COOKING UP A CAREER

Starting a career in the male-dominated food industry warrants serious contemplation finds Kalwyna Rathod, but don't let that stop you if you're serious about it

- Kalwyna Rathod

As per a report by consumer data portal Statista, employment figures in the food services industry in India were over seven million in 2021, with over two million jobs being lost at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite this, the industry is expected to recover and get back on the growth trajectory in the coming years. While this is good news, the truth is also that gender disparity is as glaring an issue in the culinary industry as it is in others. But don't let that deter you. We have experts who've risen above the challenges to give you the lowdown.

KNOW WHAT YOU'RE IN FOR

Whether you're looking to be a chef or restaurateur, venture into hospitality or food blogging, styling or photography, the options are aplenty, but know that it's a male-dominated field you're stepping into.

Chef Pankaj Bhadouria, Brand Ambassador, Department of Hospitality Management, MIT - World Peace University, Pune, who is also the winner of the first season of MasterChef India, agrees, "The professional kitchen is pretty much a male-dominated world and, for a woman trying to venture into it, now that was a situation!” she recalls. “So, yes, they thought of me as ‘just a winner’ of a show, but what they did not see was the hard work and talent that went into it. It was only when they talked to me that I would see the respect in their eyes and the realisation that I knew my business!”

Ahmedabad-based Dr Navneet Gill is a dentist by education and the co-founder of Nini’s Kitchen, Baked by Nini’s and Niro. She says, “99% of the people who are the backbone of any commercial kitchen are men who don’t have formal training, very much like how