HIT Training launches plant-based training programme

HIT Training has launched a plant-based training programme for chefs in collaboration with meat-free supplier Quorn.

The eight-month Plant Forward training programme is available to chefs at all levels and delivered by HIT's Chef Academy. The programme will be launched at a trends and insight webinar on Tuesday 26 January, featuring cookery masterclasses from Chantelle Nicholson, chef-patron at London's Tredwells and All's Well, alongside Rory Mitchell and Mark Belford from HIT Training, and concluded with a live Q&A.

Interest in plant-based menus shows no sign of slowing, with health and sustainability playing a key role in the decision-making. Of those consumers choosing to reduce their meat intake, 68% say ‘a generally healthy lifestyle' is the reason behind their choices, while 67% say ‘protecting the planet for future generations' is the reason they want to reduce their carbon footprint.

Paul Mannering, principal of the HIT Chef Academy, said: "It's a pleasure to work with Quorn to launch our Plant Forward training programme and help to grow talent and support the next generation of chefs. Our objective is for chefs to finish the programme with a core set of skills and depth of knowledge across a variety of plant-based ingredients and products.

"In November 2015, we launched the HIT Chef Academy as an additional training opportunity for the chef apprentices we work with across the country. Since then, the academy has gone from strength-to-strength and we have taken the innovative learning format to collaborate with businesses and suppliers, such as Quorn, to develop bespoke training programmes that are tailored to the requirements and demands of the hospitality sector."

Claire Roper, head of marketing and innovation foodservice at Quorn, added: "We're really excited to be part of HIT's first ever Plant Forward training programme. We have big ambitions at Quorn to help reduce the impact of our diets on the planet and our health. Mycoprotein, the super-protein at the heart of all Quorn products, plays a big role in helping us achieve this. It is nutritious and sustainable like no other protein.

"Meat-free and plant-based dishes need to be exciting and full of flavour to capture imaginations. Lack of choice and innovative ideas frustrates consumers of plant-based foods when eating out of home. Eighty-six per cent of vegan consumers believe it is important that there is a specially created vegan dish on the menu, rather than a non-vegan dish that has been adapted.

"We hope to inspire and empower the next generation of chefs through the HIT course by highlighting just how easy it is to add creative meat-free dishes to menus."

Chefs interested in applying to the course should click here.