the essential
The 3rd Hotel, Restaurant and Catering Forum took place Monday in Sapiac. Between conferences and job dating, the difficulties encountered by companies were discussed, and the concerns raised by Thierry Marx, the starred chef.
The 3rd Hotel, Restaurant and Catering Forum, organized by the department’s Union of Hotel Trades and Industries (UMIH82), took place in Sapiac in the presence of starred chef Thierry Marx. The objectives of this day are multiple. First of all, it is about putting the spotlight on the 55 professions that the profession brings together and showing their attractiveness.
The Forum welcomed 60 students from the Lycée Bourdelle and the Jean de Prades high school in Castelsarrasin, 34 apprentices from the CFA, 180 middle school students from Saint-Antonin, Moissac, Olympe de Gouges and Azaña. They were able to attend cooking demonstrations and interact with members of the Académie Culinaire de France, the Institut Disciples Escoffier and the French Association of Master Restaurateurs.
Seven conferences
Seven conference debates reserved for professionals made it possible to address the major themes that concern them: “The new expectations of our customers: eat well, eat healthy”, hosted by Ad’Occ Occitanie and Bleu, Blanc, Cœur; “Sustainable development: from constraint to opportunity” by the City of Montauban, Sirtomad and UMIH82; “Here are the big projects! It concerns us” by the Grand Sud Community of Communes; “You have talent, we have the training solution” with Greta, the Local Mission, the Orientation Center, the Vocational High School and UMIH82; “Recruitment assistance” with Cap Emploi, France Travail, the Occitanie Region, the CCI; “Tourism in Tarn-et Garonne” with the Grand Montauban Tourist Office and Tarn-et-Garonne Tourism; “What if we talked about digital tools” with the CCI.
The job dating which brought together the main employers was a great success.
“Our businesses are in great difficulty”
We had the pleasure of meeting Thierry Marx who knows the region well and trains the chefs of tomorrow on five campuses including that of Souillac in the Lot. The ‘Thierry Marx college’ intends to make the chefs of tomorrow responsible entrepreneurs, chefs promoting fair cooking, short circuits, and a zero waste approach.
“I go every first Monday of each month to a department to discuss the daily problems of the profession, its economic problems. For three years, our companies have been in great difficulty, in 2023 in France we deplore 8,000 closures”.
Tarn-et-Garonne has 500 restaurateurs, caterers, hoteliers, cafe owners, a roughly stable but fragile figure. “The profession does not like vagueness. The unstable political situation for several months has created anxiety, we need a direction. Our concern is great in the face of taxes, VAT, the increase in energy, planing the formations…”.
And Thierry Marx for investing in eating better. “You have to be able to flourish in this profession, to work with producers who fight to reduce the environmental impact, I think that it is a whole that allows us to protect gastronomy. We must be eco-responsible”.
To say that he is an activist, the star chef does not go that far. “I am a citizen. I am fighting against the uberization of work, the deregulation of the profession, the strong lobbying of the parahotel industry. Some were even official sponsors of the Olympic Games! There needs to be arbitration by the State and the Town Halls, the parahotel industry causes a shortage of housing for their citizens. We must confront everyone with reality to find solutions and make our professions attractive.
Thierry Marx, very available, met and exchanged with all the participants of the forum.
Contact UMIH 82: CCI Montauban – 06 58 83 41 51
