Young chefs sizzle in junior red meat competition

Future culinary stars are heating up the kitchen as they prepare to battle it out in the Red Meat Producers’ Organisation Northern Cape Junior Chef of the Year 2025 competition.

The RPO Northern Cape recently hosted its second semi-final for the competition, where the young chefs impressed with their exceptional dishes in a fiercely competitive cook-off.

According to the organisers, they are placing the spotlight on youth participation, particularly in projects centred on consumer education. The competition was launched to inspire young chefs aged between 13 and 17 (as of 31 December 2024) to showcase their talent in the kitchen.

Yolandé Botha from the RPO Northern Cape says their aim is to spark young people’s interest in preparing dishes with red meat, so that our future chefs can one day present and promote our products at the highest level.

“The most surprising aspect of the RPO NK Junior Chef of the Year 2025 competition was the learners’ passion for cooking. In today’s world, it is so easy to turn to fast food or a ready-made product that just needs to be heated.

“However, the learners showed their passion for “playing” with food and came up with new plating methods and recipe development. It is very important that the love for red meat products be nurtured, because it is this kind of youth talent that will continue to stimulate public demand for red meat in the future with their fresh and innovative ideas on how to prepare it,” she said.

Onwards to the final

The first semi-final was held on 31 March 2025 at Butler’s Hotel School in Kimberley, with ten talented learners competing. The event kicked off, with each young chef receiving a complete chef’s outfit from sponsor Jonsson Workwear in Kimberley.

Once dressed for the part, the contestants received a kitchen safety briefing from Chef Mantwa of Butler’s Hotel School before diving into the competition with premium red meat supplied by Beefmaster.

“The results were impressive, with the young chefs delivering outstanding dishes that wowed the guest judges,” said Botha.

The contestants then proceeded on to the second semi-final round, where Stephan van der Merwe, Jaiden Edick, Megan Viljoen and Zander Joubert were announced as the four finalists to advance to the grand finale.

The final showdown will take place on 13 June 2025 during the RPO Northern Cape’s Meat Festival.

“We’re incredibly proud of our young, talented chefs and can’t wait to see what they’ll bring to the table in the final,” added Botha.

The final promises an exciting cook-off judged by culinary heavyweights, including Theresa de Vries, a finalist from the first season of Kokkedoor, and Benjie, a recent finalist from Kokkedoor Vuur en Vlam.