Competitions

Competitions play a vital role in culinary arts as they continually raise the standards of culinary excellence. There is no better way for a culinarian to hone their craft than by putting their skills and knowledge to the test in a competitive format.

Participation in ACF approved competitions will also earn you continuing education hours for ACF certification.

ACF Competition Calendar

View upcoming competitions.

ACF Competition Manuals

• Professional Competition Manual (3.19 MB)
• Student Competition Manual (4.5 MB) - Updated 10/16/2019


• 2020 Student Teams Competition and Judging Standards (2.9 MB)
• 2019-2020 Student Competition Program (1.6 MB) - Updated 10/16/2019

ACF Approved Culinary Competition Judges

No current member of the Culinary Competition Committee can judge a team from their school or an employee from their workplace in any competition during their time as chair or a Committee Member. Acting in a support capacity (i.e. coach, mentor, etc.) is also considered a direct conflict of interest.
- Retroactive policy from May 10, 2018

Add Credibility to Your Competition

Register your competition with ACF.

Baron H. Galand Culinary Knowledge Bowl

Teams of student culinarian members compete in a double elimination, jeopardy-style competition for the chance to become national champions. More

Student Team

Each year, four student teams prove themselves worthy of a greater challenge—the ACF Student Team Championship.

ACF Culinary Team USA

ACF Culinary Team USA exemplifies professionalism and creativity in major international culinary competitions. More

Connect with us on social media:

Share your love of competing with others on our Facebook group!