Introducing The Guild of Caribbean Cuisine

A new initiative intended to push forward Caribbean cuisine, chefs and food businesses, The Guild of Caribbean Cuisine has been launched in partnership with NCASS. We spoke to Vanessa from The Guild who outlined what the Guild is, what it intends to do and how exactly it will work, in this article that featured in the December issue of our Catering Quarterly magazine.

Hi Vanessa, so can you tell us what The Guild of Caribbean Cuisine is all about?

It’s a brand new organisation that has teamed up with NCASS to push forward Caribbean cuisine, chefs and food businesses. The aim is to highlight the unique flavours and dishes of the Caribbean, to celebrate our chefs and food and to create conditions where our cuisine can succeed in raising awareness and interest in our food culture. To increase the viability of Caribbean owned food businesses and claim our equal place amongst the great cuisines of the world. Reggae Reggae sauce surely can’t be the highpoint of our contribution to the UK’s food culture!

That sounds like a bold plan! How did you get involved in forming a Guild and why Caribbean food?

I’ve run a CIC for several years that promotes Caribbean cultural cooking. Working with young people and victims of violence and abuse, teaching them how to cook, bringing them together in a social context and celebrating Caribbean food. Through this business I came across so many amazing chefs and caterers, but it felt like they had nowhere to go in their career, I mean who are our celebrity black chefs? I just love Caribbean cuisine and coming from Jamaican heritage I have first-hand knowledge of just how beautiful the cuisine is.

My passion is to share this wonderful cuisine with the masses, unfortunately I have not seen much progression within the sector, no support or guidance for businesses to grow with the ever moving trends. We recently launched the Culture Cooking Restaurant a state of the art mobile restaurant, it’s a 20ft container with a fabulous commercial kitchen inside, it just sets the tone of where we envisage the future of Caribbean cuisine, it definitely is a mouthwatering, show-stopping piece of kit and we are so proud that it’s part of our community.

I contacted NCASS to ask them to promote one of my events and they ended up providing the CIC with hygiene training which could help my trainees get into employment. Mark and Tom from NCASS also came to support my event which was really lovely. It was through these conversations that the idea of elevating Caribbean food and businesses started to form. This developed organically, we got to a point where it was a case of put up or shut up – and here we are.

So over several years we’d had numerous conversations with NCASS – in the end they said, we love what you’re looking to do, as long as you run it – we will support you to do this. We’ll help with the standards, hygiene and safety, we will also promote Caribbean cuisine at Government level to help give you a voice and ultimately a seat at the table. Food is such an important part of who we as Caribbean people are. In terms of culture, however, we haven’t got the boost that other cuisines have enjoyed over the past decade. The UK food culture is stronger since the emergence of Korean, Taiwanese or [authentic] Mexican food over the past few years, for example.

At the Guild we aim to push and promote the best of Caribbean cultural cooking. Unfortunately as a culture we tend to stick within our comfort zone and just cook for each other, not venturing out to new audiences. The Guild will help on a national scale to sway new audiences to EAT CARIBBEAN, but we appreciate we need to improve in a couple of areas, and through the Guild with the support from NCASS, we will be able to do just that.

The hierarchy of ‘good food’ always seemed to be French, Italian and then everything else however, street food, casual dining and other sectors have elevated other ‘migrant’ cuisines and challenged this franco – western centric appreciation of food. We want Caribbean cuisine to be a part of that shift and pivotal in those conversations, for Carib chefs and businesses to grow their businesses and to market their offering to a wider audience.

Have you hit any glass ceilings with the project?

Well that’s always potentially a nagging concern, but we need to work on the challenges we can fix or influence – not fixate on problems we can’t. We need to push through that or nothing will change. This is something I’ve found in initial discussions, so many businesses are keen for this to happen, but how do you take the first step alone? The Guild will enable our food businesses to confidently sell a great, authentic product and to entice new customers because we’ve raised the bar together.

There are inconsistencies that have held Caribbean food back, from issues with service to inauthentic corner cutting that undermines our product. As businesses we sometimes miss out on the ‘life hacks’ that other businesses adopt with relish – for example, the number of businesses that still use Styrofoam packaging and wonder why they get refused for events is crazy. Or pouring bottled BBQ sauce on chicken and selling it as jerk! If it isn’t cooked in jerk pans – it isn’t jerk. There are small tweaks and changes that businesses could make to vastly improve their prospects and profitability and we want to help them on that journey.

Where do you see the opportunities for businesses that join up?

The Guild will underpin the quality of the food and increase perceived value. In short – we should sell more food at better margins. Customers will be able to identify authentic Caribbean food cooked properly and will seek us out. We really want to open up the best of our food culture to the wider population. At the moment, Caribbean food is predominantly aimed and marketed at the Caribbean community.

We need some way of demonstrating what authentic food, made properly is. We need a way of celebrating our many great chefs. We need to protect our food culture from appropriation and exploitation – and we need to be more profitable. To do this we need solid baselines of ingredients, production methods, good service, hygiene, professionalism and quality. We need a seal of quality that the public can recognise. People increasingly look for authentic experiences – and we want to ensure they can get that.

So how will the Guild work?

We’re still in the early stages, with a formal launch penciled in for January 2023. We are currently gathering founding members and supporters and are looking to have a big debate about underlying standards with those businesses, we will then be able to draw a line under what is authentic and move forwards. Ultimately we aim to have the Guild symbol as a sign of authenticity and quality which will enable consumers to pick the best restaurants and caterers. NCASS will help by providing systems for us to work to, training for staff to improve standards and also with the promotion of the Guild.

The work lobbying for independents during Covid was incredible and they continue to push Government to listen to small and micro businesses who need it most, not just those that could shout the loudest. In a cost of living crisis can caterers afford two memberships? I’m an NCASS member and I’ve made my money back several times over thanks to the Booker vouchers and residual cashback so I don’t see that as a cost. If you use the vouchers to buy stock you’ll cover both memberships and have cash in your pocket when you sell the food. NCASS offer monthly payments for those concerned about cash flow. The reality is by being a part of the Guild and the growth in the sector, businesses will gain an increasing number of customers and sales.

Obviously Caribbean – but which types of businesses are you aimed at?

We really want to define the different aspects of Caribbean cuisines and celebrate each one for what it is. Some of our food makes great street food, some would fitt into a bistro / trattoria label, we struggle to get our
fine dining recognised as such – that’s something we need to fix, and of course community based takeaways and function catering. We want to elevate each aspect of our cuisine and celebrate great cooks and chefs.

How do Caribbean food businesses get involved?

We have an NCASS code for people to sign up with that will allow them to identify potential Guild members, we’ll then get in contact with you to talk about joining. We are looking to support the work of the Jamaican Government in defining their cultural dishes and to agree on standards for Jamaican cuisine amongst Guild members.

We’re keen to get the input of UK based food businesses in order to develop the standards that can push our food culture forwards. We are also working with NCASS and their network of street food contacts with a view to opening access to Caribbean businesses and even to run Caribbean owned and operated events.

Join up, spread the word – spread the love! Become a founding member and help to define the future of Caribbean cuisine in the UK for years to come.

Raising the Bar

Adian and Eloise opened ‘Adian’s’ – a modern Caribbean restaurant with a vision to combine their great passions – food and art. To showcase Caribbean food in a way that has yet to be seen in Birmingham, a city that is full of so much diversity. Pushing boundaries and fusing together flavours that not only work harmoniously but are also presented in a ‘show-stopping’ manner. “Food and drink is an international vessel for bringing people together and our aim is to ensure that our dining experience is enjoyed by all no matter the occasion.

The Guild will give us the opportunity to broaden our customer base and get more people trying our food. Our cuisine has not always had the opportunity to shine, or a level playing field. The Guild will be a great asset to us in helping to change and educate mindsets in regard to Caribbean dining in order to propel us forward and engaging with customers who will truly appreciate the vision that we are executing.”

To find out more about The Guild, check out their website here. To keep up to date with further relevant industry news click here.