CieCAS has been established as provider of Culinary Education Here is an interview with our founder and managing director, Dr. Sacha Stöcklin:
Tell us a bit about yourself. How did you begin and develop your career?
I started my career with the Swiss vocational and professional education and training system. I worked in an insurance company while studying commerce. Soon after, I went to the United States for a bachelor’s degree in hotel, restaurant, and resort management. I have been living in China since 2008.
I have worked in the hospitality industry and education for 25 years. While working full-time, I continuously studied to develop my career. It took me 5 years to obtain my MBA. It took me 6 years to get my doctorate degree in education.
I follow the principles of always trying to implement what I learn into my work and my teaching. This supports the learning of students and helps to develop my business. I believe this is why I was promoted many times in my educational career: from instructor, to program manager, to dean, and then to campus director.
Before I started the Culinary Education in China project with CieCAS at the end of 2017, I was the director of the China campus for Les Roches International Hotel Management School. This was in collaboration with the Jin Jiang Hotels Group. It was called Les Roches Jin Jiang or, in Chinese, Jin Jiang Les Roches as it was a 50:50 joint-venture.
What is the significance of CieCAS and what are its core objectives regarding F&B and Culinary Education?
CieCAS stands for the Center of innovative & entrepreneurial Culinary Arts + Services. In providing Culinary Education in China, we have:
Two Main Purposes:
Purpose 1: Firstly, we aim to give Chinese food and beverage professionals access to the quality Swiss education system to learn best practices. These practices should become skills, making them more innovative and entrepreneurial. Consequently, this led to the name CieCAS. Our goal is to help them succeed in life and business.
Purpose 2: Additionally, we want people from around the world to understand and appreciate Chinese food culture. Chinese food is extremely diverse and unique. What we know in the West is only a small fraction of what truly exists in China.
What professional Food & Beverage and Culinary Education programs do you offer to the Chinese community?
First, let me explain that we have F&B service and culinary programs (or in technical terms: front of the house and back of the house programs).
The service programs are designed to help people develop professionally in taking care of guests and managing the dining area environment. This involves more than just bringing food to tables and clearing it. It’s about adopting a holistic mindset that includes good personal grooming and hygiene, ensuring the entire property is clean, including bathrooms, polished glasses, and of course, providing guests with a pleasant experience by learning technical service skills, paying attention to their needs, and making recommendations of specialties in regards to beverages and food.
How about the culinary side?
On the Culinary Education in China side, we offer a program for kitchen newbies and chefs who want to be trainers. This program collaborates with Global Swiss Learning (GSL). GSL provides a fantastic online learning platform, offering working people flexibility to learn and implement GSL content. On this platform, you will find videos, texts, explanations, and quizzes for profound product knowledge. This includes nutrition, cooking methods, and techniques.
The program provides deep chef knowledge and application. This knowledge needs to be absorbed and practiced. Thus, this is where CieCAS comes in. CieCAS ensures people understand the online learning content and provides further explanations where required. Additionally, it ensures the correct application of the learning content into practice by providing a workshop that includes a practical examination.
CieCAS supports training participants in absorbing the excellent teaching content of GSL. GSL’s teaching content stands out because it was created by the Swiss VPET, known as the dual education system. Members of the Swiss Chefs Association (SCA) review all the training materials. The SCA, established over 100 years ago, is responsible for the education of all chefs in Switzerland through the Swiss apprenticeship program.
We teach a master class series designed for experienced chefs to get new ideas on improving their menus at their restaurants or workplaces. Sometimes, chefs need more inspiration, and these short one or two-day programs provide exactly that. They offer ideas on how to use certain products in recipes and adapt them to different restaurant themes and styles, as well as to various tastes. Our investor Shinho, one of the largest food condiment suppliers, inspires these programs. CieCAS supports Shinho with recipe and dish development. Shinho also greatly supports the Michelin Guide in China, having excellent connections with many top chefs in the industry. Our chefs and industry expert chefs serve as the master trainers of this series.
How did your international programs for Culinary Education in China originate, and what do they aim to achieve?
Our international program ideas for Culinary Education in China originated during a conversation with Rene Bachmann from the China Foods Alliance in Switzerland. I wanted to create a program for people outside of China to learn more about Chinese food cultures. CieCAS is in Shanghai, one of the best cities in the world for food culture. In Shanghai, you can experience all the different regions of China and their specialties. You can find foods from around the world in China.
The China Foods Association and CieCAS aim to educate people and expose them to quality Chinese food. In the West, many believe that Chinese food is just quick food and often label it as Fast Food. This misconception is completely wrong; people outside of China usually have only a fraction of knowledge about Chinese food. They often haven’t heard about the 8 great traditions of Chinese food. We are changing this perception with our programs on CieCAS International.
