Teaching it how it is

Inside Track by Peter Martin The pub and restaurant market has an image problem – and it starts in the country's catering colleges. It is easy to have a go at the industry's educational establishments, and there is a long history of side-swipes from operators about the quality of students being produced and the level and relevance of their skills. But the problem now seems more fundamental than that, and it was highlighted for me last week at the Careers in Foodservice seminar at the Food & Drink Expo in Birmingham. It is always good to speak to students to find out first hand their aspirations and attitudes – and there was no doubting their enthusiasm and interest, to judge by the questions fired at me after my presentation. But what seems missing is an understanding of the market of work that they will soon be entering, the new structure of that industry, the new concepts and consumer trends and the exciting operators, their potential employers, now shaping what is a dynamic, growing eating-out sector. It was hard to find anyone in the audience that knew of Nando's or Wagamama, for example, or anyone who had heard of "fast casual" dining. The image of the industry most had was one at least 10 years out of date, where hotels and fine dining were the pinnacle of any career, other than perhaps running your own restaurant. It is easy to apportion blame, but the truth is that everyone involved in the business has to bear some responsibility for this lack of basic understanding of the world outside the classroom. Getting students out into restaurants, bars and pubs and out onto the "branded" High Street for more of their time might be an answer. There is another basic issue. Educational establishments are still largely about teaching youngsters how to prepare and serve food and drink. But that, these days, is just a part of what the business is about. It is just as much about creating an experience, fun, entertainment and simply giving people a good time. Where is that on the syllabus? Perhaps what we really need to do is to start encouraging students to start thinking more like consumers than caterers.