Pre-made dishes are on fire, chefs usher in a new career development track

  reading tips

  In recent years, with the hot development of "home economy" and "one-person meal", pre-made dishes have gradually entered the catering market.

In response to the concern that the prefabricated vegetable market constitutes a career crisis for chefs, many senior industry insiders said that the development of prefabricated dishes is conducive to extending the demand chain for catering talents and improving the standardization level of chef skills. The new track of prefabricated dishes will also provide migrant workers. many employment opportunities.

  In recent years, with the hot development of "home economy" and "one-person meal", pre-made dishes have gradually entered the catering market, and some consumers who call themselves "cooking whites" can also use it to make a delicious dish.

Will the popularity of pre-cooked dishes cause a career crisis for chefs?

How should chefs face the opportunities and challenges it brings?

The journalist made an interview about this.

  Pre-made dishes are no strangers to chefs

  Pour the ingredients in the vacuum package into the pot, heat and stir fry until the soup boils, turn to medium and low heat, only 2 to 3 minutes, a pot of steaming delicious crayfish is freshly baked.

There is no need to buy, wash, and prepare vegetables by yourself, and some dishes do not even need to calculate the seasoning ratio. Pre-made vegetable bags allow consumers to make a delicious meal in a short time.

  According to the "2021-2022 China Prefabricated Vegetable Industry Research Report", prefabricated vegetables are prepared by using modern standardized assembly operations, preparatory work for the raw materials of the dishes, simplified production steps, hygienic and scientific packaging, and then heated or steamed. Convenience dishes that can be eaten directly.

According to the degree of deep processing and convenience of eating, pre-made dishes can also be divided into ready-to-eat food, ready-to-heat food, ready-to-cook food, ready-to-cook food and other types.

  Zhang Dahai, executive deputy secretary-general of the China Cuisine Association, introduced to reporters that pre-made dishes require professionals to conduct professional analysis on the raw materials of various dishes through food industry methods, and use different production methods to conduct targeted research and development according to the different characteristics of the ingredients. Control the content and ratio of oil, salt, sugar and various nutrients, and centralize production through factories or central kitchens, scientifically package and maintain a commercial aseptic environment for dishes.

  Mai Shenghong, a senior chef who has been cooking Cantonese cuisine for 30 years and has served as the head chef of a famous restaurant and head of a catering company, told reporters that for the chef group, pre-made dishes are not new.

He said: "The fish-skin dumplings that Cantonese people usually eat and the big pot vegetables eaten during the New Year and festivals all meet the definition of pre-made dishes, but now the concept of pre-made dishes is more clear, the classification is more accurate, the production process is more complete, standardized, The level of standardization is also constantly improving, which is both an opportunity and a challenge for the chef group.”

  Pre-made dishes and traditional cooking also put forward different operational requirements for chefs. Mai Shenghong explained to reporters by taking "barrel oil chicken" as an example: before making a "barrel oil chicken", purchasing, washing vegetables, cooking, placing The kitchen is responsible for the whole process of dishes, and the pre-cooking team not only needs the chef to control the taste, but also needs the blessing of talents with knowledge of chemistry and nutrition.

  Pre-made dishes are also a new track for the chef industry

  The "2022 Ready-to-eat Food Consumption Trend Report" based on Jingdong's consumption situation believes that consumers' demand for "efficient kitchens" and the impact of the epidemic will significantly increase the consumption demand for pre-made dishes.

Compared with 2019, in 2021, the number of prefabricated vegetable brands will increase by 1.5 times, and the number of prefabricated vegetable products will increase by 2.5 times.

  In the context of the rapid development of the prefabricated vegetable market, many places across the country have successively issued relevant policies for the development of the prefabricated vegetable industry.

In late March this year, China's first provincial-level prefabricated vegetable industry policy "Ten Measures to Accelerate the High-Quality Development of Guangdong's Prefabricated Vegetable Industry" was released in Guangdong.

Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province released a three-year action plan for the development of the central kitchen (prefabricated vegetable) industry. In the next 3 to 5 years, 100 demonstration enterprises of prefabricated dishes will be cultivated, and the output value of the whole industry chain will reach 100 billion yuan.

Shandong proposed to arrange a special fund of 5 million yuan to hold an exclusive week of pre-made dishes.

  When the pre-prepared vegetable industry is widely optimistic and local governments begin to step up the formulation of relevant policies, there are also some voices who worry that the pre-prepared vegetable market will squeeze the employment space of some chefs, thus triggering a career crisis for the chef group.

  "In fact, the development of pre-made dishes has limited impact on employment in the catering industry, and to a certain extent, it can also drive employment development." Zhang Dahai said that not all catering formats need chefs, and pre-made dishes can help improve the operational efficiency of enterprises and improve income.

Secondly, the standardization of catering brought by pre-made dishes requires enterprises to increase investment in research and development, and form a professional team including chefs, technicians, food processing and production and other talents.

  Feng Caimin, Dean of Shunde Vocational and Technical College Culinary Institute, which is one of the prefabricated food talent training bases in Shunde, Guangdong, said that the chef industry is a popular industry for migrant workers. .

"Traditional chef training mainly includes seven positions: water table, lotus, cutting board, stove, serving food, dim sum, and roasting meat, which are basically concentrated in the space of the kitchen." He mentioned that the talents needed by the prefabricated vegetable industry are It extends from the 7 major positions to the entire chain of the industry, including food research and development, production, processing, quality supervision, warehousing, cold chain, logistics, marketing and other links.

  Feng Caimin believes that pre-made dishes are a new track for chefs, and at the same time, they can boost local cuisine to the whole of China and even the world.

The hot new market for pre-made vegetables can also provide more employment opportunities for migrant workers. Whether it is food research and development or live broadcast sales, job seekers can find suitable positions according to their own advantages and characteristics.

The training of pre-cooked talents is to change the skills of chefs from experience to science, and to change the chef's "invisibility" into "invisibility" through quantification, systematization, and standardization of operations.

  Chef is an important factor in the development of dishes

  In February this year, the "Pre-made Vegetable Consumption Survey Report" issued by the Jiangsu Provincial Consumer Rights Protection Committee pointed out that consumers have some troubles when buying pre-made vegetables. The identification is not detailed and so on.

  In this regard, Mai Shenghong believes that chefs play an important role in the research and development of dishes. "The high-quality development of the prefabricated food industry is inseparable from chefs, especially prefabricated dishes that sell famous local dishes. Once the taste of prefabricated dishes reaches the If it is not as good as it should be, it will directly affect the signature of local cuisine.”

  He further analyzed and pointed out that the master-apprentice system of traditional cooking relies on the master's hands-on teaching and the apprentice's immersion in learning, while the future chef talent training in the prepared food industry will focus on scientific and standardization. Therefore, it is necessary to speed up the exploration and establishment of a talent training system for the prepared food industry.

"The development of prepared dishes requires chefs not only to be proficient in traditional cooking skills, but also to pay more attention to their professional basic theories such as nutrition and food hygiene." Mai Shenghong said.

  At present, Guangdong Province is exploring to include the talent training of the prefabricated food industry into the "Cantonese Cuisine Master" project, relying on the "Cantonese Cuisine Master" project to cultivate talents in the prefabricated food industry, and highlight the characteristics of Cantonese food to cultivate and develop the prefabricated food industry.

Encourage "Cantonese Cuisine Master" star chefs to participate in the development and promotion of pre-made dishes, and implement the Guangdong pre-made food seller training project.

Explore the "craftsmanship" of Cantonese chefs to become "craftsmanship", so that Cantonese pre-made dishes can enter thousands of households.

  "In recent years, 23 students who have graduated from the major of culinary technology and nutrition have been employed in product research and development, production management, business services and other positions in prefabricated vegetable enterprises." According to Feng Caimin, dean of the Culinary Institute of Shunde Vocational and Technical College, the college has already cooperated with prefabricated vegetable companies. Build a normalized cooperation mechanism, relying on the needs of the industry and enterprises, cultivate corresponding talents in the pre-prepared food industry, integrate food research and development, production management, and marketing into teaching, and use advanced flavors such as electronic tongues and electronic noses adopted by enterprises in teaching. Evaluate technology to help pre-cooked food talent training and training base construction.