut’ and ‘Best Afternoon Tea Profiteroles’.

Historical source: IIHM’s 27 January 2021 announcement.

Related reading: THD’s 2023 guide to hospitality careers.