Opportunities abound for chefs to further their professional development

Chefs at all levels stand to benefit from seizing opportunities for professional development. Chief among these are participation in culinary competitions and further education initiatives – and with lockdowns and border restrictions finally behind us, many previously postponed events are now back to their pre-Covid schedules. As we enter a new year, Foodservice Rep takes a look at some of the highlights on the professional development calendar in the year that’s gone and also what lies ahead.

Nestlé Golden Chefs Hat Award

Australia’s longest running culinary competition for young chefs is the Nestlé Golden Chefs Hat Hat Award, with the grand finals traditionally held at the Fine Food Australia show. Last year the event returned to live cook-offs for both its regional and grand finals, after having run the latter as a virtual event in 2021 following that year’s postponement of Fine Food due to a third Covid wave.

“It was a fantastic year for Nestlé Golden Chefs Hat,” affirms Nestlé Professional Communications and Sustainability Manager Karlie Durrant. “We were back to 13 regional live finals across Australia and New Zealand, and we were able to hold our grand finals live in Melbourne as part of Fine Food.  

“Plus we had 100 chefs participate in the regional finals which was up on the previous year – I think one of the differentiating points of Nestlé Golden Chefs Hat versus other competitions is our extensive regional representation. We take the event to the grassroots of Australia and New Zealand so we’re able to offer more young chefs the opportunity to participate. Every year we review the regions that we’re going to, and last year we went back to Grafton after a 20 year absence which was a fantastic event. We had 15 young chefs competing who had a terrific day in the kitchen – 90 per cent of them had never competed before, so it is a way of making a difference to these kids’ lives. There’s a lot of appreciation within these regional areas – educators are always looking to try to provide career-building opportunities and I think that’s the great value of culinary competitions, they really do help you fine tune your skillset and challenge yourself.”

Nestlé Professional Commercial Development Chef Elke Travers, a relative newcomer to Nestlé Golden Chefs Hat having joined Nestlé last year, adds, “There are lots of young chefs who aren’t in the big cities so it’s important to bring these events to them rather than expect them to travel to compete. And we’ve seen such flair in the competition menus across the regional towns, which is very exciting. It’s also great to see such talented chefs giving their best, displaying such a high level of skill and execution – I think you gain something yourself just from being around it. These events really push people to come up with innovative ideas – this year we had an award for most sustainable menu, which is very on-point, and it was wonderful to see what our entrants were doing with product and their creative ability to put it together on the plate in a way that works. All the new concepts just blew me away.”

“Nestlé Golden Chefs Hat is about recognising the individual talent of our competing chefs – it’s not just about competition, who’s the best, it’s really about trying to achieve your personal best as a chef,” Karlie points out. “We’ve see chefs who are really struggling, they look like they’re going to throw in the towel, but Elke has coached them through and talked them off the cliff. That’s the goal, to help them progress as an individual. And the smiles you see on their faces when they finish the competition – you can tell it’s a really awesome moment for them.”

Elke adds, “I think it reinforces self-belief – when you’re young, you don’t always back yourself, but once you’ve done something like this it gives you the experience you need to prove to yourself that you can do it. It’s such an achievement. When we saw all our finalists come together in Melbourne to do their food tour, they had developed such mateship – I think that’s life changing in itself. They build relationships and stay in touch across the years through these events.” 

“There’s always some of our alumni who come to the finals to support the next generation and that’s great to see – once you’ve become a Golden Chef, it’s for life, like being part of an exclusive club, and that’s something we’re very keen to foster,” Karlie says. “Of course everybody wants to win the ultimate prize, but it’s also about getting exposure to the qualified judges through the ACF and New Zealand Chefs, as well as learning from and being inspired by your peers. We also have a very active Instagram account through which people connect and that’s become a dynamic tool for them to interact with and support each other.”

While pre-Covid Nestlé Golden Chefs Hat entrants consisted of two-chef teams, the format was changed to individual entries following lockdown travel restrictions and this is set to continue. “I think the key learning from Covid was that the culinary landscape has changed – we’ve got staff shortages and chefs working longer hours, and young chefs are at the frontline of that, so they’re usually the ones with the least flexibility in negotiating time off,” Karlie explains. “Finding a team partner was proving problematic for them, so we’ve kept it as individual entries and our research shows chefs really like that so it will continue in that format into 2023. 

“We’re already gearing up for this year – we have all the events scheduled and we’ll be launching again in March,” she adds. “We’re very much looking forward to another great year of Nestlé Golden Chefs Hat – and we’re introducing a couple of new prizes so we can make everybody has a chance to shine, so watch this space!”

Chef of the year shines at Foodservice Australia show

Another major event on the foodservice calendar is Chef of the Year, which sees a diverse range of contests from across the country compete for the prestigious title annually. Culinary Director Peter Wright says, “It’s remakrable how keen everybody is to participate post-Covid, there seems to be a whole new level of energy. We were inundated with entries from across the whole country - the competition is in Sydney and we had entries from every state, even from Northern Queensland. We had to narrow it down to 32 finalists which is the hard part, then we did the heats, semis and finals.

“It’s a knockout competition with great prizes, but I don’t think thats necessarily why people are so keen to enter – it just seems to have built momentum. The title itself is coveted and it’s very difficult to win – you have to cook two courses from a mystery boxes, you get 15-20 minutes to choose your ingredients and then the clock starts and you have to cook and serve within 60 minutes. And each time you up through the heats and finals you have to cook again, so you have to cook three times in all to win it.

“When you watch the competitors going at it, it’s so intense – and it’s held in the centre of the Foodservice Australia show, there’s a grandstand and a real sense of atmosphere because you’re on show surrounded by spectators. I’m thrilled to be part of it – it’s the highlight of my year, to be honest. It just shows you that the industry is resilient, it’s bounding along and people are really engaged. Hats off to the founder Mr Gary Farrell, because his legacy is still alive and kicking – his vision to have this battle of the chefs.”

Peter explains the value of competing this way: “My personal view is there’s a lot of chefs who want to be great chefs but we can’t all work in Michelin star or three hatted restaurants. Only three to five per cent of food outlets today are fine dining, but we still always want to be the best we can, and competing is a way of putting yourself up against your peers and measuring yourself. It’s a barometer of your own success - you can do 10 competitions in a row and not win anything, and that doesn’t mean you’re not a good chef because ultimately it’s about how each person performs on the day. But the skills you learn by doing a competition go full circle – you’ve got to create a menu, recipe, shopping list, do all the prep yourself. It really hones your skills and ultimately it makes you a better chef, because it gives you that fire in your belly to do better next time, which is what we all need.”

Recognising and supporting apprentice chefs to become tomorrow’s culinary leaders

Apprentice chefs have a terrific opportunity for professional development by participating in Proud to Be Chef, a longstanding mentoring program run by Anchor Food Professionals. Proud to Be a Chef recognises, develops and supports apprentice chefs to become the culinary leaders of tomorrow.

Each year the Proud to Be a Chef panel of judges evaluates applicants from all over the nation on their demonstrated culinary passion, aspirations, goals and long-term commitment to becoming a chef, along with an original recipe submission utilising an Anchor Food Professionals product. Each February the finalists travel to Melbourne for a four-day, all expenses paid experiential journey of masterclasses, skills workshops, dining at prominent restaurants and invaluable networking opportunities with peers and industry leaders.

The program culminates in one standout finalist being awarded an International Culinary Scholarship valued at $7,500 tailored to their personal interests and professional goals, while two other standout finalists receive a three-day internship with one of the program mentors.

“The aim of Proud to Be a Chef is to keep culinary students engaged and inspired in their career choice and support them in their journey of becoming the culinary leaders of tomorrow,” says Anchor Food Professionals Marketing Manager Kym Gill. “ We made the difficult decision to cancel the past two years of the program due to the challenges of Covid and the need to protect everyone’s health and safety, but we’re super excited to be coming back to an in-person event in 2023.

“While there are obviously still some challenges around staffing, the industry has recovered in terms of people’s desire to eat out and we believe the future will be bright because we can see firsthand all the new talent and passion that is coming through. We’d encourage anyone who is aiming to be a chef to be really proud in that choice and carve out a sustainable career over the longer term – which is why we’ve invested in this program for more than 20 years.”

This year Proud to Be a Chef will have 33 finalists rather than the usual 32 – “we had such a high calibre of entries, and there was one extra standout applicant who we felt really deserved an opportunity to participate because they had truly demonstrated their commitment, so we made the decision that they should also be included.”

Finalists this year will participate in some new activities, including a farm visit in Darnum, West Gippsland – “it will be a true paddock to plate experience, from milking the cows to seeing the milk turned into dairy products,” Kym says.

“We’ll also have our usual masterclass where our participants can build new skills, trips to restaurants and markets, and the opportunity for them to work and learn together as they cook their own dishes. However, as we always emphasise, this is not a cooking competition – it’s an immersive experience where you can network, create new lifelong friendships to support you through your career, and find like-minded people to lean on. It’s mentoring, it’s the opportunity to spend time learning from and interacting with some of Australia’s top culinary talent, it’s the chance to get some career guidance, to hone your skills and identify your areas of passion.”

Joining Proud to Be a Chef’s resident mentor, Melbourne chef and restaurateur Mark Normoyle, for 2023 are pastry mentor Kay-Lene Tan, Head Chef of Tonka (pictured above left), and savoury mentor Daniel Giraldo, Group Head Chef at Maha (above right). “All the mentors who participate in this program are committed to fostering future culinary talent and giving back from what they have learnt themselves to ensure this industry stays buyoant and has a strong future,” Kym affirms.

“And from our perspective at Anchor Food Professionals, we are a leading food company, our customers sell food and so we see Proud to Be a Chef as an important investment in the future of the industry.”