Looking back on 2020 … and what lies ahead for this year
2020 started with a bang: our Australian National Youth Culinary Team travelled to Stuttgart, Germany for the 2020 Culinary Olympics. They were awarded one Gold and two Bronze medals and ranked seventh in the world.
The trip was particularly memorable for the fact that two young women from the Kimberley were selected to accompany the team, thus becoming the first Aboriginal people to attend this event in its 100-year history. They were selected for this opportunity through Prepare Produce Provides ‘Kinjarling Djinda Ngardak’ (KDN) program, a week-long culinary camp for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students which enables them to receive training and mentorship from some of the state’s best chefs and ACF Chefs – in December this also occurred in NSW for the first time.
We came back to Australia as the borders were shutting, and as we all know the year that followed was marked by many challenges, with ‘pivot’ the buzzword of the moment. I can tell you, we in the ACF we have pivoted at least 40 times between the end of March and now!
With lots of culinary competitions switching off in 2020, we, in partnership with our sponsors, ensured that several our competitions were able to run, by adapting to a digital format which made us even more relevant to our young chefs of today.
Competitive opportunities like this are vital as they offer a chance for chefs and apprentices to showcase their skills and compete with their peers. It’s an important part of their career advancement.
We participated in International Chefs Day 2020, have been cooking for Rough Edges and Mother’s Kitchen – with generous donations of product, kitchens to use and our ACF chefs volunteering – and many other events. All our judging masterclasses and other events went ahead online, and we are looking forward to digitally badging them and other educational opportunities this year.
For 2021 we are looking forward to getting back to some sense of normality and networking, meeting fellow chefs and hospitality workers through many of our planned events such as:
Food Service Australia: ACF Restaurant of Champions – Melbourne in June.
Fine Foods Australia – Sydney in September – ACF National Apprentice of the Year, live individual events, Static, Yum Cha Challenge and a live Nestlé Golden Chefs final along with our ACF Educational Theatre.
National secondary competitions will run in all regions – this a great pathway into our industry and we encourage participation.
State events
Chef conference
Masterclasses
Karen Doyle ACF President
These are essential for our industry, for networking – connecting with peers and suppliers – education and wellbeing. All of this would not be possible without our sponsors, collaboration with other industry bodies, training providers, and volunteer committee members. I look forward to a successful 2021, stepping up our National Association with new partnerships and initiatives.
KAREN DOYLE, ACF National President
