MarketScale Food & Beverage 01/28/19: Molding the Chefs of the 21st Century

Today’s episode of the MarketScale Food & Beverage Podcast Show looks at the next generation of success within the industry, both how’s leading that success and how to get find success from a marketing perspective. We’re getting insight from a powerful marketing thought leader, a self proclaimed leading French Fry historian, who’ll break down his 6 recipes for restaurant marketing success. We’ll also be previewing the Young Chef Olympiad happening this week in India, one of the industry’s most well-renowned and path-carving events for aspiring industry professionals, and why it’s so crucial in today’s climate of labor shortage among chefs.

TAKE IT FROM THE FRY GUY, THESE ARE YOUR 6 RECIPES FOR RESTAURANT MARKETING SUCCESS

For our first feature we sat down with Rev Ciancio, director of industry insights at Yext, a Senior Marketing Executive & Brand Evangelist, and a real ear-to-the-ground influencer on 21st century trends within Food & Beverage. He also operates the most popular fries-focused account on Instagram, Fun with Fries, with over 150K followers.

Ciancio came on the podcast this time around to give more insight on his recent free e-book, 6 Recipes for Restaurant Marketing Success. For today’s restaurant, staying ahead of marketing trends is essential to not only thrive but survive in an often over-saturated market. Rev knows his way around how to brand yourself for success in the industry, and breaks down the six big hitters: Map Packs, Reviews, Schema, Location Pages, Influencer Marketing and Social Media.

BATTLING CHEF SHORTAGES WITH THE YOUNG CHEF OLYMPIAD

The Young Chef Olympiad is a relatively new global competition, founded in 2015 by Dr. Suborno Bose, Co-chairman and CEO of the International Hospitality Council, that aims to craft the next generation of chefs around the world. With over 60 countries represented every year, judged by esteemed chefs, the young chefs compete for glory, $10,000 USD, and the chance to stand out as a leader within their industry.

On today’s podcast, MarketScale Host Sean Heath spoke with Founder and Director of Kitchen CUT, John Wood, a renowned Michelin starred Executive Chef and one of the hosts for 2019’s Young Chef Olympiad. Wood sees the Olympiad as a cure to a growing symptom in the industry: a lack of trained, inspired chefs.

“There is a huge chef shortage, globally. Whether it’s in the U.S., the U.K., Southeast Asia, it is really tough out there to find really good, quality chefs. That is good, if you are a chef, because you’re always going to be in demand, and you’re always going to be employed. But, it’s tough for restauranteurs and hoteliers, and people that are setting up restaurants to find good, quality chefs,” Wood said.

Heath and Wood discuss how childhood can influence a chef’s style and skills, a few of the challenges that these young chefs will face over several rounds of competition, and how these competitions can help prepare a young cook for the reality of being a great chef.