Official Rules – Grand Culinary Competition – 2nd edition

The Competition aims to highlight gastronomy aboard TGV Lyria trains, particularly in the Première Signature class, whilst highlighting Franco-Swiss culture.

Four young chefs, selected by the Organising Companies, will compete in a cooking competition to be held at Gare de Lyon, located at Place Louis Armand, 75012 Paris, on Tuesday 16 June 2026 (hereinafter “Competition Day”).

At the end of Competition Day and after deliberation, the winning Participant’s culinary creation will be included in the autumn/winter 2026/2027 “La Table” menu served in Première Signature class aboard TGV Lyria trains.

III- Terms of participation

The Competition is open to all young professional chefs, pre-selected by the organising teams according to the criteria defined below.

To be eligible to participate in the Competition, a Candidate (hereinafter referred to as the “Candidate”) must meet the following conditions:

• be aged between 18 and 40 at the start of the Competition;

• be currently working or have previously worked as a professional chef;

• be available on the day of the Competition, for the entire duration and without any time constraints;

• provide all the information and documents requested when submitting the entry;

• comply with all safety, hygiene, confidentiality and other rules imposed by the organisers to ensure the smooth running of the Competition or the sale of food products

on board trains, which will be communicated to them electronically, by post or digitally before the Competition Day, and in person at the event venue. Internal regulations may be drawn up for this purpose to set out all the rules governing the Competition;

• not be in a situation of obvious conflict of interest with the Organising Companies on the date of entry and throughout the duration of the Competition:

  • To this end, the Candidate must inform the Organising Companies of any current or planned collaboration, activity or professional engagement with a rail or air carrier operating in particular on Franco-Swiss routes, which could affect the smooth running of the Competition or the legitimate interests of the Organising Companies;

  • The Candidate agrees that, in the event of a conflict of interest or a breach of the legitimate interests of the Competition, the Organising Companies may refuse or cancel the Candidate’s participation, subject to prior consultation with the Candidate.

Employees of the Organising Companies or any parent companies, sister or subsidiary companies, their suppliers or service providers, as well as any of the family members of these employees, are not eligible to enter the Competition. Professional associates of jury members, as well as their family members, are also not eligible.

Thus, whilst reviewing the entries, and at the latest upon making their final selection, the jury members undertake to verify that they are not in a situation of conflict of interest with any of the Candidates or Participants, in particular due to a professional or hierarchical relationship, recent collaboration or personal relationship that could influence their assessment. In the event of an existing or past connection with a Candidate or Participant, the jury member concerned must immediately inform the Organising Companies. The Organising Companies reserve the right to exclude the entries in question in order to ensure the impartiality of the Competition, in the same way as any entry involving a current professional connection with a jury member.

The Organising Companies reserve the right to disqualify any person who breaches the Competition Rules or who is found to have failed to comply with any provision of the Competition Rules or instructions given by the Organisers.

Any entry that is incomplete, incorrect or does not fully comply with the procedures described above will not be included and will be considered null and void.

The Organising Companies cannot be held responsible for any entries that are lost, late, incorrect, invalid, incomprehensible or unclear for any reason.

By entering the Competition, the Candidate confirms that they are eligible to do so. Candidates may be asked to provide proof of eligibility, notably their identity and age. Any false declaration will result in automatic disqualification from the Competition.

No entry fees will be charged to the Candidate to apply for the Competition or to the Participant to participate in the Competition.

IV- Competition procedure

1.Submission of entries

Entries must be submitted exclusively via a dedicated platform, the link to which is communicated as part of the promotion of the Competition. For each entry to be valid, each Candidate must complete all the mandatory fields of the form and provide all the required documents within the specified time limit.

Only the Participants – Candidates who have been shortlisted following the review of their entry – will be able to take part in the Competition.

2.Selection of Participants

The selection of the Candidates to take part in the Competition Day (hereinafter:

“Participants”) is the sole responsibility of the Organising Companies. In the interests

of fairness and in order to benefit from a high level of culinary expertise, professional chefs will assist the Organising Companies in selecting the Candidates.

Only Candidates who meet all the above criteria and for which a complete entry portfolio is submitted up to and including 1 May 2026 will be eligible for selection.

Throughout the selection process, particular attention will be paid to ensuring gender balance and to the Franco-Swiss theme.

Participants will be notified of their selection by 16 May 2026. Each Participant must confirm their availability and attendance on Competition Day by email to the Organising Companies’ teams within a maximum of five working days from the date their selection confirmation is sent. All personal data will be kept for a period of two years and will only be made available to the Organising Companies during this time. It may be used for the purposes of promoting the event or railway catering as part of the Organising Companies’ communication policies or for statistical purposes, subject to the Participant’s prior written consent, obtained after the announcement of their selection.

Failure by the Participant to reply in due time will be deemed to be a withdrawal and the Participant will no longer be invited to participate in the event. Another Candidate will then be selected in their place. This decision shall be final and not subject to appeal. This Candidate may be informed of their selection after the deadline of 16 May 2026.

3.Organisation and procedure of the event

Participants must be available for the entire day, for a period of between four and twelve hours maximum.

They will be require to arrive at the event venue in the morning, around 10am. Participants will then be briefed on the specific procedure for the Competition and will be asked to check that all the equipment provided to them is in good working order.

The Competition will start at 12pm and will last for four hours. Each Participant may be assisted by a commis chef, subject to the final decision of the Organising Companies and in accordance with the Competition Rules they have decided.

Candidates must prepare their dish in large quantities, ranging from 50 to 100 portions. A more precise quantity will be communicated to them before Competition Day.

If circumstances beyond the control of the Organising Companies prevent the Competition Day from taking place on the scheduled date and time, the Organising Companies will make every effort to reschedule it. Should it not be possible to reschedule the event as soon as possible, the Competition Day will be cancelled without any compensation for the Participants.

4.Departure after the event

Following the event, the two dishes shortlisted by the jury will be loaded on board a TGV Lyria to Geneva. The two shortlisted participants will also board the train, accompanied by teams from the Organising Companies and the jury.

In the event that one of the participants does not board the train, in particular in the event of an express refusal on their part, or following a decision by the Organising Companies motivated by an incident that occurred during the Competition Day, by inappropriate behaviour, by failure to comply with these Rules or the instructions given, or more generally due to any circumstance preventing their safe boarding and continued participation in accordance with the Competition’s organisational, safety or image requirements, the Organising Companies shall have the option of either selecting another participant to board in place of the defaulting Candidate or modifying the event so that a single participant may board.

During the journey, they will be asked to present their dishes once again to passengers on board and to take part in the activities organised in coach 11 (Première Signature service), coach 14 (buffet coach) and potentially in other areas of the train.

The two dishes not selected by the jury will be offered to the public for tasting at Gare de Lyon.

V. Winner selection procedure

The selection of the winning dish will take place in two main stages:

1.Initial selection of two dishes

Barring any legitimate impediment, force majeure or exceptional circumstances beyond the control of the Organising Companies, as well as the employees of the Organising Companies, at the end of the Competition at Gare de Lyon on the Competition Day, the jury, consisting of our signature chefs Michel Roth and Danny Khezzar, will select two creations that would like to see served in Première Signature class aboard the TGV Lyria train. This stage takes place prior to the loading and departure of the aforementioned train.

2.Second round of selection, during the journey on board the train

• The two dishes shortlisted by the jury and loaded on board the train at the end of the event will be offered to all Première Signature passengers. Only passengers who have tasted both dishes will be able to vote. They will be asked to choose their favourite dish.

• Subject to availability, these dishes will also be offered to passengers not in Première Signature class, during a tasting session in the buffet car (14) and possibly in other areas of the train. As above, only passengers who have tasted both dishes will be able to take part in the vote. They will then be asked to choose their favourite dish.

• At the same time, a poll will be open to the public in an Instagram story posted to @tgvlyria to judge the presentation of the dishes. This online vote will be based solely on visual criteria and will not require participants to have tasted the dishes.

The dish with the most votes, according to a voting system that is defined and communicated to the Candidates prior to the Competition, will be included on the next “La Table” menu. In the event of a perfect tie between the two participants whose dishes have been shortlisted, the jury reserves the right to decide between the finalists and select the winning dish.

VI- Prizes

The dish selected by Première Signature passengers will be included in the next “La Table” menu for a period of approximately six months.

This menu will be the focus of numerous promotions, through press coverage of the event by journalists present on Competition Day and any other interested media, as well via the usual channels on the TGV Lyria website and social media, through influencers and via communications from the chef-judges. This list is non-exhaustive.

The Participant who created the winning dish – which topped the rankings and is included in the “La Table” menu – will also win a return journey on a TGV Lyria in Première Signature class to a destination of their choice from among all destinations served by TGV Lyria.

The other three participants will win a return journey on a TGV Lyria in First Class to a destination of their choice from among all destinations served by TGV Lyria.

Tickets must be requested and booked within one (1) year of the official announcement of the Competition results. If no request is made within this period, the prize will be deemed to have been forfeited, with no possibility of postponement, exchange or compensation.

Other prizes may be offered to Participants.

VII- Commitment and responsibilities

1.For Participants

Participants authorise the Organising Companies to use their image in connection with the Competition or their communication campaigns. Participants agree that the Organising Companies may publicise their participation, their surname, first name, activities, statements made in connection with the Competition or any images and video recordings obtained in this way.

To this end, a separate written authorisation regarding image rights and the use of personal attributes will be provided to the Participants after their selection has been announced. Signing this authorisation shall be a requirement for participating in the Competition. In the event of a refusal to sign, the Organising Companies reserve the right to cancel the participation of the Candidate concerned and to replace them.

This authorisation shall apply in particular to:

• the website, press releases, customer information, social media, etc. of the Organising Companies, and more generally;

• the Organising Companies’ internal and external promotional and advertising materials and campaigns, including poster campaigns with or without text for advertising purposes produced by the Organising Companies;

• photographs, videos or graphic designs made by the Organising Companies, or any other legal or natural person engaged by them, depicting the Participant.

All such elements shall remain the property of the Organising Companies, their parent, sister or subsidiary companies, which shall retain the intellectual property rights attached to them. These rights belong to them or they hold the associated usage rights.

As a result, it is formally forbidden to reproduce, represent, modify, transmit, publish, adapt or use, via any media and by any means whatsoever, any part of the websites belonging to the Organising Companies, TGV Lyria, their parent, sister or subsidiary companies, or any details relating to the Competition without prior written authorisation from the company concerned.

The rights granted by the Participants apply to all territories in which the Organising Companies carry out commercial activities.

Participants undertake to comply with timetables, health and safety rules and the instructions given.

The organisers reserve the right to exclude any Participant who does not comply with the rules or professional framework of the Competition or any instructions given to them, regardless of the form of such instructions.

Participants authorise the Organising Companies to produce, use, modify and commercially exploit the recipes they have created or presented as part of the Competition. Participants therefore agree that the Organising Companies may use, reproduce and share their recipes, without any compensation being due to them.

In return, the Participant whose recipe is selected for inclusion on the menu will benefit from publicity and promotion associated with their name and their status as the creator of the recipe, particularly through communication materials, PR activities, digital campaigns, social media and media coverage related to the dish’s inclusion on the on-board menu.

The recipes and signature dishes that the Candidates create on Competition Day may only be used by the Organising Companies for the duration of the winning dishes’ inclusion on board.

After this period, the Organising Companies may use the recipes subject to obtaining the Participant’s prior consent.

Non-competition clause

In return for the resources granted to them in connection with this Competition, for the entire duration of the dishes’ inclusion on the menu, the Participants undertake not to utilise the dishes included on the menu, nor to offer them to any direct or indirect competitor of the Organising Companies, their parent, sister or subsidiary companies or to allow them to make use of them for their customers.

Withdraw clause

If the Participant is unable to participate after confirming their participation, they must notify the Organising Company as soon as possible and no later than before the start of the Competition Day.

Confidentiality clause

Participants undertake not to disclose to third parties any confidential information relating to the organisation of the Competition, the proposed recipes, internal documents, communications with the organisers or any other information not intended for the public without the prior authorisation of the organising teams.

3.For Organising Companies

The Organising Companies are not responsible for the cancellation of the event for reasons beyond their control (strike, issues accessing the station, cancellation of a service provider or a decision by the management of Gare de Lyon, security incident, etc.). Participants and Candidates expressly waive their right to invoke provisions relating to unforeseeable circumstances.

Availability and amendment clause

The full Competition Rules are available free of charge on TGV Lyria’s social media channels and website as well as on the entry form.

They can also be obtained free of charge by a request in writing at the latest by midnight on 16 May 2026 (using the post mark to determine date) sent to the following address: gatesolutions helvetia, 8-10 avenue Ledru-Rollin 75012 Paris, France (if requested, postage will be reimbursed based on current French “tarif lent” [slow rate] postage costs), or by email to [email protected].

Candidates in the Competition must include full personal details (last name, first name, address, postcode, town/city) and, if a refund is requested, bank account details.

Any illegible, erased or incomplete requests, or any that are sent after the deadline will be considered null and void. Any request for a refund of postage costs will only be honoured if the above conditions are met.

Requests for a refund of postage costs will be honoured within six (6) weeks starting from the date on which the written request is received.

The Organising Companies reserve the right to amend these rules, as well as the dates, venue or any other aspect relating to the organisation of the Competition, provide that the Participants are informed as soon as possible and no later than before the start of the Competition Day.

Should a Participant disagree with any of these changes, the Participant must inform the organisers as soon as possible. They may then be replaced by another participant.

VIII- Provisions

The following items will be provided by the Organising Companies:

• Ingredients required for the recipes and the preparation of dishes on Competition Day;

• Kitchen and cooking equipment made available at the workstations for preparing the dishes during the Competition. It should be noted that this equipment is loaned exclusively for the duration of the Competition Day and must be returned at the end of the event. Participants are not permitted to retain any part of this equipment for any reason whatsoever;

• Transportation of Participants by train within metropolitan France and Switzerland;

• For the two Candidates shortlisted by the jury, the journey to Geneva as part of the Competition, accommodation in Geneva and the return journey to Paris or any other destination served by train, in metropolitan France or Switzerland, the day after Competition Day.

IX- Liability

The Participants agree to release the Organising Companies, as well as any parent, sister or subsidiary companies, suppliers, service providers, partners (sales partners) and their respective administrators, directors, employees and representatives (collectively referred to as “Guaranteed Parties”) from all liability and indemnify them from any action or cause of action in relation to, but not limited to, material damage or loss incurred during participation, the Competition and in particular on Competition Day.

Participants shall indemnify third parties for any damages they may cause them in connection with the Competition.

The Guaranteed Parties cannot under any circumstances be held responsible for:

• any incorrect or inexact information attributable to or resulting from (i) Participants, (ii) printing errors or (iii) any equipment associated with the Competition or used in the Competition;

• any unauthorised human intervention or intrusion during the entry or Competition process;

• any material loss or damage caused directly or indirectly, either wholly or partially, by a person’s participation in the Competition or by their use of the prize.

X- Applicable law and disputes

The Competition Rules are subject to French law.

Unless otherwise required by public policy, all matters of any kind relating to the drafting, conclusion, subscription, offer, validity, interpretation, implementation or scope of these Rules or to the rights and obligations of Participants or the Organising Companies shall be governed and interpreted in accordance with French law. No choice of law, conflict of laws or rule of any nature leading to the application of another law shall be recognised.