Following on from the survey sent out to TUCO members regarding a National Chefs Forum (NCF), the majority of those who responded were senior level chefs from across the country and were indeed in favour of a NCF, meeting either termly or quarterly.
The survey found that the general feeling is that chefs aren’t currently utilising the training available to them via TUCO. Respondents cited a number of reasons for this, including the location of courses, not enough courses, not enough time/staff to cover the kitchen and the available courses not appropriately matching the skills gap.
There’s an appetite to attend manufacturer and supplier days and to receive hands-on skills training from other TUCO members and suppliers/manufacturers, which could cover a range of skills from plant-based cooking to mass-producing pastry products. Engaging with an apprenticeship company, local college, or charitable organisation to develop employment pipelines was a popular suggestion and could help bridge the current skills gap that some members mentioned. It appears from your feedback that a collective of chefs working together to discuss dish and menu development could be beneficial and that we could achieve more this way than by working in silos. The survey also found that most chefs are a member of a culinary institution, but these are varied. It would be sensible to investigate one institution to work with that can support TUCO’s long-term chef strategy.
With this feedback taken on board, proposals are underway to create a National Chefs Forum. Watch this space!
If the subject raised in this article is of interest to you, we also discuss it in some other parts of the website.
