The 24th Annual ProStart Culinary Team Competitions will take place Saturday, March 8 and Sunday, March 9, 2025 at the Rosen Plaza Hotel in Orlando.
On Saturday, March 8, most of the Culinary Teams and Management Teams will compete along with all Edible Centerpiece teams. On Sunday, March 9, the remaining Culinary and Management teams will compete along with all of the Waiter’s Relay Teams. The competition will be followed by an awards dinner at the Rosen Plaza Hotel.
STIPEND FOR COMPETING SCHOOLS The FRLAEF will provide stipends to offset the cost of participating in the event. The stipend will be $425 per competition with a school receiving a total of $1700 for competing in all four events.
HOTEL The Rosen Plaza Hotel will be the host site for the 2025 ProStart Culinary Team Competitions. The room rate at the Rosen Plaza is $155 per night (single-quad). To reserve hotel rooms contact the Rosen Plaza at 800-627-8258 and reference the Florida Restaurant & Lodging Association Educational Foundation. The deadline to make hotel reservations is Wednesday, February 5, 2025. Do not wait to book your rooms! You may always adjust your reservation as the event gets closer.
Parking is $14 per day for all attendees.
The application deadline is Friday, October 4, 2024. Applicants will be notified their status by Friday, October 11, 2024.
COMPETITION RULES
2025 CULINARY COMPETITION RULES
- Recipe, Costing, Menu Template
- Product Check-In Template
- JUDGE’S RUBRICS: STARTER, ENTREE, DESSERT, SAFETY & SANITATION, Culinary Rubric-MR, WORK SKILLS/ORGANIZATION, TEAM PRESENTATION/KNIFE SKILLS, PRODUCT CHECK-IN
2025 MANAGEMENT COMPETITION RULES
- Recipe, Costing, Menu Templates for MANAGEMENT
- JUDGE’S RUBRICS: CONCEPT, CRITICAL THINKING, MARKETING, MENU/RECIPE/COSTING, OPERATIONS
2025 EDIBLE CENTERPIECE RULES
2025 WAITERS RELAY RULES
Participant Waiver 2025 — required for each competing student, including team managers
COMPETITION INFORMATION
LOCATION—the entire competition will take place at the Rosen Plaza Hotel in Orlando. Self parking is $14 per day. Valet parking is $32 per vehicle.
MEALS—All meals are on your own (except the Salute Awards dinner, which is complimentary for competing team members and ProStart instructors). The Rosen Plaza has on-site dining and there are other restaurant options nearby. Pointe Orlando is located across the street from the hotel and offers multiple restaurant choices.
REFRIGERATION – Refrigeration will be provided onsite to store items while not competing. You may place your items in the walk-in when you arrive. Items may be stored there until you compete. Even if you arrive on Saturday and do not compete in Culinary until Sunday you can store items in the refrigerator until your competition time on Sunday.
HATS + APRONS – We will provide hats and aprons for all competing students. The Culinary and Edible Centerpiece students must wear the provided hats and aprons while competing. The Management and Waiter Relay students are not required to wear the hats or aprons while competing. These will be mailed to you prior to the competition.
TEMPLATES for Culinary & Management – The Recipe & Costing Templates can be found above under Competition Rules.
AWARDS DINNER – The Salute to Excellence Awards Dinner will take place on Sunday, March 9, 2025. All ProStart competition awards will be presented along with Hospitality Excellence Awards and Pineapple Awards. All ProStart teachers, all competing team members, Hospitality Excellence Award recipients, and Pineapple Award recipients may attend the dinner free of charge.
SCORE SHEETS – To be successful, your students must know their score sheet. Teams do not want to “give” points away by not having a uniformed appearance, having visible piercing, incorrect math on costing template, etc. All score sheets are included with the rules of each competition and can be found at the link above.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask. Laura can be reached at [email protected] or 321-689-7192. Amy can be reached at [email protected] or 866-288-8820 x.250.