QLD vs NSW
State of Origin Pizza Battle
And the WINNER is Queensland!
And the WINNER is Queensland!
After 12 epic heats, QUEENSLAND has taken the crown in the inaugural State of Origin Pizza Battle! 🏆
A massive congratulations to Stefano Spataro from Elementi Restaurant, crowned Best Overall Pizza Chef 2025! 👏
Stefano’s Pizza featured a rich, creamy mozzarella base, topped with fresh, crisp salad lightly dressed in tangy balsamic vinegar, and finished with delicate slices of melt-in-your-mouth culatello. What an unforgettable debut year — packed with passion, bold flavours, and fierce competition. Thank you to every pizzaiolo who brought their best to the battle!
2025 State of Origin Pizza Battle Finalists
The Awards
SIGNATURE PIZZA Your hero pizza – the one that defines your style. This is your chance to bring your best-selling creation to the stage. Any dough, any sauce, any toppings – it just needs to be on your current menu and full of flavour and flair that shows off your unique style.
CREATIVE PIZZA This is where things get wild. Competitors will receive a list of sponsor-supplied ingredients before the event and must create a one-of-a-kind pizza that showcases creativity, originality, and big flavour. Bring your A-game and surprise the judges.
The competition will be point-based, participants will accumulate points across all criteria for both the ‘Signature’ & ‘Creative’ rounds, with their total score determining who is the overall winner. The overall winner with the highest total score across ‘Signature’ and ‘Creative’, will determine which state team (NSW or QLD) is the winner of the ‘State of Origin Pizza Comp’. Ie. If an individual competitor from the NSW team has the highest score, then the NSW team are the winners of the competition.
State of Origin Pizza Battle is proudly brought to you by
The Details
WHO CAN ENTER?
The competition is open to any pizzaiolo, pizza chef, pizza maker or pizza cook within the foodservice industry based in NSW or QLD.
HOW IT WORKS
Step 1 – Online Submission: Submit your signature pizza (the one you’re known for). Include the recipe, method, and a photo that shows it off in all its glory.
Step 2 – Selection: A shortlist of 10 finalists from NSW and 10 finalists from QLD will be announced on the 1st September.
Step 3 – Cook-Off: Finalists cook and present their pizzas to the judges at the Show.
AWARD CATEGORIES
You will make both a signature AND a creative pizza as part of your heat, then based on points an overall Best Pizza Chef: State of Origin Pizza Competition will be crowned. The overall winner will receive $2,000 and entry into Australia’s Best Pizza Awards in May, 2026 at Food & Hospitality Week in Sydney. All 10 competitors on the winning team will receive $300 each
- SIGNATURE PIZZA Your hero pizza – the one that defines your style. This is your chance to bring your best-selling creation to the stage. Any dough, any sauce, any toppings – it just needs to be on your current menu and full of flavour and flair that shows off your unique style.
- CREATIVE PIZZA This is where things get wild. Competitors will receive a list of sponsor-supplied ingredients before the event and must create a one-of-a-kind pizza that showcases creativity, originality, and big flavour. Bring your A-game and surprise the judges.
Best Pizza Chef: State of Origin Pizza Competition will receive $2,000 and entry into Australia’s Best Pizza Awards in May, 2026 at Food & Hospitality Week in Sydney.
- All 10 competitors on the winning team will receive $300 each
JUDGING CRITERIA
Your pizzas will be judged on:
- Preparation & execution
- Balance of flavours & ingredients
- Overall look & aesthetic
- Technical execution
- Presentation (competitor & workstation)
- Cooking precision
KEY DATES
Entries Close: 28th August Finalists Confirmed/ Comp Info Sent: 1st September Competition Date: 12th October, 10am – 4pm
FULL COMPETITION GUIDELINES
Please see here for full guidelines.