4.2 min read

For a long time, the restaurant business had a reputation for being a male-dominated industry and a tough environment to work in. Twenty years ago, it might have been commonplace for chefs to spend 90 hours a week at work and being yelled at by their superiors, while earning low pay. The default perception of a restaurant’s kitchen was one with a culture of machismo.

I’ve seen the hospitality industry evolve a lot over the past two decades. One of the great changes has been the increasing numbers of women entering the hospitality workforce. In recent years, both TAFE and the William Angliss Institute reported that the majority of their enrolments have been female.

2019 Appetite For Excellence Young Chef Winner Announced

This is also reflected in what we’re seeing with the talent coming through the Appetite for Excellence program. This year we had the largest proportion of female applicants ever and the highest number of women national finalists. Three out of seven Young Chef finalists were female and of the total number of winners and runners-up, four out of five were women.

Danielle Gjestland, founder and co-owner of Noosa’s hospitality collective Wasabi Group, is a former winner and long-time judge of the Appetite for Excellence Awards. Reflecting on gender diversity in the program over the years, she says, “When I went through the program in 2009, I certainly felt like the odd one out, not just in the awards but in the industry as a whole. Now as a judge, I’ve witnessed an extraordinary shift in the applications.

“It seems like the younger generation of women in the industry suddenly realised how valuable they are and are not afraid to put themselves forward for critical assessment. The talent has always been there, but now they have the confidence to own it. I think women leading by example and showing that you can thrive in the industry has been instrumental [in that].”

However, there’s still some gender discrepancy when it comes to senior positions – something often attributed to the belief that having a family is incompatible with a long-term career in the hospitality industry. Danielle disagrees with this. “We have wonderful examples of women who have both, such as my fellow Appetite for Excellence judge Marilyn Annecchini of Pilu, Anna Pavoni of Ormeggio and Rebecca Lines of Banksii,” she says.

“But I think we need to be better at communicating the wide range of roles in the industry. There’s more to making a successful restaurant than being a chef and we need to spread some of the attention to other spaces where women can also excel, such as front of house and being a restaurateur.”

2019 Appetite For Excellence Young Waiter Finalists

Overall, the restaurant industry is changing for the better and I think its leaders have a responsibility to communicate the positive shift to those who are just starting out. We try to do this with initiatives such as The Inspired Series, showing the next generation that hospitality is a desirable and fulfilling career choice for both women and men. At the end of the day, we need to be able to sustain our people in order for our industry to thrive.

Our next Inspired Series event will take place in Perth on Thursday, November 14 and features leading front-of-house professional Kylie Javier Ashton as a speaker. Register to attend here.

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