Gram is sponsoring this year’s Craft Guild of Chefs Graduate Awards. The regional cooking test takes place on 5 June and 20 young working chefs and college students have been selected as this year’s semi-finalists.

Having already completed a comprehensive paper entry, the candidates will be asked to demonstrate their skills to the highest level in front of a judging panel of industry renowned chefs for the next heat of the awards.

This second stage will take place simultaneously at Sheffield College and the University of West London.

There will be a mentor day for finalists during the week beginning 13 July, with the final exam on 27 August at Birmingham University College. A cocktail presentation evening will be held on 4 September at The Lancaster in London.

Gram’s managing director Glenn Roberts said: 'We are really proud to be a sponsor of the 2015 awards. We really believe the future of the foodservice industry relies on strong new talent and these awards are a great platform for young chefs to make their breakthrough'.

Gram says its sponsorship of these awards highlights its commitment to education within the foodservice industry, after it held an education dedicated round table webinar discussion as part of its Go Green Debate.

The webinar’s panel included industry experts Chef Patron, Cyrus Todiwala, CESA chair Simon Frost CFSP, managing director of RHP Limited and Research & Consultancy Fellow at Oxford Brookes, Dr Rebecca Hawkins who discussed the current foodservice curriculum and the importance of sustainability within it. The panel’s thoughts can be viewed at www.thegogreendebate.co.uk.