AROUND 150 talented chefs, front of house staff, apprentices and students from across Wales will showcase their skills over three days of competitions at the Welsh International Culinary Championships (WICC) 2025 next week.

The International Convention Centre Wales (ICC Wales) in Newport will become the Welsh hospitality, butchery, food and drink hub from Monday to Wednesday, as competitors seek to make a name for themselves on the national stage.

Four coveted national titles will be at stake as well as Skills Competition Wales glory at the WICC which hosts a Castell Howell Food Show for the first time.

The WICC is open free of charge to visitors, including pupils of local schools. Visitors can pre-book tickets to experience the dishes cooked in three finals at: [email protected] .

Organised by the Culinary Association of Wales (CAW), the WICC will feature the National Chef of Wales and Welsh Apprentice Butcher of the Year Finals on Monday, Skills Competition Wales competitions on Tuesday and the Vegan and Junior Chef of Wales Finals on Wednesday, followed by the awards dinner in the evening.

WICC skills classes, organised by the CAW, will also be held over the three days.

The National Chef of Wales final will be contested by 10 chefs. Sam Everton from  Llangeler, Llandysul, a catering lecturer at Coleg Ceredigion, Cardigan, will be bidding to win the Junior and National Chef of Wales competitions in consecutive years. The only chef to achieve this feat was Danny Burke, from Connah’s Quay who now runs Olive Tree Catering, Runcorn.

Wayne Barnard from Caerphilly, who works at Llechwen Hall Hotel near Pontypridd, will be hoping to improve on his third place last year while Matthew Owen from Cardiff and Rebekah Wright, from Ebbw Vale, who both work at the Celtic Manor Resort, return for another shot at the final.

They will line up with Celtic Manor Resort colleagues Patrick Millard from Bargoed, Ionut Rosca from Newport, Gareth Jenkins from Fleur de Lis and Pratik Bhandarkar from Newport.

The other finalists are Sam Rust from Swansea, who works at The Grove, Narberth, and Jordan Howorth from Baschurch, who works at Shrewsbury School for Independents by Sodexo and helped the Culinary Team Wales win a gold medal at the Alen Thong Golden Coffee Pot Young Chef Challenge in Sharjah in May.

The finalists will have three hours to cook three courses for 12 diners featuring GI Welsh ingredients and Cygnet Gin. The menu must include a plant-based starter suitable for a vegan diet, a main course featuring two different cuts of GI Welsh Beef and a dessert featuring hot, cold and chocolate elements and a biscuit or tuille.

The Welsh Apprentice Butcher of the Year final will be contested by Kieran Thomas, who works for Albert Rees Ltd, Carmarthen Market and Ollie Holden-Davies, who works for Neil Powell Butchers, Hay-on-Wye.

Sponsored by the CAW and Cambrian Training Company, the competition allows the butchers 30 minutes to cut a whole Welsh Lamb carcass into primal joints and one hour and 40 minutes to create a visually exciting display of products showcasing their skills and creativity.

Rebekah Wright will also contest the Welsh Vegan Chef of the Year final against Celtic Manor Resort colleague Byron Burns, from Pontypool and former National Chef of Wales winner Ryan Jones, from Maesteg, head chef at the Principality Stadium, Cardiff. They will cook a three course menu for six diners in two-and-a-half hours.

The competition, sponsored by Henley Bridge, challenges chefs to cook an appetiser with 50% warm components, a main course with a minimum of three components, including microgreens and a dessert including chocolate, tea and two fruit puree products.

The Junior Chef of Wales finalists are Katie Duffy who works at The Halfway, Llanelli who finished third last year, Junior Culinary Team Wales captain Calum Smith who works at Shrewsbury School for Independents at Sodexo and Niruth Wijetunga and Gold Ayinia-Adeyemi, both from Newport, who work at Celtic Manor Resort.

The chefs will have two-and-a-half hours to cook a three course pescatarian meal for six diners with a plant-based starter suitable for a vegan diet, a main course featuring trout and a dessert including one hot and one chocolate element. The competition is sponsored by Cygnet Gin.

The winner will be automatically seeded into the UK semi-final of the Young National Chef of the Year.

Winners of all three competitions, together with the Welsh Apprentice Butcher of the Year, will be announced at the awards dinner.

CAW president Arwyn Watkins, OBE, said: “It promises to be a fantastic three days of competitions to showcase the culinary, hospitality and butchery talent, as well as the quality Welsh food and drink products, that we have here in Wales.

“This time next year, we shall be in the final stages of preparing to host the Worldchefs Congress & Expo 2026 at ICC Wales – the first time this global event will have been held in the UK.

“Hopefully, the WICC will help identify the chefs who will represent Wales in finals at the global event. As the host, Wales has been gifted places in the Global Chef Challenge, Young Chef Challenge, Vegan Chef and Pastry Chef finals.

Sponsors of the WICC are Castell Howell, Cambrian Training Company, Roller Grill UK, MCS Technical Products, Capital Cuisine, Churchill, Cygnet Gin, Henley Bridge, Food and Drink Wales, Kentaur, City & Guilds UK, Essential Cuisine, Ecolab, Hybu Cig Cymru / Meat Promotion Wales, Terry’s Patisserie Ltd, Willo Game, Fresh & Tasty Microgreens, Radnor Hills, Robot Coupe and Friedr Dick GmbH & Co.

Pictured: The Welsh International Culinary Championships will showcase culinary, hospitality and butchery talent over three days.