"We are expecting about 500 professionals at HospitalityWorld this year"

As HospitalityWorld 2009 is all set to roll at Bengaluru from June 25 - 27, corporate executive chef for Mahindra Holidays and secretary general of Indian Federation of Culinary Association (IFCA), Chef P Soundararajan has a lot on his plate as IFCA is organising the Chef Lounge at the trade show. He gives a brief preview what is in store for this year. By EH Staff

Chef P Soundararajan

What are the new initiatives that the association will be undertaking?

Apart from systematising the association's operations we are also looking at developing a certification programme for the chefs. We are also considering bringing in internationally acclaimed chefs for a 'train the trainer' programme, this will be over and above the other culinary competitions and workshops that we intends to organise.

What are IFCA's plans for the year ahead?

Our major event this year will be the fourth National Congress. This large scale biennial event will held in November. In addition, we are also planning some culinary workshops for the chefs.

How many members does the regional chapter, South India Culinary Association (SICA), currently have and what measures are you taking to attract new members?

Currently we have 3000 members. We are planning to have lounges in all the major exhibitions. The Chef's Lounge at AAHAR Delhi was a huge success and the tradition began with HospitalityWorld 2008 at Bengaluru. We are also planning to have a lounge at the AAHAR 2009 to be held in Chennai in August 2009 and subsequently during the Hospitality exhibition in Hyderabad in November 2009. The idea behind the lounge is to promote membership. We are planning to start a separate wing for women chefs to promote more women to join.

What advantages do members of the forum have?

As a member of SICA, you automatically become a member of IFCA and also the World Association of Chefs Societies providing chefs an opportunity to exchange ideas, learn from others. Chefs also have a chance to be certified by IFCA through their Comprehensive Certification Program for professional chefs and it is a great privilege to gain the IFCA certificate, which is recognised by World Association of Chefs Societies. They also have the opportunity to compete in various culinary competitions throughout the year.

What can visiting chefs expect from this year's chef lounge at Hospitality World Bengaluru?

We are expecting more participation and we intend to build more on interaction, sharing of knowledge, idea, friendship, and discussion with the chef fraternity. I am sure the exhibition itself will provide them a great opportunity to see new ideas and innovations.

The response during the last year was really good and, more than that, we created a new tradition. This year we are expecting about 500 professionals including senior chefs, F&B managers, culinary educators, hotel management students, restaurant owners to come visit the exhibition.