The SIRHA Europain trade fair: serving up a world of opportunities for our students
During the four-day SIRHA Europain trade fair, which ran from 21st to 24th January, our Boulangerie students not only had the opportunity to assist our Chefs with their demonstrations, but were also able to enjoy a range of different activities.16 students from all over the world who had recently embarked on our Diplôme de Boulangerie programme put themselves forward to give the Chef Instructors a helping hand at the fair. Their mission? Assist whichever Chef was giving the daily demonstration at Le Cordon Bleu Paris’s stand. The tasks they were asked to accomplish included preparing, chopping and weighing ingredients and keeping an eye on bakes, providing invaluable help whilst putting the skills they had already acquired on the programme into practice.
When they weren’t helping out on the stand, the students could enjoy browsing the trade fair’s aisles and engaging with other exhibitors. As a not-to-be-missed date in the boulangerie and pastry industry’s calendar, the event attracted 534 exhibitors in all, giving our students a golden opportunity to dig a little deeper into the sector’s key businesses and trades. They were able to gain an insight into all aspects of bakery life, meeting millers, oven manufacturers, food packaging manufacturers and even retail software suppliers.
The event also gave them the chance to watch some international culinary contests play out live, including the European Pastry Cup and the Bakery World Cup. In addition, they were able to attend masterclasses, panel discussions and interviews with industry professionals, such as Nina Metayer, who was crowned the World’s Best Pastry Chef in 2023.
According to Chef Hoël, who supervised the students during the event:
Our students really did themselves proud, from the way they were dressed to the way they prepared the demonstrations, remaining polite and cheerful throughout. They browsed the different stands hosted by bakery and pastry professionals, and also enjoyed watching the various contests that were taking place. They chatted with millers, sampled products and discovered all the different types of equipment needed to run a bakery. It was a really great atmosphere.
Le Cordon Bleu Paris would like to thank all the students for being such willing, cheerful and hardworking helpers.
