The New Trends and Prime Movers of the Culinary Industry

Added: 05/05/2006

The culinary industry is about more than just food preparation, although certainly that's a top priority. But the culinary industry also regulates health standards and creates opportunities for training and education. The culinary industry is an excellent place to make your living, especially if you love to prepare food for others. Since most people are eating three meals a day, there is a constant demand not only for chefs, pastry chefs, and other food preparation workers, but for restaurant and hotel managers as well.

The trends in the culinary industry seem to come and go with the seasons. What's hot and what's not in the food world is now possible to identify earlier, thanks to a new panel formed by the International Association of Culinary Professionals. The IACP is a professional society of individuals employed in, or providing services to, the culinary industry. Over 4000 members worldwide enjoy the benefits of continuing education and professional development provided by the IACP. "Tomorrow's Table: IACP Trend Initiative" performs quantitative research and culls opinion from a broad spectrum of culinary industry professionals.

The association's studies asked culinary professionals how they perceive consumer awareness of a broad spectrum of food items, to rate their experience with them, and to predict the trend worthiness of each item. The results showed that of 60 products, the foremost for food industry professionals included Spain's Cabrales cheese, yerba mate, arepas and annato oil. Among the least likely to foment a future food trend were risotto, couscous and hummus. It also became evident that the hottest food notion is blended cuisine. One step beyond, blended cuisine is popular among chefs and consumers alike, although executed differently by the two groups.

Instead of just combining two cuisine types, chefs tend to create blended dishes by focusing on a specific flavor or ingredient and making a dish around it. Consumers on the other hand, focus on the food concepts. The most frequently blended cuisines are Asian, Mexican and Mediterranean. Further analysis of the studies will continue to be released by the "Tomorrow's Table: IACP Trend Initiative".

The membership of IACP, representing 39 countries, also takes part in comprehensive trend-surveying at the annual international conference Gastronomy: Culture and Cuisine. The annual conferences are a wonderful opportunity for the culinary industry to showcase its products to chefs and culinary professionals.

The International Association of Culinary Professionals attracts the best and the brightest in this field. It is thrilling to be a part of their projects geared toward educating chefs to choose environmentally friendly products. IACP's primary objective is to promote professionalism in the culinary arts and to develop a lively exchange of information among members of the professional food community. The regional and international conferences and publications help accomplish this objective.

The IACP current membership is represented by every possible profession in the culinary universe: teachers, cooking school owners, caterers, writers, chefs, media cooking personalities, editors, publishers, food stylists, food photographers, restaurateurs, leaders of major food corporations and vintners. The association is stronger and its members are more closely united than every before and, with the implementation of a new strategic plan, IACP is truly positioned to shape its course for the decades to come.

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Индивидуальные туры