Guild alerts industry on 'chefs drain'

by Omar RAJARATHNAM

"Training new chefs and developing incumbent chefs are vital for the sustainability of the culinary sector of our country which thrives on tourism", said President of the Chefs Guild of Lanka, Ranjit Morugama at a press conference held at the Hilton Hotel, Colombo.

The confab marked the launch of Culinary Art 2011, Sri Lanka's biggest food and trade exhibition which will be held for the 14th time this year, from July 29 to August 1 at the BMICH.

Unilever Food solutions, Fonterra Brands Lanka Private Ltd and Edinborough Pvt. Ltd will be the exhibitions' Platinum, Diamond and Gold sponsors. For the first time, the competition will be open to those outside the hospitality industry on a limited basis to uplift the general culinary standards of the country.

"We need to bridge the standards gap between local hotels and international hotels.

We have come a long way over the years but the country's stability is looking positive than ever and this is the ideal period to showcase and promote Sri Lankan culinaries to the international market which has a direct impact on the number of tourists who want to visit the country" Morugama said.

Chairman of the organising committee Gerard Mendis said, that over 1000 chefs participated in last year's competition in over 1500 categories and the show which started off on a minor scale way back in 1988 has since grown into the largest food and hotel show. "We are trying very hard to retain the chef population of the country.

We have seen a large number of chefs leaving the country and we need to reverse this situation.

Our chefs are doing extremely well all over the world after leaving Sri Lanka because of less attractive remuneration here and so, it is important that the hotels reconsider their overall packages to ensure that the chefs-drain comes to a halt or is reduced to a bare minimum", he said.

"We are also discussing extensively of the possibility of starting degree programs in culinary art.

This will help us streamline the sector a tad better and make the most out of their expertise and contribute to the country's booming tourism industry and the economy as a whole.

Our hotel schools churn out very talented chefs but a degree program will ensure that we come in par with international standards of culinary art.

The hotels must also devise expansion plans where we can accommodate international corporate conferences which has a large headcount.