The Marine Hotel Association has teamed up with CIA Consulting, a business unit of the Culinary Institute of America, the world’s premier culinary college, on a professional training and development program for its cruise line members. The Culinary Professional Development Program will be offered as scholarships to MHA Cruise Line members beginning in October.

CIA chef instructors will deliver a five-day, hands-on training program for scholarship awardees nominated by the Marine Hotel Association. The inaugural program will take place at the CIA’s New York campus, and a second training will be offered at the CIA’s Singapore campus in June 2025.

The program is designed to help culinary professionals advance their careers.  Attendees will gain an understanding of global flavors with techniques and strategies to execute these flavors in a plant-forward environment. Topics including yield and food waste, cost awareness, total utilization of product, and sustainability will be included in the curriculum.

The program was developed by CIA Consulting, with input from the MHA Culinary Council, which is composed of culinary leaders from across the cruise industry.

“We are excited to team up with the MHA to make this program possible,” said David Kamen, director of client experience for CIA Consulting. “Ensuring that these culinary team members have proper training will not only help participating cruise lines improve food yield and reduce waste, it will also help increase guest satisfaction, by providing a global palette of vibrant and flavorful menu items.”

“We are delighted to be re-introducing the MHA scholarship program in 2024 with this new Culinary focused offering. The MHA has delivered thousands of scholarships to the industry over its 40 years of existence and this is a natural evolution of the program to recognize the level of professional leadership in our Culinarians onboard,” added John McGirl, Chair of the MHA Scholarship Foundation and Chief People Officer at Starboard Cruise Services.

“I’m Honored to be serving as both the Chair of the Culinary Council and the President of the Marine Hotel Association, I am immensely proud to witness the transformative impact our newly formed Culinary Council is making for our talented chefs on the high seas. Our mission at the MHA has always been to support the folks that make it happen onboard by fostering excellence within the maritime hospitality industry through various strategic associations. With the establishment of the Culinary Council, and together with the CIA (Culinary Institute of America) we have taken a monumental step forward in achieving this goal as we are create unprecedented opportunities for culinary talent to thrive,” noted Philippe Faucher, President, MHA Board of Directors and senior Vice President of The Apollo Group