It is fair to say that the last two and a half years were a rite of passage for the foodservice industry. As the pandemic raged, the food industry learned to adapt in a variety of ways. Not only did diets change, but people became increasingly conscious of where their food came from and the importance of the food system. Restaurants reconsidered their business models, and wine and beverage programs became a bigger priority than ever before. These changes, some industry experts claim, have ushered in what they are hailing the Golden Age of restaurateurs.
To answer the challenge of advancing professionally within a changed industry, the world’s premiere culinary college, The Culinary Institute of America (CIA), has developed a robust master’s degree program. “We are at a big crossroads in the industry and moving in the right direction is a part of that,” said Robert Tremblay, The CIA’s assistant director of admissions at the New York campus. Designed especially with busy industry professionals in mind, degree options in the graduate program include master’s in sustainable food systems, master’s in food business, and master’s in wine and beverage management. Each program answers a pressing need within the industry.
“Sustainable food systems,” Tremblay said, “is special because it gives an opportunity for changemakers to address some of the top areas challenging the food system right now.” He added that, “At CIA, our slogan is Food is Life and at the same time life is food. People want to impact change. It’s an important piece for the development and success for our future.”
According to Tremblay, while the term food system is broad, this course “encompasses everything. It goes into areas like climate change, the impact of food on our environment and ourselves – the nutrition side of it. But it also goes into areas of equity and how it affects not only the food that’s getting delivered to people and how people are purchasing it, but people that are working in that industry as well as the people that are tied to food in every capacity.”
As an increasing number of establishments and entrepreneurs confront the change wave, many are questioning how they can help change the world through launching their own business or growing the food company they currently work for. For such persons, the food business program could be the ideal fit. This two-year program deals in the first year on “filtering core business skill sets through the lens of food at all times,” said Tremblay.
The second year is divided into a choice of two tracks, one focusing on restaurant development and the other on product development. “So not only are they going to be learning in classes that are focused on areas like marketing, real estate, capitalism, and being able to find and build a business, but they’re also looking at branding strategy, overall restaurant operations, and management,” he detailed.
Answering the growing need for educated business professionals on the wine and beverage end of the industry is the CIA’s master’s in wine and beverage management program. Tremblay explains it “stresses the understanding of the business element, focusing on the distribution and marketing of the product as well as everything that goes into the lifecycle of the bottle, taking it from the vine to the customer and evaluating that whole process in between.”
All three programs have an online format, Tremblay explains, opening new possibilities for the busy professional who desire credentials but would find it difficult to balance the equation of studies plus personal and professional responsibilities. Tremblay said the type of candidates that are attracted to these programs are “people that have professional experience and are looking to grow their careers further and have specific goals in mind.” He added that these classes are taught asynchronously, which allows the students “the flexibility to meet their deadlines over the course of the week as their schedule allows whether it’s at two-thirty in the morning or two in the afternoon.”
The online educational experience is enhanced in each concentration with short in-person residencies. “Each residency is about four to five days in length, so there won’t be a huge time commitment. But they are such a crucial part of the supplemental of the education and also the inter-personal connection of the cohorts,” he explained.
Those enrolled in the food business program will participate in the CIA’s highly regarded Menus of Change conference hosted annually at the New York campus. In their final residency, they are granted the opportunity to pitch their business playbook to industry leaders, receiving ample feedback and networking opportunities. But perhaps the coolest residencies are for those in the wine and beverage management track, which are held in the quintessential place to learn about wine, Napa Valley. While there, students get hands-on learning, participating in wine tastings and getting field experience at world-renowned wineries.
The sustainable food systems residency takes the participants to the San Francisco Bay area. There, Tremblay said, “they will dive into understanding the activism side of food sustainability, how they’re going to implement change in the food system and look at it from the perspective of doing it from grassroots initiatives and also from within an already established business.” He said this helps the students to see the “parallels and differences and to understand those two elements of how to effect change in those arenas.”
While these programs undoubtedly create new opportunities for participants, they also are “changing the narrative and changing where the industry is going,” said Tremblay. “These programs are so topical and so current that they are going to give students a conversation and an arena to build ideas for the future that are going to impart a huge amount of change for the better.”
To learn more about The Culinary Institute of America’s master’s degree program, please visit their website
