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Dilmah’s Empower Culinary Hospitality and Inspirational School’s
culinary course was recognized and certified by Worldchefs in January 2017. An
initiative by Dilmah’s Merrill J. Fernando Charitable Foundation (MJFCF), its
mission was born from its founder’s belief that the organization has a part to
play in giving back to the underprivileged and less fortunate in the
community.
The school aims to empower disadvantaged youths with valuable,
lifelong skills in hospitality and the culinary arts, and provide them with the
opportunity to seek employment in the related industry on a local and
international level. The school features a state of the art Culinary Training
Unit that contains the latest cooking technology and culinary equipment,
designed to give its students a holistic training course. The school’s
curriculum spans a period of three and a half months and involves giving
students basic and advanced kitchen courses that cover a range of topics, from
culinary theory, knife skills, health and nutrition to the business aspects of
running a restaurant.
The lessons are facilitated by MJFCF’s own training instructions and
WACS certified chefs from around the world, and the school frequently plays
host to global culinary experts and celebrity chefs.
Being the only culinary institution in Sri Lanka to receive the Worldchefs
certification, Dilmah’s Empower Culinary Hospitality and Inspirational School
is now a globally recognised culinary institute that provides excellence in
education.
About Dilmah
Merrill J. Fernando dedicated his life to tea when in the 1950s,
he saw the concentration of ownership in the tea industry in the hands of a few
large corporations. This was leading to the commoditisation of tea. He decided
that in the interest of tea drinkers around the world, and the crop that his
country produced with so much care and artistry, he would fight this process of
commoditisation.
It took him nearly four decades and in 1988 he launched his own
brand – Dilmah. Dilmah was the first producer owned tea brand, and offered tea
‘picked, perfected and packed’ at origin. Unlike the multi-origin blends that
monopolised supermarket shelves, Dilmah brought tea that is freshly packed at
source and therefore rich in flavour and natural goodness.
Dilmah is unique; a brand that is founded on a passionate
commitment to quality and authenticity in tea, it is also a part of a
philosophy that goes beyond commerce in seeing business as a matter of human
service. This is what makes Dilmah the first ethically produced tea. In 2005,
Merrill and his sons Dilhan and Malik, pledged to follow the principles
dictated by the 12 Principles of Dilmah in every aspect of their business and
in the conduct of their workers, staff and management.
About Worldchefs
The World Association of Chefs’ Societies, or Worldchefs in short, is a
dynamic global network of more than 100 chefs associations representing chefs
at all levels and across all specialties worldwide. It was founded in1928 at
the Sorbonne in Paris with the venerable August Escoffier as first Honorary
President.
Worldchefs is a global authority on food, creating impact through these core
focus areas:
Education – includes our landmark Recognition of
Quality Culinary Education program and the world’s first global culinary
certification;
Networking – Worldchefs provides a gateway to
global culinary networking opportunities and hosts the landmark biennial
Worldchefs Congress & Expo;
Competition – Worldchefs upholds a list of
certified judges, sets global standards for competition rules, and runs the
prestigious Global Chefs Challenge;
Humanitarian & sustainability – our
Feed the Planet and World Chefs Without Borders programs relieve food poverty,
deliver crisis support, and promote sustainability across the globe.
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Matthias Bonnin
Sales & Marketing Manager
