It’s back & the search is on for the nation’s best meat and vegetarian, or vegan roast dinners is on, as Knorr® Professional announces the launch of its annual Great Roast competition.
Celebrating one of the most iconic dishes found on menus across the country, the Great Roast competition returns in 2021 for the tenth year and seeks to recognise the chefs and their businesses who serve the very best dishes to their customers. The free-to-enter competition is open to any business serving roast dinners to the public and gives establishments the chance to win a host of great prizes, including a £3,000 catering equipment voucher, PR support and a photoshoot for each of the two category winners.
Following on from the success in 2019 and continuing to recognise the importance of quality plant-based dishes, aligned with Knorr® Professional’s brand purpose & sustainability commitments, this year’s Great Roast competition will again award a prize for the best vegetarian or vegan roast, alongside the same prize for the winning traditional meat roast.
Open now until the end of September, chefs simply complete a quick entry form, add a link to their menu and an image of their best roast to be considered for one or both categories. A team of judges will shortlist entries in October, before independent mystery diners visit to anonymously judge each shortlisted entry. Winners will be then announced in November, where the ‘Best Meat Roast 2021’ and ‘Best Vegetarian or Vegan Roast 2021’ will be crowned.
“A traditional roast dinner is one of the iconic dishes of our nation. Now in its 10th year, we are delighted to be launching the Knorr® Professional Great Roast competition 2021 – searching for the very best dishes from across the country and recognising the chefs who have created them.
As the ongoing focus on sustainable living sees an ever-increasing number of consumers enjoy a plant-based diet, whether as part of a flexitarian or vegetarian/vegan diet, we also want to recognise those businesses meeting these demands. That is why we are delighted to have two hotly contested categories in this year’s competition, one for meat dishes and the other for vegetarian or vegan dishes. So, if you think you serve the nation’s greatest roast dinner, why not enter today and have a chance to take the prestigious title of the Great British Roast 2021”.
Kate Drew, Senior Marketing Manager for Knorr® Professional at Unilever Food Solutions
So what would it mean for a business to win the Great British Roast competition? We spoke to the 2019 winners, The Cleaveland Arms in Brighton and Clean Bean in Seaham to find out:
“Jamie and I are extremely proud of The Cleveland Arms Sunday roast, created using the finest locally sourced, organic meat and delicious, seasonal vegetables. When we entered the Knorr® Professional Great Roast Competition back in 2019 we never expected to win. It has been a fantastic accolade for our business and a big pat on the back for our dedicated team. In addition to the great prize package for winning, the PR that we have received, both locally and nationally has been invaluable, especially for an independent pub like ours.”
Sarah Davies, owner of The Cleveland Arms, Brighton
“The ethos behind Clean Bean was to create a completely unique dining establishment, where the menu takes inspiration from our travels around the world. Serving delicious food, we champion clean, healthy, nutritious, fresh and locally sourced ingredients. Our menu is entirely gluten-free and many of our dishes are vegetarian and vegan-friendly. Winning the Vegetarian or Vegan category of the Knorr® Professional Great Roast Competition in 2019 is something that we are immensely proud of. It’s helped us to put Clean Bean on the gastronomic map and showcased the quality of our vegetarian roast dinner – a dish that is now regularly ordered by vegetarians and flexitarians alike.”
Paul & Linda Barron, Owners of Clean Bean, Seaham
Entries for this year’s competition are open now and will close on Thursday 30th September. The competition is open to any business in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland serving a roast dinner to the public. Entries must be submitted through the Unilever Food Solutions website at www.ufs.com/greatroast, where full details of the competition and terms and conditions can be found.
