IHE Expo 2026: India's Culinary Champions Revealed! You Won't Believe It!

India’s top pastry chefs, bakers, and home cooks took center stage at IHE Expo 2026, where three national culinary contests crowned their latest champions. New Delhi: The 9th India International Hospitality Expo (IHE Expo) 2026 has wrapped up, celebrating the achievements of India’s finest culinary talent. Over four days of intense competition and creative display at the India Expo Centre & Mart in Greater Noida, the event highlighted the exceptional skills of professional pastry chefs, bakers, and home cooks.

The three events—Valrhona Pastry Queen India 2026, Kolb Master Bakers Challenge India 2026, and AgroPure Culinary League 2026 - Battle of Besan—were hosted as key features of IHE Expo 2026. Organized by Hammer Management & Marketing Services in partnership with Bakery Review, these competitions provided dedicated national stages for professional women pastry chefs, bakers, and home cooks to showcase their expertise before prominent figures in India’s hospitality and culinary sectors.

Winners of the National Competitions

Following two days of rigorous competition, Tisha Nair from Ecole Ducasse ISH, Gurugram, secured the title of Valrhona Pastry Queen India 2026. Competing in the fifth edition of this national event for professional women pastry chefs, Tisha distinguished herself through her technical precision, creativity, and overall execution. The theme, "The Dance of Birds," required participants to capture the elegance and movement of avian life in their pastry work while demonstrating mastery across various disciplines. As her prize, Tisha will travel to Malaysia for an advanced pastry training program at the Asia Pastry Forum 2026, sponsored by Hammer Management & Marketing Services, offering her international exposure and a chance to further refine her craft.

The Kolb Master Bakers Challenge India 2026 saw Faryaz Nozer Engineer, Head Bakery Instructor at the International School of French Baking & Patisserie (ISFBP), emerge as the national winner. This competition brought together professional bakers to test the technical skills essential in a modern bakery, including dough handling, fermentation, baking precision, consistency, and final product execution. Faryaz’s performance showcased strong technical expertise and craftsmanship, earning him the title of Kolb Master Bakers Challenge India 2026 Champion. As part of his prize, Faryaz will also travel to Malaysia, with the trip sponsored by Hammer Management & Marketing Services, providing him with an opportunity for international exposure, professional interaction and further learning.

The third competition, AgroPure Culinary League 2026 - Battle of Besan, concluded with Palak Jain and Lakshita Gupta emerging as the winning team. Dedicated exclusively to home cooks, the second edition of the Culinary League brought together shortlisted teams of two participants for a live culinary challenge centred on one of India’s most versatile ingredients, besan. Participants were encouraged to reinterpret the ingredient through original dishes while being evaluated on creativity, flavour, presentation, technique and teamwork. For their winning performance, Palak Jain and Lakshita Gupta were awarded a cash prize of Rs. 25,000, recognising their creativity, culinary skill and teamwork during the live competition.

Industry Perspectives

Speaking on the successful conclusion of the competitions, Rakesh Kumar, Chairman, India Exposition Mart Limited (IEML), said, "The response to these competitions has once again demonstrated the incredible depth of culinary talent emerging from across the country. Platforms like these inspire excellence, encourage innovation and provide professionals with opportunities to benchmark their skills against the very best. By bringing live culinary competitions into a business exhibition like IHE Expo, we are creating meaningful opportunities for knowledge sharing, talent recognition and industry collaboration."

Sanjay Anand, Co-founder and Director, Hammer Management & Marketing Services, said, "These competitions were conceived with a clear vision - to create credible national platforms where talent is judged on skill, creativity and execution. The quality of competition this year was exceptional and demonstrated the evolving standards of India’s pastry, bakery and culinary sectors. We congratulate all the winners and finalists for their performances and thank our partners, jury members and the hospitality industry for their support in making this edition possible."

About IHE Expo 2026

Held from 5-8 August 2026 as part of IHE Expo 2026, the three competitions showcased India’s culinary talent across both professional and home kitchens. The live competition format allowed visitors to watch participants working under real competition conditions while demonstrating technical expertise, innovation, discipline and time management before eminent juries comprising renowned chefs, bakery professionals, hospitality leaders and culinary educators.

The competitions also created a valuable meeting point between culinary talent and the wider hospitality industry. Participants interacted with chefs, mentors, hospitality professionals, educators, manufacturers, ingredient suppliers and buyers, creating opportunities for knowledge exchange, networking and professional development.

IHE Expo 2026 reinforced its position as one of India’s major hospitality and foodservice business platforms, attracting more than 25,000 B2B visitors, featuring over 1,000 exhibiting brands from 16+ countries, and bringing together more than 100 industry leaders, experts and speakers. Hotel owners, executive chefs, bakers, restaurateurs, procurement professionals, distributors, institutional buyers, hospitality educators, students and food entrepreneurs participated in the four-day exhibition. The Expo provided a platform for business development, knowledge exchange and the presentation of products, equipment and technologies serving the hospitality and foodservice sector.

As India’s hospitality and culinary sectors continue to expand, Valrhona Pastry Queen India, Kolb Master Bakers Challenge India and AgroPure Culinary League - Battle of Besan provide structured platforms for recognising talent, promoting innovation and creating opportunities for learning and professional development across different segments of the industry. Co-organised by IHE Expo 2026 and Hammer Management & Marketing Services in association with Bakery Review, the three competitions celebrate excellence among professional women pastry chefs, professional bakers and home cooks while connecting culinary talent with India’s hospitality and foodservice industry. Through structured, skill-based competitions, the platforms promote craftsmanship, creativity and professional growth while creating greater visibility for emerging and established culinary talent.