Introduction:
Passing The vegan school opens a veritable buffet of career choices, each offering its own unique blend of flavours, challenges, and rewards. From the hustle and bustle of restaurant kitchens to the creative realms of food styling and recipe development, the culinary world is as vast and diverse as the ingredients it celebrates.
Below are some career opportunities with examples of where our students are placed.
Traditional Culinary Careers:
Restaurant Chef: An increase in demand for vegan food has not only led to the opening of a large number of vegan-only restaurants but has also gotten traditional restaurants to introduce vegan menu items. This has led to a great demand for vegan chefs from vegan and traditional restaurants. Some responsibilities of a restaurant chef include food preparation, menu planning, kitchen management, Quality control, and customer relations. We have multiple students working as a restaurant chef across the best Vegan/vegetarian restaurants in India. Some restaurants where our students work are:
Kiara Soul Kitchen, Delhi.
To Die For, Kolkata.
Greenr, Delhi & Goa.
Copper & Cloves, Bangalore.
Plural, Mumbai; And Many More.
Hotel Chef: In addition to more plant-based options being offered at hotels like Grand Hyatt in Goa offering multiple vegan options in all their restaurant various 100% Vegan hotels are also opening up around the world. The role of a hotel chef is slightly different than that in a restaurant. Other than managing kitchen operations, and designing menus you also oversee banquet events and manage multiple restaurants in a bigger hotel. Some vegan hotels which regularly have openings are:
La Vimea, Italy.
Koukoumi Hotel – Greece.
Saorsa 1875 – Scotland.
The Farm at San Benito, Philippines.
Mother Earth – Costa Rica.
Green Tiger House, Thailand.
Food Entrepreneur:
Run a cafe: With a growing awareness and demand for vegan food around the world, now is the time to take the first movers advantage and open your dream vegan cafe. One should ideally have some restaurant work experience before opening their own space. We help students get internships where they understand kitchen layout, batch cooking, inventory management and other best practices. Sometimes the thought of opening a cafe can be overwhelming given the financial requirements but you can always start small and grow it by serving really good food with great service. We currently have Nishtha from batch 3, running her cafe Asro in Goa.
Run a bakery: Some people just love to bake. If you are one of them there is a great demand for vegan, gluten-free and healthier dessert options today. With growing awareness of health and allergic conditions, people are opting for healthier desserts for celebrations. One should ideally start small from home, test the market implement the feedback and then open their own space. We have Shefali running a bakery called Anthos in Delhi, Saroj running Sarubakes in Ahmedabad, Jatin running a vegan bakery in Mumbai and many more.
Run a cloud kitchen/lunch service: You can tap into the burgeoning trend of cloud kitchens and lunch services by offering convenient and nutritious vegan meals for delivery or takeaway. Cater to busy professionals and health-conscious consumers with wholesome, plant-based fare delivered right to their doorstep. This can be started from your home and scaled up depending on the response. We at the vegan school get our lunch from one such service called Okapi Vegan Kitchen which employs a few of our students. We have students like Bharat in Banglore who runs his cloud kitchen called Zendough following this path.
Catering & Pop-ups: If the above seems too overwhelming to you, you can start by putting up a vegan food stall at various art and cultural festivals. These festivals help you get feedback on your food and gain new customers. These can also lead to catering contracts for private or corporate parties. Another opportunity is to do vegan pop-up dining experiences in your local restaurant. An example is our student, Miss Kate from the third batch regularly puts up a stall at the Friday night market and the weekly vegan market in Goa. These pop-ups have led to her getting some catering jobs as well.
Host Retreats: You can combine your love for cooking with wellness by hosting vegan culinary retreats. You can also partner with a yoga teacher to host these retreats. You can host these retreats by partnering up with hotels/guesthouses/homestays. We have Varun from Bodhi Greens regularly hosting gut health retreats in Dharmshala. Or Christina hosting a farm stay at the lilac farm just outside Bangalore.
Food Education: You can also share your passion for vegan cooking with others by teaching cooking classes, hosting workshops, and conducting educational programs. You can empower individuals to embrace plant-based living and make informed dietary choices through hands-on culinary instruction and nutritional guidance. Multiple students our ours conduct such small workshops in the cities they live in. For example, Ashmika has hosted multiple cooking workshops around millets and using local seasonal ingredients.
Private Cheffing: You can also provide personalized culinary experiences as a private chef, catering to the dietary preferences and tastes of individual clients in their homes or for special events. Today celebrities and other successful people pay a very good salary for these specialised services. It also opens opportunities for you to travel in style with them. For example, one of our students from the first batch is a private chef for Virat Kohli and Anushka Sharma. She also travels with the family if need be. We cannot disclose her name for privacy.
Production Kitchen: You can also set up a production kitchen, where you prepare large quantities of vegan food products for distribution to restaurants, retailers, and food service providers. You can supply different cheeses, mock meats, gravy's, desserts etc. One of our faculty Ms Aline runs Vegan Karma Kitchen which supplies the above to restaurants and hotels around Goa. Sahana another student of ours makes cookies for coffee shops around her place in Bangalore. While Vaishali runs a healthy snacks and dessert brand called The Leafy Kitchen in Indore India.
Vegan Food Consulting: You can also provide specialized consulting services to HORECA & F&B hospitality businesses to make them vegan-friendly. This can include kitchen staff and service staff training, menu revamping and labelling, product sourcing and more. Our student Khushi runs one such consulting company called Vegan Solutions.
Alternative Career Paths:
Food Writing: You can chronicle your culinary adventures and insights as a food writer. Contribute to articles, blogs, and cookbooks that celebrate the diversity and creativity of vegan cuisine, and inspire readers to explore the vibrant world of plant-based eating. You can also make a career by writing in magazines/news outlets as a food journalist or a restaurant critic.
Food Stylist: If you are artistic this may be the right career path for you. You can showcase the beauty and allure of vegan food through food styling. Collaborate with photographers, brands, and publications to create visually stunning images that capture the essence of plant-based cuisine and inspire audiences worldwide. You work with restaurants and food brands as a food stylist to finalise their looks for shoots. You can also help restaurants to finalise the plating of their dishes. You also learn Food styling and Photography as part of the course by Aishwarya.
Recipe Developer: You can unleash your creativity in the kitchen as a recipe developer. Conceptualize, test, and refine innovative vegan recipes for cookbooks, food blogs, and culinary publications. You can share your culinary creations with a global audience of food enthusiasts.
Content Creator: Finally you can share your culinary journey with the world as a content creator. Create engaging videos, photos, and written content for social media, blogs, and other digital platforms, inspiring others to explore the joys of vegan cooking. You can partner and promote various vegan brands through your channel or become a content creator for specific brands. You can also create a community-based around your beliefs through content like Khushi running the Veganwayout page on Instagram, Ashmika creating video content around local ingredients and recipes or Aashna documenting her food journey on Instagram.
Conclusion:
As you embark on your post-graduate journey from The Vegan School, remember that the culinary world is filled with endless opportunities for creativity, innovation, and impact. Embrace the opportunities that come your way, stay true to your culinary vision, and continue to inspire others with your talent, creativity, and passion for compassionate cooking. Your journey as a vegan chef has only just begun – let the adventure unfold!
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