Sandwich-making contest stages third edition

Gardenia is challenging students to think out of the box and create recipes that will offer new and innovative ways of serving sandwiches any time of day.
Gardenia’s The Next Big Sandwich Hit (NBSH) pits 20 teams from selected universities throughout Luzon to create sandwiches that follow the 5 E’s of a good sandwich: Economical; easy to make and prepare; easy to eat; enriching in taste and nutrition; and enticing in its versatile use of Gardenia bread as an ingredient. The recipes should also reinvent the way we look at sandwiches as an ideal replacement for any kind of meal, any time of the day, be it merienda, breakfast, lunch or dinner.
This year’s edition is bigger than the previous competitions with 100 teams from 20 colleges and universities from all over Luzon, which include Tarlac State University, Centro Escolar University-Malolos, Angeles University Foundation, De La Salle University-Dasmariñas, Cavite State University, University of Santo Tomas, University of the East, University of Manila, Adamson University, National University, La Consolacion College, Philippine Women’s University, St. Paul’s College-Manila, and University of the Cordilleras, among others. Participating students should be presently enrolled in hotel and restaurant management, culinary arts, or other allied courses. The students will be competing for cash prizes, Gardenia products, kitchen appliances and cooking accessories in a grand showdown which will be held in November. 
Currently, the competition is in its first phase, where participants from the participating schools undergo the elimination rounds. Apart from this, Gardenia also holds lecture demonstrations. 
The lecture demonstrations are conducted by celebrity chef Jeremy Favia, who is also one of the judges for the contest, and Gardenia’s resident chef Benjo Fundales. They will share cooking tips and tricks as well as sandwich recipes based on the themes assigned per school. 
Aside from the theme challenge, the students will also have to create an economical sandwich, one that not only tastes great and is easy to make, but also just costs P35 or below.
All sandwich recipes should use Gardenia products, namely Gardenia Classic White Bread, Gardenia High Fiber Wheat Bread, Gardenia High Fiber Wheat Raisin Loaf, Gardenia Wheat Cranberry Loaf, Gardenia Slim ’n Fit Wheaten Bread, Gardenia Wheat Pandesal, Gardenia Premium Pandesal, and Gardenia Flavored Breads. 
Sandwiches will be judged based on taste, interpretation of the assigned theme, creative use of Gardenia product, and plating. For the price challenge, the cost of the sandwich will also be factored into the judging. The judges include chef Favia, Gardenia product manager Angel Gonzaga, and a school representative.
After the elimination round, the winning team per school will need to subject their winning price challenge sandwich to a seven-day business implementation program to test its marketability. At this stage, the team is required to sell their sandwiches using their preferred strategy and will be given a budget. They will be required to document the whole process and submit support materials such as costing of their winning recipe and expenditures.
The total earnings and capital incurred by each team during the selling period will go to their budget in the final round, while their final ROI will comprise 10 percent of their score in the final round.