On day one of Host 2013 in Milan, Italy, Jonathan Doughty FCSI, current chair of FCSI Europe, Africa and Middle East, spoke of a number of key initiatives that he intends to focus on when he assumes the role of president of FCSI Worldwide in January 2014.
Addressing the assembled crowd at the FCSI stand, Doughty spoke of the need to continue to make the whole foodservice industry as well as the Society itself an attractive option for young people around the the world to work in. “We must raise awareness of our profession,” he told the audience. “Our particular industry will only survive and succeed if young people want to become foodservice consultants in the future.”
Doughty also spoke of a desire to lower the average age of FCSI consultants, currently 52, to ensure that young talent see the appeal of becoming a member of a Society that works on “the finest projects around the world”.
Doughty also spoke of the “immense pride” that he has in being a member of FCSI. “Our members work on the very best projects globally. The collective brain power that we have at FCSI is extraordinary. FCSI is a wonderful platform for creative thinking and challenging the norm. I want us to innovate our feedback processes and how we communicate as a Society. It’s so important to us that we’re delivering to our clients and our members.”
Doughty announced that he wanted to look closely at the ways in which the Society operates and is funded, building better, long-term and symbiotic partnerships in the industry from a global perspective and not just on a country by country basis.
Doughty was joined on the stage by Martin Rahmann FCSI, the incoming chair of FCSI Europe, Africa and Middle East. Rahmann reiterated the need for the Society to raise awareness of the innovative and exciting work its members are doing and to market itself effectively, citing both Foodservice Consultant magazine and the recently published Professional Kitchens book as important tools for communicating this. The Professional Kitchens book is available for sale from FCSI EAME’s Sabine Wagner: sabine@fcsi.eu
