The Incredible Chefs Challenge, in partnership with World of Hospitality Bengaluru, ignited a fierce competition with top chefs and aspiring students showcasing their skills and battling for glory. There were more than 250 Professional Chefs and Budding chefs across various hotels and institutes from south India which participated in this coveted competition. Chef Damu, Celebrity Chef and the President of SICA , inaugurated the event and set the stage on fire for the fierce battle. 

Team Brand CAI dominated the competition, clinching a remarkable haul of medals in various categories. Their performance was nothing short of extraordinary.

Gold with distinction – Chef Subhash Varma for Plated Appetizer

Gold with distinction - Chef Arghya Basu ,Chef Instructor for Live Cooking

Gold - Niharika for Artistic Bakery Showpiece

Gold - Naveen Jupally student of Final year for Three-tier Wedding Cake

Gold - Ayush Kulshrestha student of Final year for Contemporary Millets

Gold - Chef Onkar Wani Chef Instructor for Contemporary Millets

Gold - Chef Basu Chef Instructor for Plated Appetizer

Silver - Vinay Kumar student of Final year for Artistic Pastry Showpiece

SiLver - Ayush Kulshrestha student of Final year for Live Cooking

Bronze - Chef Onkar Wani Chef Instructor for Vegetable and Fruit Carving

Silver - Chef Annadurai Chef Instructor for Artistic Pastry Showpiece

In total, Team Brand CAI secured:

• 2 Golds with distinction

• 5 Golds

• 3 Silvers

• 1 Bronze

Brand CAI expresses gratitude to the SICA Board for organizing this Competition which enables chefs to showcase their talent. Brand CAI extends a special thanks to the esteemed judges: Chef Damu, Chef Sheetaram Prasad, Chef Kasi Viswanath, Chef Vijaya Bhaskaran, Chef Kannan, Chef Raj Sethia, Chef Nimish Bhatia, Chef Uma Shankar, Chef George, Chef Suresh Kanna, Chef Siddiq, Chef Raj Mohan, Chef Dr. Joseph Paul and Chef Vinod Bhati.

The Jaipur National University - School of Hotel Management and Catering Technology hosted the Aathithya -2024, a prestigious national level Hospitality competition from 15th to 16th March 2024. The competition featured intense battles in various departments including Mocktail - Jigger V/s Pony, Housekeeping - Twigs and Towels, Bakery - Decor de patisserie, Hot Kitchen - Lazzat E Khaas, and Quiz.

Ten elite Hotel management and culinary colleges from all over India showcased their skills and talent in this high-stakes competition. Team Brand CAI dominated the event, claiming Two Gold medals and One Bronze Medal to emerge as the undisputed Overall champions. Their exceptional performance left the judges in awe, with some students receiving immediate career opportunities.

Brand CAI once again proved their superiority with their innovative ideas, unique concepts, and flawless execution. Congratulations to the winners for their outstanding achievement!

The 6th edition of SICA Culinary Challenge was held in Chennai on the 15/16/17 September 2023. This was the First WACS endorsed competition of India.

The culinary challenge witnessed a massive 1400 entries in 30+ categories from all over the country and abroad. 

The initiative was taken by the SICA board members, The President of SICA Dr. Chef Damodaran.K, General Secretary- Chef Sheetharam Prasad, Corporate Executive Chef, GRT Hotels & Resorts, Joint Secretary- Chef Umasankar Dhanapal, Market Training Manager-South, Sapphire Foods India Pvt.Ltd,   Treasurer - Chef Mohana Krishnan AK, General Manager-Food-R&D, The Savera, Joint Treasurer - Chef Vijayakumar. V, F& B Director, Radisson Blu Resort Temple Bay Mamallapuram, Advisory Council-Chef Elango Rajendran, General Manager, Grand by GRT Hotels,  Vice President (Tamilnadu)  Mr. Bennet Director, VRM Institute of Hotel & Catering Science Vice President (Karnataka) Chef Kasi Viswanathan F&B Director, Radisson Blu Bengaluru Atria Point, Vice President (Kerala) Chef Ramu Butler Chef and Restaurateur, Baywatch Suits, Vice President (Telangana) Chef Sudhakar N Rao, Director/ Principal, Culinary Academy of India, Vice President(Andhra Pradesh) Chef Thirulogachander.M, Principal, Indian Culinary Institute.

The jury members were invited WACS Certified judges from around the globe and included Chef Thomas A. Gugler-  President of World Chefs, from Saudi Arabia, Dr.Chef Manjit Singh Gill – President IFCA,  Chef Gerard Mendis from Srilanka, Chef Mooroogun Cooper from Mauritius, Chef Dimuthu Kumara Singhe from Srilanka, Chef Daniel Schade, President Association of Chefs, from Germany, Chef MadhawaWeerabaddhana from Srilanka, Chef Happy K from Australia, Chef Abdulla Soba from Maldives, Chef Baranidharan P- Jury Moderator from India, Chef Tilak Senaratne, AHCIMA from Srilanka, Chef Fatimath Umar from Maldives, Chef Mariyam Shiuna from Maldives, Chef Shaanee from Maldives, Chef Mahendran Sats from Singapore, Chef John Sloane, Assistant Senior Vice President, F&B operations and Culinary Galaxy Macau from Newzeland, Chef Rohan from Srilanka, Chef S.R Balasundram Pillai from Singapore.

The team of International judges were also supported with a lot of Indian chefs who were also WACS Certified from various states of India.Chef Vijaya Bhaskaran, Secretary IFCA, Chef Himanshu Sahoo, Chef Siddiq, Chef George K George, Chef Mark Crocker, Chef  Suresh Kanna, Chef Akshay Kulkarni, Chef Joseph Paul and many more.

It was a great learning from the feedbacks and reviews of the judges, as they also gave the glimpse of the international judging and the standards of the internationally held competitions. The purpose of this competition is to make ready India as a country for competing in the upcoming World Culinary Olympics.

BRAND CAI participated in 19 categories both in the Professional and Student category. The preparation started 10 days back with days and nights of hard work with lots of trials & errors to get the perfect product for the competition. The journey was tough, travelled 700 kilometres to participate in the culinary challenge

The team brought a lot of medals in various categories such as Artisan breads, chocolate showpiece, Indian regional cooking, petit fours, table layout, Asian cooking and many more. Brand CAI was even the education partner for the event and as part of ensuring that its students learn from this competition all the first year students were taken to the World Trade Centre Chennai for witnessing and interacting with the various competitors and judges.

Following are the list of medals Brand CAI won at the competition:

Gold:

* Chef ArghyaBasu – Chef Instructor -Western cooking live

* Pabba Nilesh – Student (ADCA) -Indian regional cuisine display

* Pabba Nilesh Adjudged as the Best Young South Indian Chef

Silver:

*Prapunj Sharma Final year student BCTCA - Practical Asian cooking

* Ishitha Sengupta Final year BCTCA - Artistic pastry showpiece

* Munigiridhar PGDCA - Fruit carving

*Atharv Ranjan Final Year BCT&CA - Table cover layout

Bronze:

* Chef Tushar Gupta – Chef Instructor - Petit fours and pralines

* Chef Kranthi Kiran- Chef Instructor - Artistic pastry showpiece

* Chef Kiran Kumar – Chef Instructor - Butter/ margarine sculpture

* Chef Shubham Sharma – Chef Instructor - Live innovative Paratha

* Saran – Final Year BCT&CA - Artistic Bakery showpiece

* Chitti Babu – Student (DPCB)- Live Cake Making

Merit:

*Chef Ananda Shankar Chatterjee - Chef Instructor - Artistic pastry showpiece

* Chef Kiran Kumar – Chef Instructor - Live innovative Biryani

BRAND CAI's consistent ability to seize opportunities and showcase its value is truly remarkable.

BRAND CAI was winner in the Culinary Display and  was awarded certificate of Honor ,as 4th anniversary celebrations of the Telangana Chefs Association held on 5th June 2023 at Trident,Hyderabad.

The3rd Edition of the India Bakery & Pastry Challenge – South Edition in association with TCA for highly accomplished professional chefs was held on the 21/22/23 June 2023 at Hitex Exhibition centre, Hyderabad. It was open to any professional Home Baker, Professional chef, Faculty of Culinary College and a special category for student chefs. There were totally seven categories in which the competition was divide. Brand CAI had a representation in all the categories both in the professional and the student category. This competition was held immediately after the World of Hospitality competition which was conducted in Bengaluru. Brand CAI stood by its ethics of not using the same products displayed at Bengaluru competition gain here as done by most organizations. Rather, it came out with new and unique Art work to win a medal in each and every category they participated.At the end, as they say it is not just about the winning but how you played the game. Below are the various categories and winnng chefs of Brand CAI .

World of Hospitality (WOH) and South India Chef’s Association (SICA) organized the most prestigious culinary art competition Incredible Chef Challenge (ICC) 2023 at Bengaluru, from 13th - 15th June, 2023 at Tripura Vasini, Palace Grounds, Bengaluru.

The ICC is a celebration of culinary excellence, showcasing the exceptional skills of both professional chefs and culinary students in the areas of Culinary Art, Food Preparation, Presentation, and Service. This platform aims to promote and evolve the diverse repertoire of Indian cuisine by recognizing and accrediting the skill-sets of participants. The Competition was judged by a panel of renowned chefs from the South Indian Chefs Association.Over 220 Participants both Junior and senior forum participated in 7 categories which was held for 3 days. Team Brand CAI participated in Six of the Seven Categories and won a medal in each of the category participated. The overall tally for Brand CAI was 3 Gold, 2 Silver and One Bronze.

In the Artistic Pastry Show Piece Chef Ananda, Sr.Faculty Pastry and Bakery won Gold in the Professional Category and Chef Nidhi Shah, Final Year student won Gold in the Student Category.In the Artistic Bakery Show Piece, Chef Srinu won a Bronze Medal in the Professional Category and Chef Dakshin Vishwa, Final Year student won a Silver in the Student category.In the Vegetable and Fruit Carving Competition, Chef Krishna Shriya , student of Final Year won a Bronze in the Student Category.In the Plated Millet category, Chef Faraaz Ali , Student of PG IN Culinary Arts Won a Silver in the Student Category.In the Live Cooking Competition, Chef Harish, student of PG in Culinary Arts won Gold in the student category.The event ICC 2023 has been a great success. The Participants and the associated organization were delighted to have such a great experience.

The National Budding Hospitality Competition -held from 23rd to 25th January ,2023 at Auro university,Surat,Gujarat Overall Championship.Team Brand CAI wins the All round Championship trophy at NBHC 23, National Budding Hospitality Championship 2023 held at Auro University, Surat, Gujarat. The CAI team consisted of Ramsha Abbas, Dheeraj, Shane and Amrit Samtani from the final years and Harshit Upadhyay from PGDCA. 17 other institutes and colleges from around the country visited the venue to participate in this extremely sought after Championship.

With a wide range of competitions from Incredible India to new rounds based on hospitality like Design your room mood board, that were held this year, all the colleges competed hard. The first day, 23rd January, began with the Inaugural ceremony and moved on to Grab N Go, and Design your Room Mood Board, a new introduction to this yearly event. Post Lunch, colleges competed in the Thematic Cake Decor round. The following day, the Incredible India round was held were each team's display was left out in the open for everyone to view. Social media buzz, Eggsperience, where competitors made innovative dishes on eggs and Idea Innovation, an imitation of the popular Shark Tank were held post lunch. The closing ceremony was right after the last competitions of Vedic pot meal, Simulation Zone and Global Street food. CAI won a bronze in Grab N Go, a Silver in Social Media Buzz and another Bronze in Design your room mood Board.

Brand Cai wins GOLD MEDAL at Everest Culinary Challenge Season 4  held on  January 4th  2023 at Goa

On 2nd December 2022, Pioneer college of hotel management has organized a competition in the memory of Chef Ramesh Chandra naming "CHEF RAMESH CHANDRA CULINARY TROPHY". The theme of the competition was to promote Freaky Street Food of India. Mainak Roy and Shefali Dhumal students of Final year BCT & CA had won Gold. They have made very famous street food of Bengal known as "Jhalmuri".

On 19th November, Amul has organized a Culinary Challenge for professional category. Our students Tenzin Chemi and Harshvardhan have participated in the competition. The competition was to showcasing skills of cooking using Amul products. The competition was held at Ramanath Payade College of Hospitality studies. Our students have been awarded  with 1st Runner up Trophy. They prepared  " Amuleshwari" a very unique combination of Ghewar and gulab jamnu presented using modern food plating techniques. Judges were amazed with presentation of food and have appreciated our candidate to keep doing good work.