On World Food Day, Electrolux is proud to announce that ‘Like a Chef’ – the program to equip unemployed people with culinary workplace skills with a focus on sustainable cooking – is launching in Sweden, Poland, Ukraine and Egypt in October, building on the success of the Electrolux Food Foundation initiative in Brazil and Russia.
The news follows the August announcement to annually fund the Electrolux Food Foundation until 2030 with an expected total of SEK 100 million to help grow their work. Electrolux aims to make sustainable eating the preferred choice by 2030 and the Electrolux Food Foundation works with partners and employee engagement to inspire and educate on sustainable eating and cooking, and to help people in need.
The Like a Chef culinary training program began in 2017 and has so far educated over 150 people in Curitiba, São Carlos and Moscow.
“We have seen from experience that this program can truly make a difference to those who are out of work – from orphaned teenagers to single mothers – giving them both confidence and skills to gain employment,” says Ingrid Yllmark, Head of the Electrolux Food Foundation.
“We plan for this program to grow globally,” adds Malin Ekefalk, Director Social Responsibility & Community Investment, Electrolux. “We are looking for additional Electrolux locations, where we can set up the program together with our partners Worldchefs and AIESEC.”
The eight-week course developed by Worldchefs is taught by volunteer professional chefs and incorporates a zero-waste approach to promote sustainable cooking and eating.
Like a Chef will roll out in:
Sweden – Ten women are taking part in the program at Yalla Rinkeby, a worker-owned social enterprise to help immigrant women in Stockholm. The training kitchen has been equipped with a donation of Electrolux Professional appliances and courses will run four times per year.
Ukraine – Fifteen young people living in orphanages in Kiev are participating in the first wave of the program, taking in place in a local culinary school, with the aim of assisting their transition to independent living and gaining workplace skills.
Poland – In collaboration with the country’s National Federation of Food Banks, the program takes place in the city of Olzstyn where the Food Bank HQ is located. Courses will be held in a newly inaugurated community center and around 50 unemployed people will be trained annually.
Egypt – Twenty unemployed women from Cairo will be trained in the first wave in a kitchen specially built in the Electrolux cooker factory, close to the Egyptian capital. Several local partnerships are also involved and the first group of students will graduate by the end of the year.
