The ESSEC Food Business Challenges Chair and Le Cordon Bleu Paris share a common goal of training international students in the challenges of the food of the future. Joining forces, by pooling their skills and turning them into a strength thanks to the complementary nature of their respective expertise in the culinary arts and management, was a natural step. This is how the first project, “My Restaurant on the Move”, was born.

The aim of the 3-day workshop on innovation, creativity, and design was to combine the skills and expertise of the students in business and the culinary arts. Mixed teams were given the task of creating a roaming restaurant concept to be presented to a jury. 

The students had 3 days in which to come up with an original concept based on the given theme, one part of which had to be dedicated to marketing & management and another to the culinary aspect. In an increasingly complicated context due to environmental, social, and economic concerns, each project had to include a strong commitment to CSR.  

Each team worked on the following marketing strategies: definition of the concept / objectives of the concept, value proposition / targets, insight, customer benefits / the type of experience the concept aims to create. The kitchen-based culinary part involved creating a “signature” menu with a savoury and sweet dish. All the teams demonstrated outstanding creativity, imagination, and teamwork as they more than rose to the challenge.

“The biggest challenge was adapting our skills to the technical side of cuisine, we had so many ideas and needed to choose the best ones and above all link them to culinary technique which we don’t necessarily have a complete understanding of at ESSEC” Marie Violet, ESSEC student.

“It was extremely interesting as we were able to take advantage of all their experience in marketing and team building and we were able to show them exactly what we are capable of in cuisine” Fabien Crochet, Le Cordon Bleu Paris student.

Le Cordon Bleu Paris Chef Instructors and professors from ESSEC were a constant presence, providing support and sharing their expertise in both marketing and the culinary arts.

To facilitate their understanding of the theme, conferences and presentations were given by a range of experts. Professor Olivier Fourcadet, who teaches strategy at ESSEC, gave a presentation on the contextual elements of the project theme. Professor Richard C. Delerins, who teaches marketing at ESSEC, proposed a methodology for the project by providing an array of conceptual tools which are all involved in the experience (the 5 senses, emotions, personalisation, etc.). Finally, Antoine Phelouzat, Designer and Co-Founder of MakeThink led a session on the design of a roaming restaurant concept: in what does one eat, in which position, on what furniture, in which backdrop.

Le Cordon Bleu Paris and the ESSEC Food Business Challenges Chair were delighted with this first partnership which, thanks to an original project which encouraged team building, enabled skills and knowledge to be combined for the delight of both the taste buds and the eyes!