Oct. 5, 2009 (Business Wire) -- Sixteen professional chefs from across the country, members of an elite new training program created by The Culinary Institute of America (CIA) and Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE: HRL), will gather at the CIA’s Hyde Park campus on the banks of the Hudson River on Oct. 20, 21 and 22, for the third session of the Culinary Enrichment and Innovation Program (CEIP). The focus for this meeting is innovation and leadership, and for three days the chefs will role play, discuss and interact with recognized industry leaders. Steve Ells, founder, chairman and co-chief executive officer of Chipotle Mexican Grill, will be one of the program’s guest academics. His dialogue will be personal, with the small class size allowing for extensive interaction. Joining him will be senior chef instructors from the CIA as well as Steve Binder, group vice president, Refrigerated Foods, Hormel Foods. All will bring their real-life experiences of leadership and innovation to the classroom for roundtable discussions.
CEIP is an 18-month program for chefs who have been recognized as future culinary leaders. Participants attend four intense three-day sessions at the CIA, each with a different focus. The overarching mission for the entire program (www.ceipinfo.com) is to identify, practice and master the skills for leadership and innovation.
CEIP was initially created because Hormel Foods sought to invest in the future of the culinary industry, explains Dennis Goettsch, vice president of marketing for the foodservice division of Hormel Foods Corporation, and co-founder of the program.
Goettsch approached Dr. Victor Gielisse, Certified Master Chef (C.M.C.) and associate vice president of the CIA, and Ron DeSantis, C.M.C. and project director of CIA Consulting, to discuss the creation of a program that would focus on leadership, innovation and entrepreneurship, the core values of Hormel Foods. Gielisse and DeSantis confirmed that no such program had previously existed in the industry. Hormel Foods pledged to sponsor the creation of the curriculum and the tuition for each student accepted into the program. Informal research was conducted to measure industry interest and support, and Gielisse and DeSantis created the curriculum in partnership with Hormel Foods.
The four academic areas of focus are Flavor Dynamics and Flavor Exploration, Contemporary Approach to Health and Wellness, Leadership and Innovation Strategies, and Innovative Menu Development for Profitable Operations. Each module is led by a CIA-based C.M.C. (there are only 60 such chefs in the country) and guest speakers from the culinary world. Members of the inaugural CEIP class, who began their study in the fall of 2008, will graduate in April of 2010 with advanced accreditation from the CIA.
