In a partnership spanning nine years, Nestlé Nigeria, in collaboration with the Association of Professional Chefs Nigeria, has contributed to the food service industry.

The Guardian reports that Nestlé’s efforts extended to providing wellness education for both experienced and aspiring food handlers in the healthcare sector of the economy, as this initiative marked a significant step towards enhancing the culinary landscape and promoting food safety, ultimately benefiting both consumers and professionals in the field.

International Chefs Day, recognised globally each year on October 20, is a commemoration of culinary professionals and a platform for promoting healthy eating habits. This yearly event was established in 2004, by Dr. Bill Gallagher, a distinguished master chef and former president, World Association of Chefs Societies (Worldchefs).

Business Manager of Nestlé Professional, Funmi Osineye, said, “Today’s event has been great, we are all celebrating the International Chefs Day with a theme ‘Growing Great Chefs’.”

Osineye’s words highlight the growing demand for skilled chefs in Nigeria, as well as the importance of providing young people with the training and support they need to succeed in the industry.

“We have a lot of chefs in Nigeria today. It is interesting to see that this is one industry that people do not look at before but now with the advent of everybody living healthy and of course wanting to stay healthy, it has become a general thing of knowledge sharing and so this event is really grooming the upcoming, I mean the young ones to become those great chefs that we want them to be in the future.

“The theme of this year, growing great chefs is really in line with ensuring that we bring up the young ones and you see that today all the people we have are students from ages seven to about maximum of 12.

“We believe that you have to incorporate those values in them while they are young. This is a time to really bring it, this is a time to really teach them, and this is a time to really form them in that thing that you want them to be in the future, which is, aside from really becoming chefs, it is about healthy living, it is about what you hate and ensuring that you stay healthy,” she noted.

She further stressed that Nestlé partnered with Association of Professional Chefs in Lagos to teach the pupils, telling them their experience, what they need to become a great chef, and how they need to live a healthy lifestyle with key elements like carrots, apples, spinach, potatoes, and the benefits that they will get from eating all these foods and vegetables.

In her take-away message, she noted, “My message today is that, make your food colourful. You know, for every colour you see in any food, it’s really about the nutrients and the value that it’s adding to that food. When you see greens, you know what greens are used for. When you see yellow, like the green pepper, the bell pepper, you know everything adds up, those colours add up to make a healthy meal.

“So, my advocate for Nigerian homes is that, when you are cooking, ensure that a larger portion of your food is meant for vegetables and fruits and the smaller one is for the carbohydrates that we are known for. So, overall, when you are eating, you are eating healthy.”

Also speaking, Adedeji Ayoade, the Nestlé for Healthier Kids desk officer for Ogun State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), emphasised the importance of human skills in the modern world. He noted that the programme is not just about teaching participants how to cook, but also about equipping them with the entrepreneurial skills they need to start their own businesses in the future.

“Today’s programme is a landmark achievement most especially on the lives of our learners, whatever they learn today, it will remain indelible in their minds and this will last a lifetime. just by going by the theme ‘Growing great chef’. Today’s activity is very important as it has to do with human skills, what they are doing today is a lifetime empowerment for the learners to start their own businesses in future. As this programme stands, the notion that we have previously has changed, we are having different views about the profession with the children,” he stated.