National Culinary Review

CERTIFICATION

Chefpertise: A Connection to ACF Certified Chefs

By Alina Cooper, Certification Manager America’s interest in food is shaping lives and influencing media. Food is a hot topic, whether it’s about nutrition, the latest cuisine, or where and how it is grown. Media outlets are clamoring for experts in the industry to bring relevance to their stories.

• Another chef is an avid fisherman, spending much of his free time on his boat, fishing, and often cooking fresh-caught seafood.

• Other chefs are active in their communities or have interesting hobbies or work history, including: cheesemaker/raises chickens; Boston Marathon qualifier; semiprofessional mountain biker; magician; and former chef for the Grateful Dead.

Chefs are multifaceted people, with passions and talents beyond the kitchen, and journalists are often interested in the human side of the story, not just accomplishments on a professional level. The American Culinary Federation’s (ACF) Chefpertise Guide is a new tool to help bridge the gap between the media and culinary professionals.

Conduct your own “Marketing Asset Audit.” Look locally and see where your expertise and/or special interests might bridge into the wide range of media outlets, such as radio, television, print and web. To illustrate how an asset audit can be conducted, note how Kimberly Brock-Brown, CEPC®, CCA™, AAC, executive chef at Trident Medical Center, Charleston, S.C., delineates her culinary experience and her personal story, interests and hobbies.

The guide highlights certified chefs and their culinary specialties. It is available on ACF’s website as a searchable reference and used by the media when seeking expert sources for interviews, TV appearances and cooking demonstrations, as well as by those in search of qualified chefs for community initiatives and educational events. For example, a recent media match was made for two ACF chefs from Louisiana and Minnesota who specialize in molecular gastronomy with a reporter from a national magazine. The connection was made using the Chefpertise Guide.

So, how can Chefpertise help you? At the most basic level, it can help you make connections that will propel your awareness and potentially enhance your career. In marketing, great value is placed on top-of-mind awareness. To increase that awareness level, one simply needs to be seen or heard more often. With food shows on every channel and the population of foodies and bloggers exploding, chefs are household names and cooking is in vogue. Chefs should understand the importance of their image and know how to raise their profile in a desirable way.

CULINARY EXPERIENCE
Business owner:
• Wholesale specialty foods distributing
company, 2001

• Culinary Concepts, LLC, 2009

Certified Executive Pastry Chef (CEPC®)

Culinary-arts adjunct instructor

The more often ACF certified chefs are profiled in the media to promote the culinary profession, the more mainstream ACF will become to those inside and outside the industry.

PERSONAL STORY, INTERESTS First African-American female inducted into the AAC Reads for pleasure Travels Devoted mother

Passions and interests outside the kitchen will also contribute to the value of Chefpertise connections. Consider these facts about ACF certified chefs: • One chef is an astronomy fan. He enjoys stargazing from rooftops or in the countryside with his highly sophisticated, programmable, observatory-grade telescope.

View the Chefpertise Guide at www.acfchefs. org/ChefpertiseGuide. All chefs who hold the Certified Chef de Cuisine® designation or higher are invited to apply year-round to be featured. Visit ACF’s website to download the application. And remember, keep your employment information updated with ACF so the guide can remain current.

POTENTIAL MEDIA OPPORTUNI TIES/OUTLETS
Local TV, magazines,
Women Talk Radio
Minority Business
Women speaker
Food competitions/
demonstrations/
blogger