By Sachin Murdeshwar

Mumbai: Students from the Hotel Management Course at CEDP Thane enthusiastically competed against each other to win the coveted title of master mixologist at the recently concluded Indian summer Cooler Fest. This contest brought together the best of the student batches who displayed their astute knowledge of ingredients and mixology techniques to create astounding mocktails that impressed the panel of judges present.

The talent exhibited by the students floored the expert judging panel which included Cordon Bleu Chef Michael Swamy, Pooja Bimrah- Former Miss India, Esha Shah – Celebrity Food Blogger, Pooja Ketan Naik – Opera Mrs. India Global 2018 Runner up and Geeta Sridhar – Master Chef Finalist. The winning drink from the competition will be a part of the menu at all the hotels of the Kamat Group.

The Indian Summer Cooler Fest had close to 180 students from CEDP participating in the preliminary round, out of which only 10 made it to the finals. The large number of participation also highlighted the fact that students who are aspiring to be a part of the hospitality sector look towards bartendering and mixology as a serious profession. The event also had presence of important stakeholders from the F&B industry who were happy to see the talent pool which is available to sustain the growth being experienced by the hospitality sector in the recent times.

Commenting on the occasion, Mrs Shaheen Khan, Founder & CEO, CEDP Skill Institute, said “Having been in the Skills training industry for close to a decade, we at CEDP Skill Institute have seen an exponential growth in the number of students opting for the Hotel Management course at our institute. While most of the students have been successfully placed at various 5-star hotels across the globe, we realized that there’s a need to create a platform which would enable our students to showcase their talent and skills to a broader audience. We are glad that through The Indian Summer Cooler Fest, we were able to celebrate our in-house talent and aid them in reaching out to larger number of audience”.

Commenting on the opportunities present in the F&B sector, Mr Vasim Shaikh, Group Chairman and Managing Director, CEDP Skill Institute said “The opportunity presented by the growing F&B industry has caught the eye of the aspiring young Indian entrepreneurs  who have started looking at the F&B industry as a go-to industry to realize his/her entrepreneurial dreams. The same is being reflected with the number of cafes, QSRs, bars, home kitchens or fine dining restaurants springing up around us every almost every alternate day. Having a positive trickle-down effect on job creation within and outside the country. The stage is set for job seekers to acquire the required skills set and be a part of this booming hospitality sector. We at CEDP constantly look forward to providing skills training which are industry relevant and make our students job ready”.