Supporting the competition

As the Middle East’s F&B industry goes from strength to strength, service standards are improving and competitions are playing a large role in this development. Caterer Middle East met up with a selection of professionals responsible for organising, judging and promoting F&B competitions at La Moda, Radisson Blu, Dubai Deira Creek

Why are F&B competitions so vital to advancing the Middle East’s culinary industry?

Uwe Micheel: Competitions are very important in terms of learning, motivating and meeting people, especially in this region. In the western world staff from different outlets can meet in discos and clubs — here they don’t really have that option, so they meet at competitions. It’s a chance for them to meet colleagues from other hotels and stay in contact afterwards. In terms of motivation, even if a participant doesn’t win it still motivates them simply by being there. They can also learn from their mistakes and what they do during the competition.

Leith Matthews: A competition is a great way to easily instil a bit of passion into a bartender. There are many companies that will come in and ask the bartender to think about a brand, think about a cocktail and then to compete in two-months time. It’s a good way to quickly get them thinking about a product. We ran a six-month programme for the recent World Class Dubai Bartender of the Year competition, starting with training and a qualifying competition. By the time of the competition final the competitors had already been through four competitive stages and four intensive training sessions, so they were more than ready.

It’s important to show people what they need to do to get through the final event.

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This is especially important during a recession, where to cut marketing expenses some companies might be thinking of cutting out some of the competitions. For us, however, it’s critical for our business, since we are consumer-driven, to actually support competitions and help develop this passion. Any restaurant that has good bartenders, good baristas and good chefs should relish any opportunity to showcase their team members’ skills and also innovate to produce new offerings. This in turn will entice more consumers to come to the restaurant. If you have a signature cocktail or signature dish on offer, you then have something unique that draws customers back again and again.

Wael Riachy: I believe that competitions are all about learning and breaking limitations. You can create what you want and there are no limitations to what you can create. Together people can share experiences, from the judges to the contestants — it’s a win-win situation.

May Juan: A barista is not really viewed as a professional in this region, but if you look at the word barista it means a talented person who has mastered an espresso machine and has made coffee-making their profession. If bartenders and baristas are seen as professionals due to competitions, then I think we have succeeded in elevating the profession to another level. The reason we are setting up the Middle East Barista Championship first and foremost is to create awareness in the UAE about the coffee industry; if you go to many coffee houses here, you don’t get many real baristas serving real coffee.

Where does the region stand and how far has it come regarding the quality of competitors?

Ghaith Zeidan: I think that the big competitions have come a very long way since I started in the business here five years ago. The level has really gone up and I think it all came out of competitions where you had some international people coming to the region. In the past anything that had orange juice, pineapple juice or grenadine in used to be called a cocktail; now you can see the level is being elevated and people are becoming more innovative.

Micheel: Because of competitions, bartenders are now proud of what they do. They no longer want to be called just a barman or a team member; if they have more knowledge than others, then they are proud of that and they want to get more involved.

Riachy: We have competitions in the Middle East, Egypt, Pakistan and South Africa and the test of getting everyone together presents a big challenge for our chefs. The level of competition is high and it’s great for competitors to observe the standard in these different countries.

Juan: For the Middle East Barista Championship we have had a lot of interest; in terms of competitors to the event we already have a very good number. However I haven’t been impressed with the standard I’ve seen so far; it’s important that we set a benchmark for this region.