Sodexo Industry-Academia Partnership Critical to the Growth of Culinary Talent Pipeline: Sambit Sahu, MD, Sodexo India

• Focus on guest lectures, workshops, and internship programs to impart industry knowledge and share best practices.

• Indian culinary talent in high demand in Sodexo Australia, Middle East & Africa

Spreading the #LoveofFood, Sodexo, a world leader in employee services has undertaken a distinctive initiative to bridge the skill gap amidst new trends emerging in culinary and hospitality. Reinforcing its thought leadership and shaping the future of the food & catering industry, Sodexo India has announced its endeavour to collaborate with hotel management and catering institutes for a mutually beneficial and lasting impact. As a first, the project was announced during the recruitment drive organised at The Institute of Hotel Management, Catering and Nutrition, Pusa in North today.

This collaboration aims to nurture students pursuing courses in hospitality through guest lectures and workshops aligned with the existing curriculum and conducted by Sodexo’s expert chefs who are experienced and are contributing to various leadership roles across the organisation. The intent is to add value to students learning and equip them with future-ready skills and confidence to be industry and employment-ready in the hospitality and corporate sectors.

Commenting on the initiative, Sambit Sahu, Managing Director, Sodexo India said, “As a responsible provider of sustainable food solutions across the globe, industry-academia collaboration is very critical for progress. The partnership will equip the students with future-ready skills, technical know-how and knowledge of industry best practices, innovations, current trends in career aspects and opportunities in the corporate world. We’re committed to building a robust culinary talent pipeline through this cooperation that will complement our rapid expansion plans. There is a huge demand for a job-ready culinary workforce from India in Australia, the Middle East and Africa.”

Sodexo will progressively work with distinguished institutes and train students in the scope of food production at scale, sustainability and HSE best practices. The company will collaborate with more institutes across the country in regions where it has a diversified and prominent presence. “By entering strategic alliances with top hospitality institutes, we will enhance industry engagement, enable knowledge exchange, and offer access to a wide range of career-building initiatives, including workshops, TED talks, on-the-job training, coaching and mentoring programmes, on-campus recruitment, internships, and even full-time positions,” added Saurabh Saxena, Head of Culinary and Food Innovation, Sodexo India.

About Sodexo India

Sodexo India is fueled with the brand purpose of creating a better every day for everyone to build a better life for all. We provide a bouquet of 100+ service offerings to varied clientele – corporates, healthcare organisations, manufacturing locations, educational institutes and remote environments. Our solutions range across food & catering, facilities management, technical services, workplace experience, energy management, and benefits & rewards services (now Pluxee). Sodexo India is powered by a team of 48,000 employees who cater to 500 clients at 1,200 sites daily. We harbour an inclusive, diverse, fair, equal, and positive work environment to improve the quality of life of those we serve and the communities, every day.

For more information, please visit in.sodexo.com/home.htm.