Qatar’s food and beverage sector proved to be resilient in the face of a global health crisis, overcoming many challenges with the use of modern technology – backed by creativity and innovation, The Cooking Academy founder and CEO Mohamed “Malik” Alhammadi has said.
The Cooking Academy is participating for the second time at the Qatar International Food Festival (QIFF) with 12 chefs, catering for different cooking demonstrations and workshops, which include bakery and pastry chefs, and food vloggers. “Covid-19 (pandemic) was a major hit to all businesses, all dine-in was shut down. My business, The Cooking Academy, has the slogan “Let’s get together”, so getting together was not possible and we had to challenge ourselves and change our ideas, our operating model, and our business model in order to survive.
“Therefore this challenge only made us stronger, we acquire more positions, we lifted our name by going to people’s houses instead of gathering in a digital mean, we created something called “Cook it at home” where you receive a box with chopped and weighted ingredients,” Alhammadi said. “It is cleaned and all you have to do is play a game of lego and keep on following instructions and you will have a dish readymade.”
“Cook it at home” is “a unique cooking experience; specialised cooking boxes containing the finest and freshest ingredients, alongside with a recipe booklet and a live video demonstration by our certified in-house chefs.”
He highlighted the significant contribution of technology in the F&B sector, in making Qatar’s culinary scene more vibrant, and specifically in reaching out to clients amid the Covid-19 pandemic. He said they were able to cope up with the demand despite the difficulties during the onslaught of the crisis. “We were successful enough to sell around 4,000 units of ‘Cook it at home’ and this was a kind of safety net for us to survive the first and second wave of the Covid19.
“We are creating a bigger gallery just in case this hits us again, God forbid, but we need this digital means. We also got involved with German schools, Swiss schools with the Turkish culinary academy in the pandemic time and we were sharing digitally on live Instagram, and on different engagements together to keep us alive around that time,” Alhammadi said.
“With the health awareness that is happening and the knowledge of gastronomy being embedded I think more and more people are getting to understand that culinary is not only our traditional dishes, rather it is a science,” he stressed.
The Cooking Academy is participating for the second time at the Qatar International Food Festival (QIFF) with 12 chefs, catering for different cooking demonstrations and workshops, which include bakery and pastry chefs, and food vloggers. “Covid-19 (pandemic) was a major hit to all businesses, all dine-in was shut down. My business, The Cooking Academy, has the slogan “Let’s get together”, so getting together was not possible and we had to challenge ourselves and change our ideas, our operating model, and our business model in order to survive.
“Therefore this challenge only made us stronger, we acquire more positions, we lifted our name by going to people’s houses instead of gathering in a digital mean, we created something called “Cook it at home” where you receive a box with chopped and weighted ingredients,” Alhammadi said. “It is cleaned and all you have to do is play a game of lego and keep on following instructions and you will have a dish readymade.”
“Cook it at home” is “a unique cooking experience; specialised cooking boxes containing the finest and freshest ingredients, alongside with a recipe booklet and a live video demonstration by our certified in-house chefs.”
He highlighted the significant contribution of technology in the F&B sector, in making Qatar’s culinary scene more vibrant, and specifically in reaching out to clients amid the Covid-19 pandemic. He said they were able to cope up with the demand despite the difficulties during the onslaught of the crisis. “We were successful enough to sell around 4,000 units of ‘Cook it at home’ and this was a kind of safety net for us to survive the first and second wave of the Covid19.
“We are creating a bigger gallery just in case this hits us again, God forbid, but we need this digital means. We also got involved with German schools, Swiss schools with the Turkish culinary academy in the pandemic time and we were sharing digitally on live Instagram, and on different engagements together to keep us alive around that time,” Alhammadi said.
“With the health awareness that is happening and the knowledge of gastronomy being embedded I think more and more people are getting to understand that culinary is not only our traditional dishes, rather it is a science,” he stressed.
