THE ROLE OF A BEEF + LAMB AMBASSADOR CHEF
The role of the Beef + Lamb Ambassador Chefs are to be the voices of Beef + Lamb New Zealand, driving innovation and creativity within the food service sector and to provide information on using beef and lamb at a consumer level. We also see the role as bridging the gap between our stakeholders (the farmer, the processor and the retailer), and the restaurant industry - or in other words to tell the gate-to-plate story and ultimately to shape our country’s food story. We do this in a number of ways as outlined below.
AMBASSADOR CHEF PHOTO SHOOT
This will take place in January 2020 and the objective of this day is to bring our new chefs together to meet each other, meet the Beef + Lamb NZ team and to have a chat about the year ahead. This is a fun, all expenses paid trip to Auckland and a great opportunity to get to know your fellow Ambassadors and share ideas. Each chef has the chance to cook either a beef or lamb dish which we will photograph and capture on video. It’s also an opportunity for us to find out more about your career, your restaurant and the food you like to cook. We spend the day capturing as much photography and video footage as possible from each chef to kick start our food service year and to use throughout the year as content.
BEEF + LAMB AMBASSADOR SERIES
These are a series of dinners spaced throughout the year where each Ambassador Chef hosts a beef and lamb degustation in their own restaurant as a ticketed event and is often the highlight of the year for the chef. It is a chance for them to showcase to their community and food producers why they were chosen as an Ambassador Chef. There is also the opportunity to make this a collaboration dinner with one of our Platinum Ambassador Chefs which adds another dimension to the dinner to have an out-of-town guest chef as part of the dinner. We have an ongoing relationship with Service IQ to provide an opportunity for each Ambassador Chef to be a mentor for a day to an apprentice chef in the lead up to their Ambassador Series Dinner. We see this as a great opportunity for young chefs learning the trade from some of the industry’s best. This has worked very well in the past and we hope to continue this partnership again in 2020.
OPPORTUNITIES TO SHOWCASE YOUR SKILLS
Throughout the year we are sometimes asked to sponsor various food events by way of providing an Ambassador Chef to do cooking demonstrations and most of these are aimed at a consumer audience. When these opportunities arise we will offer you the chance to represent Beef + Lamb New Zealand in your capacity as an Ambassador Chef.
SOCIAL MEDIA/BLOGS/WEBSITE/NEWSLETTER CONTENT
As an Ambassador Chef and industry leader we value your knowledge and opinion and throughout the year we will be in touch to obtain information from you to use across our social media platforms and for our newsletters and blogs. We see this as an opportunity to impart our Ambassador Chef’s expertise and knowledge of New Zealand beef and lamb to their peers.
We will be relaunching our website in January 2020 to be the Beef + Lamb New Zealand food service hub which will be the platform for all information which comes from our Ambassador Chefs. We also have a dedicated Instagram page @nzexcellenceawards with the purpose being to engage with the industry at a closer level and to have our Ambassador Chefs’ faces more prominent and recognisable within the industry.
The role of the Beef + Lamb Ambassador Chefs are about fostering creativity and innovation through a network of like-minded chefs. With this in mind, we have created a closed Facebook group that acts as a forum for all chefs to share news, ideas or even reach out for advice. The group is open to all chefs, apprentices and front of house who are keen to be part of the community.
We will be leading the way in posting and sharing content on the group, and we encourage our Ambassador Chefs to engage and share yourself. Whether that’s joining in with a debate, sharing a interesting news article or just a fun video to on your latest dish. Every bit helps to encourage others to contribute.
CONTRIBUTIONS FOR MEDIA PUBLICATIONS
From time to time we are approached by the media requiring comments from chefs on what is trending or in season for beef and lamb for their publications. Where possible we will pass these requests onto our Ambassador Chefs positioning them as thought leaders within their industry.