Team New Zealand and Team Chile have jointly won the Social Commitment Award at Bocuse d’Or 2025.
Although nine teams were in the running for the prized Social Commitment Award at the Bocuse d’Or 2025 competition in Lyon, New Zealand and Chile ultimately walked away with the top spot.
The adjudicating jury decided during its deliberations to award the prize to both teams who presented compelling cases, and further demonstrated significant commitment to a serious and efficient organisation.
Throughout 2024, Bocuse d’Or Team New Zealand, led by William Mordido, dedicated one day per week to education on healthy eating, specifically working towards combating diabetes and obesity in vulnerable populations. This was achieved in partnership with Buttabean Motivation, which has made a noticeable difference, specifically in Māori and Pacific communities.
Both Team New Zealand and Brown Buttabean Motivation believe this partnership has marked a significant step towards achieving that goal.
Bocuse d’Or Chile has also worked closed with Fundación Gastronomía Social, and its campaign ‘Gastronomy as a tool for change’. This partnership has developed a socially important project called Minga, which has focused on the impacts of the local economy, and has the goal of training people about food sustainability and how valuable food is in an attempt to tackle waste and food insecurity.
Roberto Vallejos led Bocuse d’Or Chile throughout the competition, eventually placing in 18th position.
Both the New Zealand and Chilean teams will now be able to give their chosen organisations EUR €3,750 (nearly NZD $7,000) to further the work they have done in the community so far.
In a statement, Bocuse d’Or said that the Social Commitment Award has left a lasting impact on the competition, with more teams expected to take part at the next competition in two years' time.
“Let us hope that the quality and diversity of the submissions for the Social Commitment Award 2025 will inspire even more teams to participate in 2027, demonstrating that being a competitor does not preclude being mindful of global issues and committed to societal engagement.”
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