SA hospitality alliance aims to attract and train apprentice chefs
An alliance between South Australia’s hospitality heavyweights aims to tackle the skills shortage that could cripple the industry.
The Australian Hotels Association, leading pub owners and training provider Adelaide Institute of Hospitality have all joined forces to find ways to attract and train apprentice chefs.
Backed by government, the alliance has launched an initiative providing 200 preliminary opportunities for aspiring chefs. Participants will explore restaurant kitchens across South Australia, partake in cheese tours, and engage in pizza-making exercises. Subsequently, a select 45 will be chosen for chef apprenticeships.
Also in the alliance are Hurley Group, RD Jones, and the Palmer Hospitality Group, which together employ thousands of staff across SA. The state government, Career Employment Group and Jobs Australia are on the steering committee.
The alliance comes as SA restaurants are forced to close during the week due to lack of trained staff – an issue prevalent since COVID-19 decimated the industry.
AIH manager Ben Sharp who has worked in kitchens including The Manse Restaurant and Mount Lofty House said “Everyone has been complaining about shortages for a long time and we have put a line in the sand, it’s not going to be easy but we are going to have a red-hot crack at it.
“If you come from America, why would you come to South Australia? You go to Queensland for the theme parks, New South Wales for the bridge and opera house, Victoria for the sport and SA is the jewel in the crown for food and wine tourism,” Sharp said.
“We should be leaning on that but we don’t have the staff to be able to grow – we have the best wine in Australia and we have the best produce, we just don’t have the people to put it onto the plate.”
The new alliance will hopefully address these issues and stop the poaching of staff.
“There has been a lot of poaching going on with chefs, you get a good chef and that chef will get offered more money and bang, they will go there,” Sharp said.
It is hoped that the new program will create enough talent to mitigate against this.
Success story trainee Alex Heeney won a spot through the program and works in the commercial kitchen at Parafield Airport.
Heeney has worked closely with a tight kitchen and has not only found a new family, but is also learning invaluable skills.
He is a poster boy for the alliance, with Australian Hotels Association SA chief executive officer Anna Moeller expecting to attract apprentices and create long-term careers in cookery “that the industry so urgently needs”.
“Skills shortages are one of the biggest issues our hotel members are facing today and, in particular, the chronic shortage of cooks and chefs,” Moeller said.
RD Jones Group Human Resources manager Kate Harris said RD’s venues employed about 450 staff and are constantly training new people in the kitchen.
However, finding good staff has been an issue.
“We are hoping this will help with attracting people to the industry and hope it will support them to stay in the industry,” Harris said.
Jonathan Jackson, 28th September 2023
