Exciting times ahead for the ACF with a calendar full of events

The Australian Culinary Federation is adapting to the current challenges faced by the hospitality industry: lack of staff and time, and rising costs. ACF committees are working to ensure that events are still relevant and beneficial to all our members and are committed to fostering culinary talent and promoting excellence in our profession. The support of sponsors and members is crucial in this effort, and it is highly valued.

It's exciting that there are various competitions that the ACF is involved in this year, both on an international and regional level. The selection of applicants to represent Australia in the Pacific heats of the Global Chef Challenge, the formation of national junior and senior squads to compete in the Culinary Olympics in Germany in 2024, and the participation of squads in overseas competitions later this year, all demonstrate our commitment to fostering culinary talent and promoting excellence in the field.

In addition to these larger scale events, we are currently running competitions at a regional level, including Secondary Schools Culinary Challenge, National Apprentice Competition and the Nestle Golden Chef's Hat Award heats. The ACF Restaurant Challenge at Food Service Australia (FSA) will showcase the talents of some of Australia's best restaurants. These events help to cultivate talent and passion for the culinary arts across Australia and these competitors are some of the industry’s future leaders.

On 30 April the ACF is holding a Success Workshop at FSA, where members will have the opportunity to learn from experienced chefs and industry leaders - such as Telina Menzies, Markus Werner and Gary Johnson.

This will be followed by our National Conference on 4-5 June in NSW’s Hunter Valley, which features a food tour and a lineup of renowned speakers and experts. It is fantastic that we can honour our commitment to bring a young chef from each state to the conference from those who applied last year. The conference will cover a wide range of topics from catering to dietary diversity, emerging trends, leadership, Taste to Trends with MLA and Global food Security with local Hunter Valley legends Troy-Rhoades Brown, Lisa Margan and Robert Molines.

These events are a valuable way for us to stay informed about our industry, learn new skills and build relationships with other professionals in our field.

There will be masterclasses, including two judges workshops, charity opportunities, fundraising events to get our teams overseas, and many other events to come this year, including collaborations with associations and industry partners – we are planning for a full agenda.

I have to say it has been fantastic to be able to get back to live events and socialisation with everybody and I am looking forward to seeing you at an event soon.