Two of our mentored teams won silver medals at this year’s Public Catering Competition

Those of you who have been following our news since the beginning will remember that last year we took part in the Public Catering Competition. This year, NÉGYOSZ helped prepare several teams as mentors, and two of them not only made it to the finals, but were also silver medallists in the competition. Details in the summary.

Meat-free menus for sustainability

In this year’s competition, the teams had to prepare meat-free menus in the spirit of sustainability. NÉGYOSZ acted as mentor for several teams, 2 of which made it to the final: BV* Vácziak and BV Agglomeration 2.
(*BV = Prison Service)

On the last day of SIRHA, 7 March, the final event of the Public Catering Competition was held, the results announcement. The event was held in a festive atmosphere, with a lot of interest and many spectators excited to see who the winners would be.

Based on the jury’s summative assessment, a gold medal was awarded to the competitors with a score above 90%, a silver medal to the competitors with a score between 80-89% and a bronze medal between 70-79%. As usual, in addition to the main prizes, special prizes were awarded by the organisers and sponsors.

Inspiring speeches, festive atmosphere

The host was Zsófi Mautner, a gastronomic personality. The event started with speeches, from which we have collected – without claiming completeness – some of the most important thoughts:

Anna Zoltai, President of KÖZSZÖV, said that this is the 9th Public Catering Competition, which is a celebration of public catering itself. We celebrate public catering because it deserves to be celebrated, because it is doing its job every day. There are teams that return every year, and the new knowledge gained here is put into practice every day. So preparing a meat-free menu is not just a task, it is also an opportunity to discover new flavours and to promote environmental awareness.

The NÉBIH representative stressed that both the Ministry of Agriculture and the NÉBIH have long been committed to improving the quality of public catering. The quality-driven public catering programme, which has been in place for 8 years, provides the authority with a clear and realistic picture of the state of public catering. The state of public catering has gradually improved in recent years.

Another important objective of the NÉBIH is to reduce food waste and, of course, food safety, which was rewarded in the competition. A special prize was awarded on behalf of the NÉBIH management to the BV Vácziak team, mentored by NÉGYOSZ.

According to András Krivács, President of MNGSZ, the products created in this competition could in many cases also stand their ground at European and world level. Together with Anna Zoltai, they announced that the World Association of Chefs Societies (WACS), of which the MNGSZ is a Hungarian member, will enter a joint team with the KÖZSZÖV at the 2026 World Championships of Catering and Catering in Luxembourg.
This is the special prize of the MNGSZ, which was awarded to Gábor Kostyák and his team.
The MNGSZ also awarded a special prize to 8 other teams, including BV Vácziak, the mentor of NÉGYOSZ.

In her speech, Karolina Molnár, Deputy State Secretary of the Ministry of the Interior, pointed out that this year marks the 10th anniversary of the introduction of a new, healthier and more refined approach to public catering. She added that the Ministry of the Interior itself appreciates when work and vocation meet, and was particularly pleased that this year 4 teams from prisons were among the finalists.

Dr. Olga Felkai Beáta from the Ministry of Agriculture said that she had also participated in the semi-finals and had seen incredible progress. The special prize she awarded was based on the progress made during the competition. The special prize was awarded to the Prizma Junior team.

Dr Enikő Szabó, Deputy National Medical Officer, presented the special prize of the NNGYK to the Balassa team. The most important idea of her speech was that unfortunately Hungary is in the top of the statistics for many public health diseases, and many of them could be prevented if we ate healthier. Eating 5 portions of fruit and vegetables a day could significantly reduce the number of people who fall ill. She was particularly pleased that this year’s competition was also about encouraging more plant-based eating.

The success of NÉGYOSZ

After the speeches, other special prize winners were called to the stage and the main prize winners were announced by the jury.

We were very proud that our two mentored teams that reached the final, BV Vácziak and BV Agglomeration 2, were among the 5 teams that received silver medals. In addition to the silver medal, Ervin Nagy, President of NÉGYOSZ, also presented them with a special prize, a 100,000 HUF gift voucher for a full plant-based cooking course at the Gergő Zsolnay Metro Gastronomy Academy.

Winners of the 9th Public Catering Competition

The absolute winner, the team with the highest score, is Hungast Bakony.
Other gold medals were awarded to the following teams:

• Balassa Team
• Hungast Budapest
• Prizma Junior
• Delirest Szeged
• Hetes Generál
• Hungast Bakony

NÉGYOSZ thanks the organisers, the teams and the mentor Gábor Zsolnay for their work and congratulates the winners.