Rules of Entry

1. Ingredient categories

Every entry competes in one of two shortbread styles:

• Traditional (mandatory). Ingredients must come from exactly three groups — flour, fat and sweetener — and nothing else. No flavourings, no inclusions, no toppings.
• Specialist (optional). Any direction the form will take — chocolate, citrus, herbs, savoury, sculptural — is permitted, provided allergens are clearly declared. You may enter up to two specialist entries and must book the appropriate number of tickets at checkout to be entered.

2. Participation requirements

Competitors enter one of three baker categories. You must enter the Traditional style as your baseline; Specialist is optional alongside it.

• Professional. Working bakers and pastry chefs. To enter this category you must be registered with your local Environmental Health Officer — or your country's equivalent food-safety authority.
• Amateur. Home bakers and enthusiasts. You may not enter as an Amateur if you receive any income from your baked goods — if you do, you must enter as a Professional.
• Young Baker. Open to under-16s.

Entries are open to bakers from anywhere in the world. You are responsible for your own travel and for bringing your bakes to Inverness on event day.

3. Recipe and quantity submission

When asked, you must submit your recipe (ingredients and quantities) for each style you enter. Quantities will be retained for ingredient verification, declaring allergens, and post-event publication.

4. Allergen labelling

You are responsible for declaring all allergens at entry. Every entry on display will carry an ingredient and allergen panel. Tasting samples for the public will be labelled — incorrect declarations may disqualify your entry.

5. Judging method

Judging is blind: the panel does not know whose entries they are tasting. Decisions are reached by panel consensus, weighted 75% judging panel and 25% public vote. The combined score determines the category winners and the overall World Shortbread Champion.

6. Display requirements

Every competitor is given a table. The standard configuration is:

• Table size: 6′ × 2′ (6 foot by 2 foot).
• Table covering: white.
• Display pieces: 6 to 12 pieces of your shortbread on display.
• Ingredient display: the raw ingredients used in your bake displayed alongside.
• Public tasting samples: 1-inch squares (or equivalent) for public sampling must be presented on the day (approximately 500 samples for Professional category and approximately 250 samples for Amateur and Young Baker categories).
• Judging pieces: 6 whole pieces reserved for the judging panel.