The Countdown to the S.Pellegrino Young Chef 2020 Grand Finale has started: 12 Finalists are announced, as well as some highlights on the Regional Competitions

The Countdown to the S.Pellegrino Young Chef 2020 Grand Finale has started: 12 Finalists are announced, as well as some highlights on the Regional Competitions

As well as the coveted positions in the finals, also presented were the Acqua Panna Award for Connection in Gastronomy, voted for by all the mentors that accompanied the young participants during the competition, and the Fine Dining Lovers Food for Thought Award, which is voted for by the online community of Fine Dining Lovers all over the world.

Finally, a third award was introduced this year: the S.Pellegrino Award for Social Responsibility, voted for by Food Made Good, an internationally recognized voice on Sustainability in food. This accolade has been assigned to the dishes that represent the principle that food is best when it is the result of sustainable practises. Rewarding those with novel approaches to sustainability, the judges for the Social Responsibility award looked at the impact of each dish in terms of climate change, biodiversity, food waste, resource use, nutrition, collaboration, advocacy and innovation.

Provenance was a hot sustainability topic with a quarter of all chefs highlighting the importance of sourcing local ingredients. The second most mentioned issue was food waste, emphasising chefs’ awareness of minimising food waste.



A positive accomplishment related to the diversity of the initiative completes the highlights on the 2019 Regional Competitions. At the beginning of this edition, S.Pellegrino took a commitment about increasing gender balance of its initiative, as it recognizes that Gastronomy can be a challenging environment, sometimes lacking diversity. For this reason, at least three female chefs were present in each Regional Final, and the judging panels saw for the first time an equal split of 50% male and 50% female jurors across the full initiative. Moreover, in over half of the regions, the number of female jurors was higher than male.

Further announcements are to come concerning the luminary chefs who will be part of the 2020 Global Jury, as well as more details on the highly anticipated 2020 Grand Finale.

About S.Pellegrino and Acqua Panna
S.Pellegrino, Acqua Panna and Sanpellegrino Italian Sparkling Drinks are international trademarks of Sanpellegrino S.p.A., which is based in Milan, Italy. Distributed in over 130 countries through branches and distributors on all five continents, these products represent quality excellence by virtue of their origins and perfectly interpret Italian style worldwide as a synthesis of pleasure, health and well-being. Founded in 1899, Sanpellegrino S.p.A. is the leading company in the beverage sector in Italy with its range of mineral waters, non-alcoholic aperitifs, drinks and iced teas. As a major Italian producer of mineral water, it has always been committed to enhancing this primary good for the planet and works responsibly and passionately to ensure that this resource has a secure future.