Witness Culinary Excellence in Action at AHF’s National Conference in New Orleans August 22, 2025
The Association for Healthcare Foodservice (AHF) is proud to introduce the five finalist teams selected to compete in the 2025 National Culinary Competition, taking place live during our annual conference in New Orleans, August 21–23, 2025.
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Benjamin Robinett & Adam CarletonINTEGRIS Health Southwest Medical CenterOklahoma City, OK |
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Roberto Rodriguez & Joseph WestleyPrimary Children’s Hospital Salt LakeSalt Lake City, UT |
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Adam Schloemer & Erika DuganScottish Rite Hospital for ChildrenDallas, TX |
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Justin Lee & Michael FullerSt. Joseph Medical CenterTacoma, WA |
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Rogelio Gonzalez Lara & Ayanna CampbellSt. Jude Children’s Research HospitalMemphis, TN |
Join Us in Celebrating the 2025 Finalists
Representing programs from Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Washington, these culinarians have successfully transformed a challenging set of ingredients into exceptional, cost-effective, and nutritious dishes tailored for healthcare and senior dining environments.
This year’s competition drew a record-breaking number of applications from across the country, each showcasing the extraordinary talent, creativity, and operational discipline that define self-operated healthcare and senior dining programs. With such a competitive pool of applicants, being selected as a finalist is a remarkable achievement and a true honor.
Finalists were selected through a blinded evaluation process using a standardized scoring rubric aligned with the official Culinary Competition Rules. To ensure fairness and eliminate bias, judges were not given any identifying information about applicants during the review. Selections were made solely based on the quality of the recipes, adherence to strict nutritional and cost standards, and overall creativity and innovation.
The AHF National Culinary competition is a career-defining opportunity that celebrates the best in self-operated foodservice. Our 2025 Finalists, selected for their innovation and their skill and talent for redefining what healthcare and senior dining can and should be, are propelling the competition itself forward.
Congratulations to our finalists and thank you to each and every team that submitted and application! Your dedication and vision continue to push our industry forward and prove that self-operation is the gold standard in foodservice excellence!
Meet the Finalists in New Orleans and See Innovation Live
Register today for the 2025 AHF National Conference to witness the competition live and celebrate the future of healthcare and senior dining. AHFConference.org
