Aitken Spence Hotels wins big at Culinary Art Food Expo 2025

Aitken Spence Hotels Culinary team with management

Aitken Spence Hotels’ culinary team returned from Culinary Art Food Expo 2025 with an impressive haul of 116 medals, an achievement that solidifies the group’s stature as a benchmark of gastronomic excellence in South Asia’s largest professional cookery competition. 

Fielding teams drawn from every corner of its Sri Lankan hotels, Aitken Spence Hotels saw its properties — Heritance Ahungalla, Sentido Heritance Negombo, Heritance Tea Factory, Heritance Kandalama and Turyaa Kalutara — emerge as stars of the three-day event, which attracted more than 2,000 chefs from 181 hotels and restaurants.

Heritance Kandalama’s delegation topped the medal table in the Regional Category by being crowned Most Outstanding Cultural Triangle Team, underlined by a cascade of individual honours that included the coveted title of Most Outstanding Artist, awarded to pastry maestro Bandula Harischandra for his intricately sculpted showpiece.

Equally dominant on the southern coastline, Heritance Ahungalla secured two pinnacle awards: Most Outstanding Down South Team and Most Outstanding Hot Cooking Chef, the latter bestowed on Nuwan Chandimal for his creations that captivated the judges.

Adding a vibrant note of creativity, Sentido Heritance Negombo earned the Most Outstanding Artistic Showpiece – Salt Dough accolade through Chalana Akalanka, whose piece impressed both judges and spectators alike.

Not to be outdone, Heritance Tea Factory was named Most Outstanding Uva/Nuwara Eliya Team, a fitting recognition of the team’s distinctive interpretation of highland culinary traditions and refined hospitality.

Joint Managing Director Susith Jayawickrama said, “Each medal reflects countless hours of practice, experimentation and teamwork. From the sustainably sourced produce of Heritance Kandalama to the coastal flavours championed at Ahungalla and Negombo and the refined elegance of the tea country showcased by Heritance Tea Factory, our chefs demonstrated not only technical mastery but also the diverse flavours of Sri Lanka.”

Aitken Spence Hotel Holdings Chairperson Stasshani Jayawardena said, “I’ve witnessed our chefs grow through dedication and creativity with each passing year and seeing them shine at Culinary Art Food Expo 2025 fills me with immense pride.”