Waitrose to break into the cookery school sector in October

Waitrose is to become the first UK supermarket to run its own cookery school when it opens a state-of-the-art facility above its John Barnes outlet in Finchley Road, north London, this October.

The 4,600 sq ft school – comprising a theatre, teaching area, dining area, bar and kitchen – will create sixteen new jobs, including highly skilled chefs. It will also be used to train specialists working across Waitrose’s 229 branches.
 
The varied classes will be designed by Waitrose executive chef Neil Nugent and will focus on types of cuisine (such as Indian and Italian); skills such as butchery, baking and knife skills; and guidance on how to get the best out of meat, cheese, fish and seasonal ingredients.

“This exciting new venture for Waitrose echoes the strong appetite for food education as a result of the growth of celebrity chefs and food programming, coupled with the lack of nutrition education since it was removed from the National Curriculum in 1984,” said Nugent.

“We want to inspire the nation to move from just watching cookery programmes to actually cooking and experimenting with new ingredients.”

A recent Waitrose survey of more than 5,000 customers revealed that, given the chance, one in ten would like to retrain as a chef. This was the most popular option, ahead of modelling, teaching and property development.

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By Angela Frewin

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