Three Growth Areas for the Culinary Industry

The truth is that every area in the culinary industry is going to grow. Some areas are going to grow faster than others, but two trends establish the fact that a degree from a culinary school is an investment in the future. One is that people are eating out more often; going to full service restaurants, take out windows and everything in between. The other reason is that the services industry in general is the fastest growing business segment in the country, in terms of jobs. It is expected to add 13.7 million jobs by 2010.

Most jobs in the culinary field are expected to grow by 11% in the decade 2006-2016, according to the Labor Department. That’s a pretty good statistic in the era of offshore outsourcing. The best way to secure a future in the culinary field is seeking some formal training at a culinary school.

There are levels of training and certification for every type of food service worker - you can spend a year obtaining a certificate in culinary education, three years in culinary school learning all the skills of a chef, or four years in a specialized culinary academy (or college) obtaining a degree. Here are four areas where the statisticians see the most growth.

1. Chefs, cooks, and food preparation workers who prepare meals-to-go, such as those who work in the prepared foods sections of grocery or specialty food stores, should grow faster than average. These services compete with restaurants; as their quality and range of products grow they will take business from restaurants. There is also a consumer trend toward convenient, healthier, made-from-scratch meals.

2. Employment of institution and cafeteria chefs and cooks will show growth “about as fast as the average,” according to the Labor Department. However those jobs will be amplified by the fact that increasingly offices, schools, and hospitals contract out their food services in an effort to make “institutional food” more attractive to office workers, students, staff, visitors, and patients.

That’s where the rapid growth will be. In this field, of the growth for people with culinary degrees will be in contract food service establishments that provide catering services or food management for employee dining rooms, sports complexes, and educational or health care facilities.

3. Dining trends suggest that an increasing number of meals are eaten away from home, which creates growth in family dining restaurants, but greater limits on expense-account meals is expected to generate slower growth for up-scale restaurants.

However the opportunities for top-the-line cooking jobs available to highly trained culinary school graduates will be boosted by two factors. One is the increasing number of convention centers and hotels that are developing first rate food service. The other is the high level of turnover in top-grade commercial kitchens due to the pressures of the job. Jobs for restaurant chefs will increase by 12% over the next decade.