To give young people a taste of top gastronomy, Jong Keukenkracht let young people between 18 and 30 eat at a reduced price with young top chefs every year. With success: the campaign by sector organization Horeca Vlaanderen always resulted in tens of thousands of reservations. Yet Tourism Flanders, which subsidized the project, decided at the end of last year to turn off the money tap.
“The objectives were amply achieved,” says spokesperson Stef Gits. “Young people have come to love good food and have become customers of gastronomic catering establishments.”
Roxanne Vaessen, manager of Jerom in Antwerp, doubts this. The restaurant, which serves vegetables from its own vegetable garden, charges between 90 and 125 euros for the chef’s menu. As part of Young Kitchen Violence, young people could eat three courses for 59 euros. “That action was urgently needed to keep the sector alive. Without the reduced rate, young people will not come here. Now, at most, their parents or grandparents will still come. Young people themselves are often not wealthy enough,” says Vaessen.
Own youth menu
“Young Kitchen Violence was an investment in the future,” says Vaessen. “Yet the subsidies have been stopped in such a strange way. We noticed that the initiative slowly faded away, without completion. That is very strange, because in our view the mission has not been completed.”
Gits from Toerisme Vlaanderen has announced that the Jong Keukenkracht campaign will not take place in March, but that Horeca Vlaanderen is considering whether it can organize a campaign on its own in October. “So without financing from Flanders,” Gits explains. “But Horeca Vlaanderen may continue to use the brand name free of charge. There will be more clarity in the coming months about a possible restart in October.”
The generation of Young Kitchen Violence in 2023. — © Gregory Van Gansen/imagetting
Not everyone shares Vaessen’s opinion that the mission of Young Kitchen Violence is far from complete. Since the promotion, Oogst in Assenede has been able to welcome new, young customers, “even without the discount”. “On Valentine’s Day, there were about fifteen young couples here who had met us through Jong Keukenviolence,” says manager Axelle Moens. They also saw an increase in the number of young customers at Dunas restaurant in Knokke-Heist thanks to Jong Keukenkracht. “We are now going to set up and promote a youth menu ourselves,” says chef Fran Mertens.
Personnel policy becomes a priority
“Flanders continues to invest in the restaurant sector, but is changing its position,” Gits adds. In collaboration with Horeca Vlaanderen, Toerisme Vlaanderen now wants to focus on personnel policy in restaurants. There is more work to be done there, it sounds. “There is still a lot of hidden misconduct,” Debora De Wint, long-time internship supervisor at the Anderlecht hotel school Coovi, said in this newspaper last summer after star chef Willem Hiele was accused by an employee of assault and battery. “Restaurants are begging for staff. But chefs will have to change, or they won’t find anyone anymore. Young people no longer tolerate misbehavior.”
Young entrepreneurs often start their catering business based on a passion for the profession, says Gits. “But then they are expected to be good entrepreneurs, managers and marketers. With the new project we support entrepreneurs to implement a more sustainable personnel policy.”
2024-02-22 14:38:51
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