A delegation of students from the Department of Hotel and Restaurant Management at National Pingtung University of Science and Technology (NPUST) recently participated in the \u201c8th Taiwan Culinary Arts Challenge (TCAC)\u201d, which was held from October 2nd to 5th (2026). Amid fierce competition among nearly 700 entries from over 10 countries and 120 catering institutions worldwide, the team demonstrated outstanding professional strength, bringing home a total of 12 awards: 3 golds, 3 silvers, 4 bronzes, and 2 honorable mentions. Notably, first-year hospitality student Feng-Jui Huang in the \u201cAsian Style Banquet Cuisine- Seafood\u201d category and second-year hospitality student Kuan-Chieh Chen in the \u201cPotatoes Challenge\u201d both won gold medals\u2014achieving the highest overall scores of the competition and becoming brightest stars of the event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The grand competition, which took place at Taipei World Trade Center, was rigorously evaluated by over 50 international professional judges who tested the contestants\u2019 understanding and application of diverse ingredients, such as western potatoes, chicken, salmon, and Asian-flavor culinary products. Led by Department of Hotel and Restaurant Management faculty members Wei-Ting Chao and Andy Li-Yuan Ke, the NPUST team underwent comprehensive preparation through regular coursework and intensive pre-competition training. Committed to turning classroom knowledge into practical, competitive skills through active, hands-on learning, faculty members empower students to stay composed, adaptable, and collaborative in high-pressure environments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The NPUST delegation demonstrated exceptional professional breadth across various categories. In individual events, aside from his gold in mentioned above, Feng-Jui Huang also won a silver medal for \u201cAsian Noodles\u201d and a bronze medal in the \u201cAsian Style Banquet Cuisine-Meat\u201d Category. Following his gold in the \u201cPotatoes Challenge\u201d, Kuan-Chieh Chen earned a bronze medal in \u201cWestern Main Course Challenge- Chicken\u201d and an honorable mention in the \u201cPerfect Brunch\u201d event. Additionally, Chen-Kai Hsu from Hospitality 2B won a gold medal in \u201cWestern Main Course- Seafood\u201d; Hsun-Han Yang from Hospitality 2A secured a silver medal in \u201d Western Main Course-Meat\u201d; Hsin-Yun Li from Hospitality 2B won a silver medal in \u201d Western Main Course-Chicken \u201c; and Yen Wei-Hsun from Hospitality 2A received an honorable mention in \u201cWestern Main Course- Seafood\u201d. In the \u201cChef Duet Challenge\u201d, which tested teamwork and synergy, the pairing of Hsun-Han Yang and Chen-Kai Hsu won the bronze medal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
NPUST stated that the participating students spanned different grade levels, and their award-winning projects covered diverse fields including Chinese cuisine, Western cuisine, seafood, meat, noodles, and brunch, fully demonstrating the department\u2019s ability to cultivate multifaceted professional culinary talent. This exceptional achievement is not only an affirmation of the students\u2019 persistent hard work, but also a testament to NPUST\u2019s ongoing success in promoting a teaching model that balances theory with practice. Moving forward, the Department of Hotel and Restaurant Management will continue to encourage students to enter domestic and global competitions and take part in international exchanges, applying a theory-practice balance that will nurture hospitality professionals ready to excel on the global stage.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":10337,"template":"","genre":[],"colleges":[35],"visions":[32],"sdgs":[14,18,22],"class_list":["post-10323","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","colleges-college-of-management","visions-blue-economy","sdgs-quality-education","sdgs-decent-work-and-economic-growth","sdgs-responsible-consumption-and-production"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sustainability.npust.edu.tw\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/10323","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sustainability.npust.edu.tw\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sustainability.npust.edu.tw\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sustainability.npust.edu.tw\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/10323\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sustainability.npust.edu.tw\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10337"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sustainability.npust.edu.tw\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10323"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"genre","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sustainability.npust.edu.tw\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/genre?post=10323"},{"taxonomy":"colleges","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sustainability.npust.edu.tw\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/colleges?post=10323"},{"taxonomy":"visions","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sustainability.npust.edu.tw\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/visions?post=10323"},{"taxonomy":"sdgs","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sustainability.npust.edu.tw\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sdgs?post=10323"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}