A Level 2 Hospitality and Catering student from South Hampshire College Group has won the 2025 CombiGuru Challenge in Venice, Italy; a competition that was entered by over 3000 students nationwide.
17-year-old Hettie Anderson is a student at Eastleigh College, part of South Hampshire College Group, and earned her place on the winner’s podium by delivering the highest-scoring main course and dessert to a panel of four expert judges within a strict three-hour time limit. Each competitor had to centre their dish around a random ‘mystery ingredient box’, with Hettie’s being tomato and chives for her main and pistachio for her dessert. Her main course, Roast Chicken served with romesco sauce, heritage tomato salad and lemon caper butter oven-steamed potatoes, was praised for its vibrancy and freshness while her Pistachio Financier dessert, served with vanilla bean chantilly, blood orange, and caramelized white chocolate, was commended for its taste and presentation.
As overall winner, Hettie’s prizes included a state-of-the-art Unox Oven to bring back to Eastleigh College, with free installation included, as well as £1000 worth of Italian cookery classes, a specialist Italian knives set and a kilogram of sustainable cooking flour.
Hettie commented: “This was a fantastic experience and I am beyond thrilled to have won the 2025 CombiGuru Challenge. Beyond the competition itself it was such a fun trip, exploring beautiful Venice, enjoying so much wonderful food from the local restaurants and the hotel was very nice too. The organisers really took care of all us finalists which really helped to make it an unforgettable trip. This competition caught my eye when I first joined the college so to have gone all the way and won it feels amazing.”
Hettie earned her place in the Venice final by being the top college performer after a 21-day app-based culinary test, that explored cooking techniques, seasoning practices, flavour combinations and more. The competition is open to all Hospitality and Catering students across the UK and always proves popular, with last year’s edition seeing 220 colleges and a total of 3200 students enter. Only the top 40 highest points scorers progress to the Venice final.
Caroline Perrett, Curriculum Director at Eastleigh College, commented: “We are incredibly proud of Hettie’s remarkable achievement at the 2025 CombiGuru Challenge. Her success is not only a testament to her talent, dedication and creativity, but also to the quality of teaching and support provided by our Hospitality and Catering team at Eastleigh College. Competitions like this are invaluable for our students’ growth, giving them real-world experiences and international exposure that truly elevate their learning. Hettie has set an inspiring example for her peers, and we look forward to seeing her continue to thrive as she progresses in her culinary journey.”
Hettie added: “My time at college massively helped me during this competition, I have gained so much confidence during classes and my tutors have really helped me improve my time management in the kitchen which was a big theme of the final. I feel very fortunate to be at a college where we have so many development opportunities as students, and I am planning to continue on to my Level 3 qualification next year.”
The 2025 competition was the eighth edition of the CombiGuru Challenge, which offers aspiring chefs an engaging educational experience, designed to both challenge and enrich cooking skills and knowledge. With its popularity increasing each year, with greater traction across the UK, Italy and Spain, this event has cemented itself as a firm fixture on the Hospitality educational calendar.
For any further information on the CombiGuru Challenge, please click here.
