"It's been quite a long time since the England team achieved a gold medal.”

Following the England National Culinary Team’s impressive win at the Culinary World Cup 2022 in Luxembourg last year, The Staff Canteen spoke to Adam Thomason, Culinary Director of Absolute Taste and the England’s Team Captain for the Culinary World Cup, about what the win means for him and the team.

Adam has been the team’s captain since 2020 with this most recent win representing a huge achievement for him and his team.

Talking about his role of captain and how that came about for him, Adam explained: “I was lucky enough and very humbled to become captain after the Olympics in 2020 but it was probably one of the hardest times to become captain because COVID struck.”

He added: “There was a limited amount we could do with the team during that time as we couldn't meet up or be together to compete.”

Due to the fallout of the Coronavirus pandemic, the 2022 Culinary World Cup represents the first actual competition for Adam as captain.

In his eyes, win or lose there’s huge positives to gain from taking part with each go allowing both him and his team the ability to grow and improve.

Discussing his earlier competition, Adam revealed: “I finished second in National Chef of the Year two years in a row, which was exceptionally beneficial. I grew a lot and I learned a lot, but it was also probably the hardest place to finish. I understand how hard it is to not win competitions but I think what that does, is it gives you fuel for the fire. It makes you want to push on and try harder.”

CHALLENGES WITHIN THE TEAM

Focussing on the 2022 competition, Adam explained the challenges that the team had to overcome had existed for some time before the competition and much of last year’s preparation.

“I think the challenge started in Covid because it changed our structure in the team. The old manager Nick Vadis, who is a wonderful person and I cannot give this guy enough credit, when he had to step away from the National Culinary Team the dynamic of the whole team changed,” Adam explained.

Ahead of the competition, Paul Dickinson was appointed team coach, replacing Nick Vadis in the role. Discussing the importance of this appointment, Adam said: "I think I can speak for everyone in the team that he really pushed us, to get the best from us all as a team and as individuals."

Beyond Covid, Adam explained there were logistical challenges as well for him and team, relating to how ingredients and equipment were sourced and transferred across to Luxembourg.

“Getting ingredients in a place that you've never been to, that you've never set up your parameters on and get the spec right is probably the biggest challenge, because without the right ingredients, your food won't be the same,” explained Adam.

Describing why it was a particularly important subject for the England team to address, Adam revealed: “We wanted to showcase the best of British produce. We had to work out a way of getting food out of the UK and into Luxembourg basically, and that would be a using a mixture of refrigerated lorries and then the added problem of we're not in the EU anymore, meant that we had to get the corrected accreditation to move food across the borders, which was a nightmare."

The team's event sponsors included: University College Birmingham, The Menu, Major, Goodfellows, Wrapmaster, Food Alert, Savoy Educational Trust.

A DYNAMIC WIN AND A SENSATIONAL TEAM

Talking about what the win represents for him, the team and hospitality in the UK, Adam said: "It's been quite a long time since the England team achieved a gold medal. That recognition, and that excitement when we received the gold medal was a really good reward for the sacrifices that the team put in to make. The guys have time away from family, they have to do extra hours after work, it's not like we have a situation where we have enough funding in the team to keep people employed full time in it."

Talking about what the win represents for him, the team and hospitality in the UK, Adam said: "It's been quite a long time since the England team achieved a gold medal. That recognition, and that excitement when we received the gold medal was a really good reward for the sacrifices that the team put in to make. The guys have time away from family, they have to do extra hours after work, it's not like we have a situation where we have enough funding in the team to keep people employed full time in it."

Describing how we will develop the team after this win, Adam revealed: "I definitely want to grow the team to make it stronger on multiple angles. We like to use the Formula One analogy a lot. It's not just about the driver in the car. It's about the support network and the whole team around it."

LOOKING TO THE FUTURE

Thanking his team for their participation, Adam said: "Thank you to the England team. The fact that they do it out their own time, we don't have the huge funding, so if anyone is reading this from within the industry and is looking at sponsoring the national team to help us take it further to the next level please don't hesitate to get in touch."

Adam also thanked the British Culinary Federation, the only internationally recognised chefs organisation for England, who supported the team throughout the competition whilst providing an important platform for chefs to network.

"I would encourage all chefs to become members as it really helps professionals to build long lasting relationships and networks," Adam explained.

Highlighting the important role Absolute Taste provided in the competition, he added: "Thank you very much to Absolute Taste for facilitating such a huge amount of support for the team. My workplace gave us free space, free food, free equipment, and the free transport to get the food to and from Luxembourg."

Encouraging chefs and professionals from the wider hospitality industry, Adam said: "If anyone wants to be involved with international competitions, we are looking at growing the team, we are looking at taking extra influences in whether it'd be a supplier or equipment manufacturer."

Following their recent win at the 2022 Culinary World Cup, the England team’s sights are now fixed on the upcoming Culinary Olympics set to commence in Stuttgart Germany in 2024, with the team looking to go the full way and bring a second win back home.

Talking about what the team will do ahead of next year’s Olympics, Adam admitted that their preparation had already begun.

"The team have a couple of months off to recuperate. We've already done a dinner in one of the universities for 250 covers just to keep things ticking along within the team, to make sure that there's the interaction and the bonding there between the team members, and we will very soon when the Olympic criteria is released. We will put a game plan together for the course of the year, which allows us to just get it all boxed," explained Adam.