Industry Competition Turns up the Heat on Trainee Skills

21 July 2015

Industry Competition Turns up the Heat on Trainee Skills

Trainee chefs and restaurant service staff will feel the heat in the City & Guilds New Zealand Team Skills competition, one of New Zealand’s premier hospitality industry competitions.

Eight teams from industry training establishments and hotels will go head to head on Sunday, 2nd August to cook and serve six plates of a three course meal to the panel of judges and guests.

The teams are from Novotel and Ibis, Culinary Institute of New Zealand, Cornell Institute, Sky City, Manukau Institute of Technology, Western Institute of Technology at Taranaki, NZ Defence Force Catering School and Cook Islands Trade & Training Institute. The competitors must have no more than 4000 hours work experience.

The team of judges, led by Mark Wylie, General Manager, Cater Plus include Des Harris - Executive Chef, Clooney; Alan Brown - Chef/Tutor at AUT; Chetan Pangam - Executive Chef at Copthorne Hotel, Wellington; John Snowball - F&B Manager at Spotless, Dunedin; Birgit Ehlers-Hoeps - World Skills Trainer and Tony Kessler - Restaurant Service Tutor at Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology.

Des Harris said this competition is very important because it gives trainees a better understanding of what is required to succeed either as a chef or as a restaurant service expert.

“Students can get an early glimpse of how exciting the industry can be and how their focus, discipline and professionalism can be rewarded in a structured team environment. It also gives students the opportunity to meet some of the industry veterans and it is important for us to get involved to help inspire and encourage the new talent coming into the industry.

“On the day, I will be looking for an enthusiastic, accurate display of skills. The last competition I judged resulted in me spotting and hiring a great young person,” said Des.

Defending their title, Team Western Institute of Technology at Taranaki (WITT) will be pulling out all the stops to deliver the winning performance again this year. WITT’s Faculty Leader - Hospitality, Angela Ferguson, said winning the competition last year was phenomenal.

“It brought a great sense of pride to both the competitors and the trainers. After practicing and practicing, to get a win was truly wonderful. It was a great learning curve for the team and the fabulous prize package really helped with the expense that comes with entering these prestige competitions,” said Angela.

The City & Guilds New Zealand Team Skills winner is the team which retains the most marks overall from the three categories: kitchen work, tasting of the dishes and all elements of the restaurant service.

The winning team will be awarded the Training Team of the Year trophy and a prize package valued at over $7000. Each of the three team members will receive $1000 cash, FÖRJE cookware valued at over $400 and a gift box of Barker’s products. The training establishment will receive $1000 Bidvest voucher, a $500 voucher from Choice Catering Equipment Ltd and the Team Manager will receive $1000 cash and a selection of food books valued at over $500.

City & Guilds New Zealand Team Skills is sponsored by Bidvest, vegetables.co.nz, Puhoi Valley, Smart Choice, Choice Catering Equipment, Cervena, Barkers Professional and Epicurean Cookbooks and supported by Culinary Arts Development Trust.

The event will be MC’d by Derek Robertson from Profile Products.

Prize giving will be held on Sunday 2nd August at the conclusion of the event, at the Logan Campbell Centre.

Spectators are welcome at the competition and entry is free.

WHAT: New Zealand Team Skills 2015

WHEN: 2nd August 2015 AT 10:00

WHERE: Logan Campbell Centre, ASB Showground’s, Great South Rd, Greenlane, Auckland

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