A member of the Stratford-upon-Avon College apprenticeship team recently supported a local food festival, using his wealth of hospitality and catering experience to act as a judge of the food on display.
Business Development Manager, Bryan Anderson, brings over 20 years of experience in catering and hospitality training and apprenticeships at the college, after an international career working in restaurants and hotels around the world. He was delighted to attend the Alcester Food Festival and judge the competition element of the event, applying his extensive industry knowledge to help select the winning dishes.
The much-loved Alcester Food Festival transformed the historic and picturesque town centre into a vibrant celebration of food, drink and community spirit. Since its establishment in 2010 by local residents, the event has grown into one of the most significant highlights in the town’s annual calendar.
The event was organised by a dedicated team of unpaid volunteers, supported by local organisations that generously contributed their time and expertise to ensure its continued success.
Bryan was delighted to give his time as a judge to support the event, though choosing a winner proved tough: “I really enjoyed the opportunity to judge the over 40 Deli stalls at the show, it was extremely hard to choose a winner as the standard was so high, from marinated olives, to artisan bakers, it was a battle of the best delis and ended up a very close contest, no stall scored below 8 out of 10.
Finally, I settled on Vinegar Tips, a local company in Wooten Wawen, who won me over with not only her outstanding produce and passion for her business, but also her back story of starting this business following being made redundant, a well-deserved winner.”
It is always wonderful to see college staff being able to use their expertise to support events in the local and wider community. Congratulations to everyone who took part!
If you are interested in taking on an apprentice, Bryan or one of our dedicated Business Development Managers would be happy to discuss your options. Contact them on: employerservices@solihull.ac.uk
