The Culinary Institute of Canada at Holland College, Griffith Foods, and Canada’s Smartest Kitchen have partnered to launch a set of new courses with the goal of preparing students for success on the Research Chefs Association’s (RCA) Certified Culinary Scientist (CCS) examination.

With its first intake in May, 2016, this unique offering is a blend of online and face to face training designed to help food scientists and product development professionals merge the complimentary disciplines of culinary arts and food science. Completion of the courses meets the RCA’s requirement of 120 contact hours and builds the skills needed to successfully challenge the exam leading to accreditation from the leading professional community for food research and development.

Holland College president Dr. Brian McMillan said the development of the course is a natural fit with The Culinary Institute of Canada’s other program offerings, and the abilities of its research arm, Canada’s Smartest Kitchen.

“The Culinary Institute of Canada is one of the best training facilities in North America, and Canada’s Smartest Kitchen is building a strong reputation within the region and further afield based on its ability to take concepts and turn them into exceptional food products. Leveraging the strengths of our creative capabilities and the scientific capabilities of Griffith Foods to create this course, fosters more efficient development and delivery of high quality training materials,” he said.

“We at Griffith Foods have long recognized the power of merging the artistic and scientific mindset,” said Jim Thorne, general manager of Griffith Foods. “Our R&D and culinary teams focus on creating the best tasting and performing products, delivering foods our customers love. We believe that having certified culinary scientists on our team will strengthen our product development credibility and expertise. We see the certification as becoming the new industry standard for scientists and development professionals. Griffith Foods is focused on ‘creating better together’ and we’re excited to be part of this program, which we believe will help create better food, together as an industry, for the consumer.”