While many found success in turning their ideas profitable, many also successfully turned their passions into a sustainable business venture. In a time where doing something we are passionate about becomes one of the key factors for success, the next generations of culinary students are looking to expand and grow beyond the kitchens they are accustomed to. More than having a passion for the culinary arts, these students understand that to flourish career wise, they would have to lay the foundations of the path that they want to tread on.
Jack Yap Zhen Jie, a 22-year-old final year student in culinary management at Taylor’s Culinary Institute, believes that there is more to be mastered than what the culinary world has historically shown us. During his internship at Maison Bras between May to August 2022, in the small French town of Laguiole, Jack was inspired by the restaurant’s organisation called Bras Kas that regularly organised events and classes for its employees. Having experienced this, Jack recognised that there is a need for a club that allowed students of different disciplines to explore not only the world of culinary arts, but also to instill a sense of entrepreneurship amongst members and encourage them to think beyond cooking.
With this goal in mind, Jack decided to start the Young Chefs Community (YCC), a culinary club dedicated to bring together the diverse student body at campus, particularly for those who have a passion for cooking and business. Besides imparting culinary skills, YCC focuses on inculcating the importance of entrepreneurship among its members.
Today, the club introduces networking and training opportunities through classes with veterans from the industry. To date, the club has had the chance to learn the arts of haute cuisine, making full use of ingredients and pastry baking under world-class chefs such as Chef Cedric Bourassin, a lecturer from Ecole Hoteliere de Lausanne in Switzerland, Chef Rikad Hult and Chef Marc Viala, Chefs and Co-owners of L’Epicurien in France, and Eddie Tan, owner of CakeTella and KetoCake. The club has also had various founders of businesses such as Chef Lim Heng Kit of Li Restaurant and Shaun Liew, Co-founder of Curate Coffee Roaster and Yellow Brick Road Café give talks on entrepreneurism.
“My father is also a huge inspiration for my culinary journey. He himself as a food and beverage entrepreneur taught me the values of entrepreneurship. I believe in an entrepreneurial path for students who aspire to be chefs, and this means teaching our club members how to run a business. Knowledge and skills in managing logistics, measuring costs, and having organisational skills will be important for our future,” said Jack.
The road to kickstarting the YCC club was a rough one as Jack faced personal and organisational challenges. His parents initially had their reservations towards Jack starting YCC as he had work and study obligations to juggle. His undying zeal and eagerness in marrying culinary and entrepreneurism eventually saw Jack deciding to commit full-time to building the club.
“During the club’s founding, I faced challenges such as finding a committee that is passionate enough to build the club together with me. It took a few tries, but eventually the club’s committee stabilised and grew to 28 members. But with such a big team came the challenge of delegating tasks too, as I am fond of YCC. It is from this point that I began learning about the power of delegation, how assigning tasks to the right person and trusting my team play a huge part in the growth of an organisation. I am proud to say the club has become somewhat of a startup company, with 150 members in total.”
The club also takes a social approach, which has seen its members teach children at a transformation centre in Negeri Sembilan on how to make simple pastries. This initiative also marked the first time that the club has received funding for their efforts. Not missing an opportunity to learn, Jack encouraged the members to use the funds to conduct food sales as a means to generate more income. This is in line with the club’s mission in educating its members on the importance of balancing costs and profits as part of building a business.
Imparting basic cooking skills to children at the transformation centre remains one of the key highlights of Jack’s experience in YCC. There have been two classes till date with the kids and the YCC club members will be paying a visit again to witness the “graduation” of the students. As part of giving back to society, the club also participated in preparing and serving food to 300 elderly people at the Dapur Kinrara soup kitchen in December 2022.
While the road to turning one’s passion into something bigger and more aspirational is challenging, Jack hopes his peers will stay true to their dreams and strive for success.
“Be clear in your vision and surround yourself with like-minded people to help you achieve what you want. As a leader, it is up to you to ensure that any organisation you are in is aligned to what you believe in as well. Finally, you must believe in yourself and have faith in your choices.”
Jack believes that every youth has a vision, energetic, and will be the one who decides the future of their industries. Feeling enthusiastic and hopeful about the club’s future, Jack aspires to expand YCC beyond Taylor’s University to include a larger audience of young aspiring chefs from all walks of life, helping each other grow.
