LG Held Its First Annual International Cooking Competition

LG Electronics (LG), the world’s leading innovator of home appliances, held a premier culinary competition for home chefs, “The 2008 LG Global Home Chef Award,” at the Jumeirah Beach Hotel in Dubai. This year’s theme, “Eco-Cuisine”, is the perfect recipe for a green, healthy lifestyle: nutritious and delicious foods created using LG’s innovative cooking technology such as faster cooking process and higher energy efficiency. With appearances by world-renowned chefs and culinary institutions, the competition showed how smart, green technology can benefit both the consumer and the environment.

“Eco-Cuisine, the theme of LG’s first annual cooking competition, demonstrates LG’s commitment to healthy, green living that benefits both consumers and the world around them,” said Young Ha Lee, President and CEO of LG Electronics Digital Appliance Company. “This theme is an extension of what LG has been offering to consumers: total lifestyle solutions achieved through the perfect balance of our design and technological excellence.”

“Eco-Cuisine” highlights not only the tasty, healthy meals that can be made with eco-friendly ingredients and appliances, but also how LG appliances benefit the environment, with faster cooking times and lower power consumption.

For the 2008 LG Home Chef Award competition finals, fifteen teams of finalists were selected from regional competitions, which were held between July and November 2008 in Canada, India, Iran, Korea, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, the United Arab Emirates and the United States. Finalists prepared and served recipes that were tasty, healthy, and used organic ingredients and LG kitchen appliances with health-conscious, energy-saving features.

Judging was based on the following criteria: cooking technique and skills, LG light wave ovens SolarCUBE and SolarDOM utilization, health-consciousness of the recipe, safety and sanitation, presentation, taste, and timing. At the awards ceremony, which took place right after the competition, seven home chefs were recognized with honors including the Grand Prize, Emirates Rising Star Prize, WMF Prize, Most Eco-Friendly, Smart Chef Award, Best Presentation and Most Creative.

Ms. Petri Uys from South Africa won the Grand Prize for this year’s competition. She was awarded cooking classes at Le Cordon Bleu Paris, along with round-trip airfare and four days accommodation, a prize valued at 5,000 US dollars.

On December 9 and 10, 2008, before the competition finals, LG presented live cooking shows for contestants and media featuring world class celebrity chef, Ainsley Harriott. A best-selling cookbook author, Mr. Harriott is best-known for his unique flare and flamboyance in the kitchen, as host of popular TV series such as Ready Steady Cook and Can’t Cook Won’t Cook. At this special event, he used fresh, organic ingredients and LG cooking appliances, including the LG SolarCUBE oven. During the competition, Mr. Harriott helped contestants hone their cooking skills and served on the judging panel.

The 2008 LG Global Home Chef Award is endorsed by prestigious international culinary institutions, including the World Association of Chefs’ Societies (WACS) and Le Cordon Bleu, two culinary authorities that help shape the opinions of food around the world.

LG plans to hold the LG Home Chef Award every year with a different theme, proving LG’s commitment to providing better lifestyle solutions for consumers around the world.