Delphis Eco celebrates hygiene excellence as winners announced at International Salon Culinaire 2026
Delphis Eco, the UK-based sustainable cleaning manufacturer and certified B Corp, has announced the winners of its Best-in-Class Hygiene Awards at International Salon Culinaire, recognising chefs who demonstrated outstanding hygiene standards alongside culinary excellence during live competitions at the recent HRC 2026.
Building on its role as Ecological Hygiene Partner for the third consecutive year, the awards highlight how best practice in hygiene underpins both food safety and sustainable professional kitchens.
Awards were presented across a wide range of competition categories, reflecting the breadth and intensity of the Salon Culinaire programme. Winners included:
- Lamb Challenge 2026 (Heat 1) – Chris Ormshaw, Sodexo UK&I
- Lamb Challenge 2026 (Heat 2) – Sonny Batch, Lexington
- Lactalis Professional Live Cheese Starter (Heat 1) – Mathew Davy, Vacherin
- Lactalis Professional Live Cheese Starter (Heat 2) & Plant Based Live Challenge 2 – Joe Timmons, Royal Air Force
- Plant Based Live Challenge (Heat 1) – Pierre-Alexandre Schaeffer, Vacherin
- Plant Based Live Challenge (Heat 2) – Gabriel Plaseczny, The Dorchester
- The Oriental Duck Culinary Showdown inspired by Lee Kum Kee (Heat 1) – Kitty Whitely, Lexington Independents
- The Oriental Duck Culinary Showdown inspired by Lee Kum Kee (Heat 2) – Antim Gurung, Royal Air Force Leeming
- The Mystery Basket Grand Prix (Heat 1) – Tom Biddle & Charlotte Wakelyn, Drayton Manor Resort
- The Mystery Basket Grand Prix (Heat 2) – James Shaw & Katie Forsyth, Dine (Compass Group)
- The Alaska Seafood Masters – Alessio Sneider, Craft Guild of Chefs Culinary Team
- The Alaska Seafood Masters – Gillian Payne, Firmdale Hotels
- The Great British Pork Championship – Nirmit Uchil, Pan Pacific London
- Contemporary Plated Dessert – Sian Sullivan, Houston & Hawkes
- Junior Pasta – Sonny Ward, 3MCS Royal Air Force
- Perfect Pasta Senior – Emily Orto, Houston & Hawkes
- Live Sweet Tea Pastry Challenge – Giovanni Constantino, Haymarket Hotel, Firmdale Hotels
- Tilda Chef Team of the Year 2026 – Jan Sevcik & Yihsin Yu, Vacherin
- Hospital Caterers Association Chef Showcase – Alan Dougan & Jim Dougan, NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde
- The Association of Pastry Chefs Dessert of the Year 2026 – Rachel Bremner, The Balmoral
- Craft Guild of Chefs National Chef Team of the Year 2026 – Alex Pearce & Gino Fasolino, Vanilla Bean
- Apprentice Challenge 2026 – Maria Bantouna, HIT Training
- Junior Lamb – Amy Wright, Basingstoke College of Technology
- Pub Chef of the Year 2026 – Hugh FitzGerald, Butcombe Brewery
- The British Lion Eggs Global Eggcellence Challenge – Woody Wenzel, Vacherin
Each winner was selected based on their consistent application of hygiene best practice throughout the competition, including workstation management, product use and adherence to professional cleaning standards under pressure.
With more than 600 chefs competing across the three-day event, the awards were judged in a uniquely demanding, live operational environment. Competitors worked under real-world conditions, where maintaining rigorous hygiene standards is critical to both performance and safety.
Throughout the competition, chefs used Delphis Eco’s plant-based cleaning products, reinforcing that sustainable solutions can deliver high-performance results even in the most intensive professional kitchen settings.
Mark Jankovich, Founder and CEO of Delphis Eco, said: “These awards recognise something fundamental to professional kitchens, that excellence isn’t just about what’s on the plate, but how you operate behind the scenes.
“What we saw at Salon Culinaire was proof that the highest hygiene standards can be delivered consistently, even under pressure, using sustainable solutions. That’s where real progress happens.”