Run, Young Chef!
Contemporary young chefs are rigorous, they respect tradition, they are committed to inheritance, and the culinary skills of Chinese food are YYDS in their hearts.
Contemporary young chefs are flamboyant, their maverick and imaginative, so that they are never confined to a certain space, vast world, unlimited creativity, and constantly bring different surprises to diners.
Contemporary young chefs are full of ambitions, their dreams not only burn in the back kitchen, but also set sail on a more gorgeous stage, and well-known events have become the second platform for them to show their style.
The "4th Meiji Fresh Young Chef Cooking Competition" sponsored by Nestlé Professional Catering came to a successful conclusion. Themed "Fresh New Forces", this is a culinary competition organised by Nestlé Professional Catering for young chefs aged 18-35. The competition officially kicked off in April this year, and after fierce competitions in the audition, city competition, regional competition and finals, a new generation of young chefs and new stars rose in the competition.
Glued to the finals, caterers pay the most attention to these two points
The finals scene is destined to be very "fragrant". For such a large-scale professional event, the foodie's eyes see the chef and the dish; while the catering person's eye pays more attention to the industry meaning behind the winning dish.
The strongest dark horse among young chefs
According to the format, the finals will be contested by 16 players, divided into 4 groups. Due to age restrictions, many young chefs are participating in major professional competitions for the first time. With the double blessing of the event platform and media reports, they became famous in one battle.
Wang Xuesong, Tang Yong and Ye Linhui won the first, second and third places respectively, and formed the "Meiji Tiantuan" C debut, of which the champion Wang Xuesong won the first prize provided by Nestlé Professional Catering 100,000 yuan.
Champion Wang Xuesong's pepper and linen secret snowflake beef, adhering to the personal theme of "inheritance is not old, innovation does not forget the original", presents a perfect color, aroma, taste and shape.
The other contestants also demonstrated the level of contemporary young chefs at a high level, and the competition was intense and exciting.
Trend dry goods in the master's review
Four groups of players formed a team with 4 senior industry leaders, and the big coffee "team leader" and the team jointly produced innovative dishes. When the wisdom and skill of the big coffee collide with the passion and inspiration of the young chefs, sparks splash on the scene.
The four masters personally went to the battle, on-site guidance, from the aspects of dish innovation and cooking skills, to bring everyone a double feast of sight and taste.
Team works display
Mr. Zhou Yuanchang, Vice Chairman of the Celebrity Chef Professional Committee of the World Federation of Restaurants, commented on the spot
The decisive guidance given by the big coffee for the team in the finals, as well as the on-site professional jury's order review of the dishes, the hidden "dry goods" are also the focus of industry insiders.
Looking back at the contest, this "hidden" information is worth mining
The Nestlé Professional Catering Beauty Fresh Cooking Competition has been held since 2016 and is the fourth edition this year. As a platform for Nestlé's professional catering to explore and export catering trends, insights and summaries of changes in consumer demand, the event has become an annual event with representative and popularity in the industry.
This year, Nestlé's professional catering competition is locked in the group of young chefs aged 18-35, and the main focus of ingredients extends from traditional ingredients to emerging plant-based meat, the purpose of which is obvious, one is to tap the new forces in the field of chefs, and the other is to explore the innovation of the catering industry through the perspective of young people. The admission of "new" caterers loads the application of innovative ingredients, and through this year's event, caterers can also dig into these "hidden" information with far-reaching significance.
1. Inspiration mechanism
In this competition, the organizers will focus on the application of plant meat exploration. From the audition to the final, many contestants have broken people's inherent impressions of plant meat and presented wonderful creative works. In the finals, the team, supported by the strength of senior mentors, further innovated the application of plant meat.
The competition is a dish made from plant-based meat products such as vegetarian beef
In addition to plant meat, it is also a major attraction of the competition for outstanding players from different regions to collide their minds and give more ingredients a new interpretation. Explore emerging ingredients and redo traditional ingredients, the creative inspiration of these young chefs may trigger the inspiration of more people.
2. Trend direction
Plant-based meat has been a hot spot in the catering industry in the past two years.
According to the "Analysis Report on the Development Dynamics and Investment Prospects of China's Plant-based Industry from 2022 to 2028" released by Zhiyan Consulting, the plant-based market has been promoted from the initial exploration period. The global plant-based market value reached $18.5 billion in 2019 and is expected to reach $35.5 billion in 2024.
The emerging food trend of health, novelty and creativity has already blown, which will be one of the main winds in the restaurant industry in the next few years. The plant meat products used in the competition are provided by Nestlé Jia Zhi Cuisine, in the past two years, with the rapid rise of the plant meat market, Nestlé Jia Zhi Cuisine has also begun to accelerate the layout, and now at the product level, it has covered plant beef minced, plant pork minced, vegetarian meat shredded, vegetarian steak, vegetarian tuna and other products to meet the different needs of Chinese and Western cuisine.
Mr. Sun Siqin, Deputy Director of Professional Catering Food Business at Nestlé Greater China
The "2021 Chinese Catering Industry Report" (hereinafter referred to as the report) that many catering people are concerned about was also officially released at the finals. On the basis of summarizing the characteristics of Chinese food consumption and development, the report makes forward-looking predictions on the trend trend of Chinese food.
Changes in consumer groups
The post-90s generation has become the backbone of consumption. Catering to the consumer demands of young people, on the basis of the pursuit of taste, future catering should pay more attention to "beauty is justice", "community sharing", "tradition and fashion", "entertainment first", "healthy diet", "seeking new things", etc., with innovative products and innovative experiences to drive the long-term growth of the brand.
Restaurant companies open the "matrix" play
More and more restaurant companies have embarked on the road of brand diversification, and seek more profit growth points by creating a sub-brand layout brand matrix to lay out a corporate ecology with higher risk resistance.
The industry ushered in the capital boom
According to the report data, as of August 2021, there were 86 investment and financing incidents in the catering industry, and the amount of investment and financing reached 43.91 billion yuan, more than double that of 2020. Capital multi-dimensional empowerment of catering enterprises iterative upgrading, catering enterprises actively embrace capital, will become a major source of power for the growth of the industry.
Vent pre-made dishes from the B-end to the C-end
Under the combined effect of the "lazy house economy" and the epidemic, prefabricated dishes have ushered in the wind outlet, from the B-end to the C-end. The report predicts that in the next few years, there is still a huge market potential for prepared dishes on both the B-end and the C-end.
3. Summarize the direction of efforts
Through the competition and the "2021 Chinese Catering Industry Report", we see a young market with heritage and innovation, and N directions for future efforts.
Including emerging ingredients, innovation and creativity around new things have become a major traffic entrance to the catering industry;
The direction of food innovation will add more new keywords around the demands of young people, such as health, appearance, entertainment, etc.;
·Ingenuity inheritance and novel ideas are not contrary to each other, and the two go hand in hand to continue to promote the progress of the catering industry.
More exciting event information, more detailed report content, here
For more information about the event, download the full version of the "2021 Chinese Catering Industry Report", please enter the Nestlé Professional Catering Public Account Mini Program.
The catering industry not only needs the support of the new consumption force, but also needs the blessing of the new chef team. Due to the characteristics of young people, young chefs will become the main supporting force for the innovative development of catering in the future.
I hope that through more professional events and more development platforms, young chefs can firmly strive for the direction, and can really let go of their dreams, burn passion, achieve self-achievement, and create value.
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