Contract catering sits at the centre of workplaces, universities, hospitals, offices and schools. It is no longer the sleepy back-office of food service it once was. Behind every lunch rush are chefs dealing with volume, standards, expectations, and the tension of delivering great food at scale.

It is also an industry under pressure. According to Escoffier Global, 45 percent of hospitality operators struggle to hire kitchen staff (source: link), and many report that foundational cooking skills are declining. With the UK catering sector serving over 1.54 billion meals a year (source: link), the gap between expectation and available talent is more visible than ever.

And it is not just the UK. In the US, employers face similar hiring pressures. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that chef and cook roles will grow by 15 percent from 2021 to 2031 (source: link), much faster than the national average, which signals sustained shortages and rising demand across the industry.

To understand what this means inside a real kitchen, we spoke with:

• Dan Wilson, Head of Food UK at BaxterStorey and Foodservice Cateys Chef of the Year 2025

• Alistair MacDonald, Development Chef at the University of Edinburgh and former Development Chef at Thomas Franks Ltd with a background across education, retail and large-scale catering

Both bring decades of experience and an honest look at how the chef profession is changing.

Industry Snapshot: The Chef Staffing Crisis

This is the backdrop for the conversation. Expectations are rising. The pipeline is strained. And the role of the chef is evolving because it has to.

Source: Escoffier Global - Culinary Industry Hiring and Retention Trends (2024-2025)

Why Chefs Still Choose This Industry - And Stay

Dan remembers the moment it clicked: “The industry chose me. I didn’t choose it. As soon as I stepped into a kitchen and felt the creativity and the fast-paced energy, I was hooked.”

Alistair’s connection started even earlier: “I started in a bakery at 12, and my passion just grew from there. Now I want to give back to the industry that gave me so much.”

Today contract catering demands ambition. It serves millions daily, and expectations for quality, presentation, and variety keep rising. For many chefs, that challenge is exactly what keeps them here. As Dan says: “Being a chef now is really attractive to young people. Everyone wants to cook like the chefs on TV. Our sector has changed a lot and is in a great place.”

A Growing Skills Crisis

As the industry has evolved, many organisations have cut back on traditional culinary training in favour of convenience or pure volume. The result is a growing skills gap, especially in mid level roles like chef de partie and production chefs.

Dan puts it simply: “Sometimes we end up cooking for convenience rather than focusing on properly training our chefs. That creates a gap.”

This is reflected across the sector. According to a recent labour market summary, hospitality in the UK is experiencing record high difficulty in hiring. Roles such as chefs, kitchen staff and front of house are among the hardest to fill (source: link)

At the same time, some employers report hundreds of current vacancies in catering and hospitality across institutions. (source: link)

Global data points in the same direction. Escoffier’s 2025 Culinary Industry Hiring and Retention Trends report shows that 59 percent of restaurants still struggle to fill key roles, and chef or cook positions are among the hardest to hire for.

The result is a bottleneck. Experienced chefs at the top. Eager apprentices at the bottom. A thinning middle that should carry the day to day craft. As Alistair says: “You are only as good as your teacher.” And teachers are stretched.

And as Alistair puts it: “Everybody wants to be a sous chef, but that takes years of training.” The ambition is there, but the development path is not. Which is why the middle of the kitchen - the chefs who should be carrying the day to day craft - ends up thinning out.

And that leads directly to the next question: how do we close that gap?

Closing the Gap: Craft, Time, and Teaching

To close the skills gap, caterers and clients need to think carefully about how they train new staff and how they make that training exciting, practical and worth engaging in. Real development does not come from manuals or checklists. It comes from hands on learning and giving chefs the time to actually cook.

That is why hubs like BaxterStorey’s F&B Culture Hub and University of Edinburgh’s development kitchen matter. They focus on repetition, tasting and real craft - not classroom slides. Chefs cook dishes, test them, adjust them and learn by doing. It is slow learning with immediate impact.

Dan reinforces this: “There is no point being sat behind a laptop. Your hands need to be in the flour.”

Digital tools help free up time for exactly this. Ordering, allergens, food safety and compliance tasks that once consumed hours can now be handled in minutes. This gives teams more of the thing they need most: time for craft.

Why Creativity Still Decides Who Stays in the Industry

Chefs stay in kitchens because they love creating. But creativity is often squeezed by standardised menus and strict procurement. It makes business sense. But it makes motivation harder.

Dan says it plainly: “The freedom that comes with being a chef is what motivates them. But that freedom has been taken away in many places.”

Ali adds: “You cannot sit still. Keeping ahead of the game is the hard part.”

Benchmarking, experimenting and playing with new ideas are essential, not luxury. Creativity is what keeps chefs inspired and prevents burnout.

When creativity disappears, chefs disappear with it.

The Responsibility Behind Every Plate

Chefs shape more than flavour. In schools they support learning. In workplaces they support productivity and wellbeing. Their food affects how people feel throughout the day.

Dan captures the scale: “We serve over one million meals a day. What we buy and what we serve impacts what people put into their bodies.”

Nutrition today is not a carrot stick. As Ali puts it: “A nutritious meal is no longer just lettuce. Sometimes it is half brownie, half beetroot.”

Seasonality and science matter. So does education. Dan says: “We can do everything right, but if we are not telling the story, the client will not know.”

Tech helps chefs communicate that story. It connects the dots between ingredients, nutrition and experience.

Looking Ahead: More Human, More Hands-On, More Supported by Tech

Automation will change kitchens, but its role is to support chefs - not replace them. Dan and Ali see technology taking over the repetitive, time-consuming tasks so chefs can focus on flavour, craft, and the guest experience.

Ali points out: “We have ovens now that do fantastic jobs. Tech makes our work easier."

Dan describes a future built on intuition: “I see kitchen gardens. Chefs picking herbs, tasting, and smelling. That will not be replaced by robots.” The hands-on, sensory side of cooking remains deeply human; tech simply clears space for it.

Autonomous checkout isn’t about cutting people out of the process. It opens up new possibilities for how teams work and where they add value. Dan explains: “It is not about reducing labour. It is about redeploying it. People can greet guests or even join the kitchen brigade if that is their passion."

The role of the chef is evolving toward more creativity, more presence, and more mentorship. Technology becomes the support structure - reliable, consistent, efficient, while the human element becomes that bit stronger.

Quickfire Takeaways

Advice for young chefs: “Be a sponge. Take on everything.” and “Be curious.”

What they would redesign:

• Dan: “Look after yourself as much as your guests.”

• Ali: “I would not change much. It has been good to me.”

Why become a chef:

• Ali: “This industry gives you endless opportunities. It is structured, disciplined and full of growth.”

• Dan: “You take more out of this industry than you put in. The moments stay with people.”