Students from Baden-Württemberg serve the teams' menus to the IKA guests. Photo: IKA/Culinary Olympics
Catering trainees from the four state vocational schools for the hotel and catering industry in Baden-Württemberg are the interface between the competition kitchens and guests at the IKA/Culinary Olympics.
Text Anna Häuser
Gaining experience and bonus points for their application documents, making new contacts, being part of a major event – but above all enjoyment, fun and thrills: participating in the IKA/Culinary Olympics 2024 means all of this for around 240 apprentices from Baden-Württemberg. As already four years ago, trainees from the state vocational schools for the hospitality industry in Bad Überkingen, Calw, Tettnang and Villingen-Schwenningen will be helping with service during this superlative cooking event. On the four days of the competition from 3 to 6 February, they will be responsible as “food runners” for covering the long distances on the IKA grounds at Messe Stuttgart and bringing the plates of the participating teams to the guests in the Restaurant of Nations. “Our students are very excited and are looking forward to this unusual assignment with international guests,” says Herbert Metzler, senior technical teacher and supervisor for hospitality-oriented professions at the Paul Kerschensteiner Schule in Bad Überkingen. “We mainly recruit level two trainees who are good at service. We do training with those who are less experienced. It is also important that everyone can speak English to some extent. The teachers still know from 2020 that service is a very demanding logistical task.” Bad Überkingen is participating in the IKA with around 80 students from all professional groups: chefs, hotel and restaurant specialists and system catering specialists.
Motivation, Preparation and Professionalism
The second IKA edition in Stuttgart has many advantages. “The students naturally have much better impressions before the IKA 2024 than we did before the 2020 event,” explains Robert Fechteler, Headmaster of the Landesberufsschule in Villingen-Schwenningen. “This time, we were able to show them photos from the last IKA/Culinary Olympics as well as the image and talk about our experiences. Because we were so enthusiastic about it ourselves, the trainees are already looking forward to it. But: no one will take part who doesn’t have the confidence to carry two high-quality plates to the right guests.” Around 50 students from Villingen-Schwenningen are taking part in the 26th IKA. Good preparation and briefings are essential for flawless service. “The professionalism of the briefing, the overall organization and the coolness of the accompanying managers from Aramark impressed all of us,” says Robert Fechteler. “The dimensions of the restaurant and the division according to ‘chessboard coordinates’ were an interesting experience.”
Around 60 second and third-year students from the state vocational school in Tettnang support the IKA service. “The assignment four years ago was very impressive for all of us,” recalls principal Stefan Oesterle. “The preparation, the service meeting and the process were very well thought out, so that everything ran smoothly. Our students were able to work confidently and with motivation from the outset, enjoyed themselves and showed great satisfaction and gratitude on the return journey.”
Thinking Outside the Box
The Johann-Georg-Doertenbach-Schule in Calw supports the IKA with around 50 students. “For us, it’s a school project that offers our trainees insights and experiences that we can’t offer at school or in companies. The international dimension broadens our horizons,” says school principal Michael Niedoba. “The school provides support in that it releases some of the students from lessons in the afternoon and on the day after the event because the evening service takes a long time. Teachers also accompany the event. As a school, we are delighted to be able to offer our trainees the opportunity to think outside the box again in 2024.” Due to the positive feedback from 2020, it quickly became clear that the Landesberufsschule Calw would once again take part in the IKA. “Overall, at the last IKA, the young people saw their industry and its value in a different light,” says Michael Niedoba. “They came back exhausted that night and found the assignment stressful and exhausting, but also enriching. The atmosphere left a lasting impression.”
Advertisement for the Industry
With the IKA/Culinary Olympics, the German Chefs’ Association gives talented chefs a stage and, thanks to the service concept, also the next generation of professionals in the catering industry. This is where gastronomy colleges from the most diverse career levels grow together under extreme conditions. Robert Fechteler, who particularly remembers the warmth of the participating teams, shares this observation. “Despite the high tension of the competition, the chefs accepted our students as important service staff and even sought contact on their own initiative. During the hot competition phase, it was an experience to see how the teams performed with precision and concentration and always supported each other, despite the cheering fans and time pressure. All in all, the IKA is a real advertisement for the industry.”
You can see even more “Olympic” emotions in the image film.
