Ralf Herrgott named Worldchefs ambassador

Chief Ralf Herrgott has been appointed as one of the education committee and academy members of the World Association of Chefs’ Societies (Worldchefs).

Worldchefs is a non-political professional organisation dedicated to maintaining and improving the culinary standards of global cuisines, representing a global voice on all issues related to the culinary profession.

Committee members serve as Worldchefs ambassadors, growing the brand’s voice and programmes at a global scale. Each committee plays a vital role in advancing Worldchefs’ initiatives.

Some of the other education committee members are Majed Al Sabagh (Syria), Mohamad Arieffudin Bin Abdul Khalid (Malaysia), Mooroogun Coopen (Mauritius), Antonio Danise (Italy), Karen Doyle (Australia), Fernando de la Feunte (Chile), Evagoras Hadjipavlou (Cyprus), Thomas Hurter (South Africa), Decheng Hou (China) and Tarek Ibrahim (Egypt). Chairman Andreas Muller is from Germany, and the vice chairmen are Michael Baskette from the United States and Marcus Hallgren from Sweden.

Herrgott says he feels proud, even as such a small member country, to be able to contribute to the global vision and educational aspects of the association.

“It’s really an honour to be able to serve on this committee as it gives us recognition from a very important global culinary association. As per the mission of the educational committee, we hope to support and attain, maintain, enhance and embrace life-long learning pathways in regards to articulation pathways. We aim to also maintain and enhance culinary, as well as hospitality skills and competency aspects and standards. We have not been clearly given any tasks yet but it could entail organising small educational events and doing promotions,” he says.

Herrgott says his passion for education drives him to inspire more talented chefs.

“As I am an educator myself at the Namibia University of Science and Technology (Nust), I find it very important to spread the word about our industry so that more young people embrace our profession as chefs. It is very hard to find good chefs and young people that are willing to join our industry – I really want to promote our profession and show the youngsters why it is such an exciting and interesting job to be a professional chef,” he says.

Herrgott says being a chef is a great career path and he wants to share this experiences with more people. He believes now is the right time for young Namibians to take up a career in hospitality and the culinary arts as it holds many opportunities.

“This is a career that can take you anywhere in the world and also gives you the opportunity to meet people from all walks of life. I really love my job and would like to encourage others to follow suit,” Herrgott says.