photo: © Xiaoling Li/World Food Photography Awards sponsored by Bimi®
The heartwarming photograph The Elderly Having Delicious Food by Chinese photographer Xiaoling Li is the overall winner of the World Food Photography Awards, sponsored by Bimi®, a major food photography competition.
The photograph, which also won first prize in the Food for the Family category, was taken in the ancient town of Shuangliu in China’s Sichuan province.
“The elderly women in the photograph are setting up a ‘Dragon Gate Formation,’” says Xiaoling Li. “This is a Chinese expression for neighbors gathering to chat, gossip and share stories. They are eating the famous Sichuan snack ‘spring rolls.’ Food makes these people happy; they are enjoying a beautiful and joyful life.”
The winners of the competition’s twenty-five categories were announced by renowned chef, restaurateur and food writer Yotam Ottolenghi at the Mall Galleries in London, during an awards ceremony that brought together leading figures from the culinary and artistic worlds.
Dutch photographers enjoyed great success in the competition; from almost ten thousand entries submitted from seventy countries worldwide, there were four finalists, including one category winner.
Dorien Paymans took first place in the Cream of the Crop category with her beautiful photograph Flour Swirl.
“No matter how the world changes, food remains at the heart of our lives." ~ Dave Samuels, Brand Director, Tenderstem® Bimi® Broccolini and headline sponsor of the Awards
Marco Rutten placed second in the Bring Home the Harvest category for his photograph of tea being weighed on a plantation. “The baskets are weighed several times a day, checked for the correct quality and recorded by the field officer,” Rutten says. “The pickers’ daily target is to pick eighteen kilograms of tea to receive the agreed daily wage.”
Rutten also received an honorable mention in this category for a second photograph showing tea pickers walking to the fields at sunrise, with beautiful sunlight streaming through the trees.
Jasmina Kazemier received a commendation in the Tiptree Cake Awards for her atmospheric creation Dark and Fudgy Chocolate Cake.
The winners of the twenty-five categories were announced by renowned chef, restaurateur and food writer Yotam Ottolenghi at the Mall Galleries in London, during an awards ceremony that brought together leading figures from the culinary and artistic worlds.
View the online gallery featuring all 2025 finalists at www.worldfoodphotographyawards.com.
At the time of publication, entries for the 2026 edition were due to open that month.
Also read: World Food Photography Awards 2026
