ACF Student Team Competition
Sponsored By R.L. Schreiber

ACF-sponsored hot food competitions have garnered a place of prestige among the world's culinary competitions. The expectations of the competitors and spectators involved rival those of similar professional competitions. After taking up the cooking challenge, participants add pride and humility to their repertoire, no matter the level at which they succeed.

Each year, four teams prove themselves worthy of a greater challenge - the ACF Student Team Championship held each year at ACF's national convention. These culinarians are raised to a higher level of competition by virtue of personal sacrifice, adventure and achievement. When pitted against others of similar abilities, strengths and commitments, the results are spectacular.

To assure that each region is well represented at the national championships, the culinary competition committee, chaired by Steven Jilleba, CMC, CCE, AAC, is adamant that interested competitors closely follow the established competition championship guidelines. They are reprinted here for easy reference.

• Student teams interested in competing are required to register annually with the ACF national office prior to August 30th (forms can be obtained through the links below).
• Deadlines will be enforced for state competitions to assure ample selection and preparation time for the regional contests.
• Only one team per state will be allowed to compete in regional contests.
• Any state with more than one team interested in competing at the regional level must have a preliminary contest to determine who will represent the state at the regional level. If that state does not hold a preliminary contest, then no team from that state will be eligible to compete.

Culinary competitions offer the best venue outside of working professional kitchens in which to validate levels of technical skill, foundational knowledge, teamwork and organizational abilities. Competitions place entrants in a world that is familiar, yet saturated with anxiety and uncertainty.

Good luck in your quest for the gold!

ACF Student Team Competition Winners

Registration Deadline: August 30!

*Download the American Culinary Federation Student Team Competition guidelines.
(PDF Download)