In partnership with meat-free brand Quorn, HIT Training is launching a new plant-based culinary school in the UK.
While there are a number of plant-based cooking schools and programs in the UK, this the first specifically aimed at people who are already working as chefs.
Called Plant Forward, the eight-month plant-based training webinar launches January 26. The vegan cooking program will be provided by HIT Training’s Chef Academy, which opened in 2015. It will be available to chefs of all levels of expertise.
“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,” Paul Mannering, the academy’s principal, said in a statement. “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.”
The webinar will include masterclasses by plant-based, conscious cooking chef Chantelle Nicholson. It will also feature Chef Academy’s lead trainer Rory Mitchell and vice principal Mark Belford.
UK’s First Plant-Based Culinary School for Chefs
Founded in 1985, Quorn offers a number of plant-based meat products.
In 2018, the company opened the world’s largest vegan and vegetarian meat factory in the UK. Quorn launched the £27 million facility—which was opened in Teesi—to keep up with the growing consumer demand.
“We are growing at 15 percent each year and we plan to grow at that rate each year,” the company’s CEO, Kevin Brennan, said in a statement at the time.
HIT Training’s new plant-based culinary school will include a module on the brand. It aims to teach chefs how Quorn’s meat-free proteins can be used in different dishes. The webinar will also feature a module on sustainability. It will “highlight the positive role plant-based proteins can have on both the health of the planet and people.”
Claire Roper, Quorn’s head of marketing and innovation foodservice, said the collaboration with HIT aligns with the company’s mission to “reduce the impact of [people’s] diets on the planet and [their] health.”
“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,” Roper said.
Roper added: “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.”
