South Carolina ProStart Program | SC ProStart Invitational

SC ProStart Invitational

South Carolina 21st ProStart Invitational - March 2-4, 2025

The South Carolina ProStart Invitational is the state’s premier competition for high school culinary arts and hospitality students. See the success of our past competitions and learn more about participating next year. You can make a difference by becoming a ProStart educator who provides students with the education they need to enter into a viable career.

Competition Details:

The South Carolina ProStart Invitational is an annual competition hosted by the South Carolina Restaurant and Lodging Foundation (SCRLF). The competition includes Restaurant Management and Culinary divisions. The Culinary Competition requires students to demonstrate knife skills incorporated into cooking a three-course meal in 60 minutes with only two butane burners, two eight-foot tables, and no electricity or running water. In the Management Competition, students develop a brand new restaurant concept to pitch to a panel of industry and post-secondary judges, complete with critical thinking and verbal presentation rounds.

Competition Rewards:

The top five teams from the culinary and management competitions are awarded generous educational scholarships to help further their careers in the restaurant and food service industry. In 2023, more than $1.4 million in scholarships were awarded to students by the NRAEF and leading academic institutions.

Invitational sponsorships go towards supporting our teams at the National ProStart Invitational and the SCRLF Scholarship Program.
SCRLF is a 501(c)3, all donations are tax-deductible as allowable by law. For more information on sponsorship, please email the SCRLA office at info@scrla.org.

Location:

Spartanburg Marriott

299 North Church Street, Spartanburg, SC 29306

Competition Resources:

2025 SCPI Rules

2025 SCPI Agenda Tentative

Competition Schedules

Culinary Team Timeline - TBA
Management Team Timeline - TBA

Dish Request Form Due - February 22, 2025 - Form TBA

Recipe, Costing, Menu, and Inventory templates (Word docx)

Conference Hotel information:

Spartanburg Marriott, 299 North Church Street, Spartanburg, SC 29306

Single/Double/Triple/Quad: $159 per night plus tax and fees if booked before midnight on February 7, 2025.

Teams are required to stay at the host hotel.

CLICK HERE to reserve hotel accommodations online at the special conference rate for the SCRLA ProStart Invitational

Guests may also book their reservations by phone at 1-888-236-2427 South Carolina ProStart Invitational rate.

Complimentary parking is included in the hotel room rate. Breakfast is not included in the rate but will be provided for all registered participants.

You will find the information for your online reservation link below. Please do not hesitate to ask if you have questions or need help with the link. We appreciate your business and look forward to a successful event.

Student Waiver Form - Due February 20, 2025

Team cancellation/withdrawal by January 22, 2025, 11:59 PM
(Please note if you do not cancel before this date, a $250.00 per team cancelation fee will be assessed).