Food & Hospitality Week 2026 wrapped up at Sydney’s ICC last week, drawing almost 20,000 hospitality and foodservice professionals across three days of live competitions, industry sessions and product discovery.
The event, which ran from May 25 to 27, united four leading industry trade shows under one roof, with live competitions taking place on the show floor across all three days. Among the titles decided were Australian Professional Chef of the Year, Australian Pizza Championships, Australia’s Best Burger, Australian Emerging Pâtissier of the Year and Battle of the Butchers.
Session content
On Day 1, Clucking Good Business: The New Era of Chicken QSRs in Australia brought together Rachel Korbel, Chief Marketing Officer, Pappa Flock, Jun Lee, Executive Director and Co-Founder, Gami Chicken & Beer, Adam Issa, Chief Marketing Officer, El Jannah and Fran Harper, Head of Sales & Marketing Global, Paramount 21 Ltd to discuss what’s driving demand in the chicken QSR category and how each brand is managing quality at scale.
Korbel said, “Flavourful, affordable comfort food is what consumers are looking for. Commitment to freshness, which is an expensive choice, but we do it because customers can taste the difference.”
Issa credited getting the right people in as key to maintaining quality control amid growing demand.
Also on Day 1, The Truth About AI in Hospitality, moderated by Dr Nici Sweaney, CEO, AI Her Way, brought together Natalie Sharpe, CEO, Oliver’s, Tess Myers, Managing Director, me&u, Rebecca Yazbek Founder & CEO, Edition Hospitality and Adam Baker (Managing Director, Otto AI) to discuss real-world AI applications in the industry.
Baker said, “In the next 6 months, AI is going to become a driving force for hospitality. For everybody, it’s going to be how they research where to eat and the food delivery experience.”
The panel also discussed how restaurants are increasingly using AI to handle out-of-hours reservations, reducing reliance on staff for tasks that can be automated.
On Day 2, Applejack Hospitality co-founders Hamish Watts and Ben Carroll joined Richard McLeod, CEO, Loaded Hub, to discuss what it took to take over Opera Bar. The Applejack team had just five weeks from winning the pitch to commencing the takeover, during which they employed and onboarded 400 staff, introduced new uniforms and retained existing members who wanted to stay on.
As Watts and Carroll put it, “It’s been a lot of tears and a lot of blood.”
On Day 3, The Fat Equation: The Science Behind Irresistible Burgers saw Easeys founder Jimmy Hurlston and Tawnya Bahr, Director and Chef, Straight to the Source walk through side-by-side cooking comparisons from classic 80/20 fat blends to bold dry-aged 60/40 ratios. Hurlston’s verdict was simple: “Fat is flavour.”
The competitions
Australian Professional Chef of the Year
Gimlet’s Oliver Garrioch was crowned Australian Professional Chef of the Year, beating 24 finalists across two days of competition featuring six elimination heats, a redemption round and a final four. Allen Varghese from Sheraton Grand Hyde Park, Peter Sheldon from The European and Giuseppe Morabito from Ollies Italian rounded out the top four.
Head Judge Jamie Ganon, Culinary Director of Feros Group, said, “We were looking for someone who brought good energy and creativity that was not the norm. Oliver did three cooks in a row; we gave him feedback each time, and he took it on board after each section and impressed us each round.
“In the redemption round semi-final, he absolutely smashed it. Oli completed a couple of years ago, and he was very young. He went away, worked on himself, and came back and absolutely nailed it.
“We could all see the growth he had made in the past couple of years since he last competed; he was worlds apart from everyone else. That’s what it’s all about: compete, learn, go away, practise, come back more mature, and take out the trophy.”
Garroch said, “Winning Professional Chef of the Year means a lot to me. It’s such a humbling experience to have won and to see my partner be proud of me. It’s a culmination of years of hard work and experience coming to a head. One of the standout dishes for me in the competition was in the final round. I made a barramundi crudo for the Indigenous round. I had access to amazing ingredients, so I made the barramundi raw with tiger’s milk, seasoned with ginger and fresh citrus, with lemon myrtle oil as the dressing.
“I put fried barramundi skin and popped that on top of my dish, and used cured crocodile fat, which was the mystery ingredient, in the dish as well. Each time I heard my name called during the qualifying rounds it felt surreal, especially after the redemption round, but there’s that kind of nervousness, standing on the edge before the fall, heading into the grand final. I made the grand final in 2024, but I panicked, felt overwhelmed, and didn’t win. This time, I was a lot more prepared. I just wanted to go in, cook something good, have fun, and not let the nerves get in the way.”
Australian Pizza Championships
Giammichele Laccetti from Freghete Authentic Italian took out Pizza Chef of the Year and Best Creative Pizza, earning a spot at the World Pizza Championship in Italy. Sasa Smiljanic of Il Barbuto Pizza won Best Classic Pizza, Domenico Colosimo took the Le 5 Stagioni Sustainability Special Award and Mark Paterno of Arte Bianca won Best STG Pizza, which also comes with a trip to the World Pizza Championship in Italy with sponsor Le 5 Stagioni.
Head judge Johnny Di Francesco, World No.1 Pizza Champion and the first Australian to win the Pizza World Championship in Parma in 2014, said, “There was a lot of incredible talent this year, and the winner of the best STG Pizza is getting flown to Italy to do the World Championships. I can’t wait to see how Mark goes on the world stage.”
Australia’s Best Burger
Steve Youngho from Busy Bee Kitchen was crowned Winner of Australia’s Best Burger and Best Signature Burger, with the Best Creative Burger award going to Ben Varela of Sunset Diner.
Twenty finalists competed live on the show floor across two categories: a Signature Burger reflecting their personal culinary style and a Creative Burger round judged on inventiveness.
Australian Emerging Pâtissier of the Year
Andrea Manna, Head Pastry Chef at Galerie Patisserie, took out the win. Manna began his career in Italy before moving to Australia three years ago, where he has expanded his expertise in laminated viennoiserie and high-end pastry. The competition, open to chefs with no more than 10 years of professional experience, featured challenges across savoury gelato, creative filled viennoiserie and petit four.
Food & Hospitality Week was developed by National Media following its acquisition of Foodservice Australia in May 2024. Dating back to 1967, Foodservice Australia is the nation’s longest-running foodservice and catering industry trade event.
Brad Langton, CEO of National Media, said, “Launched 58 years ago, Foodservice Australia is the nation’s longest-running foodservice and catering industry trade event. We are thrilled to be the new custodians of this iconic event and committed to returning it to its core focus, serving as a dedicated platform and hub for the hospitality and foodservice community.”
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