Asian restaurant operators, Mango Tree Worldwide and COCA Holdings, teamed up with the Zy Movement Foundation and offered children and teenagers with disabilities a unique farm-to-table cooking experience in Thailand last November.
Under this corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative, 10 children and teenagers were invited along with their parents to the COCA Boutique Farm in Chachoengsao Province, to gain real-life culinary skills from professional chefs.
The youngsters were welcomed at the organic farm and introduced to the chefs and the management team from COCA and Mango Tree restaurants in Thailand, India, Vietnam, Hong Kong and Japan.
Following a welcome speech and orientation session, the children were taken on a guided tour of the farm and taught about the organic produce. They then helped handpick the ingredients to be used in their dishes, including organic vegetables, eggs from free-range chickens and fresh fish.
Under the expert guidance of COCA and Mango Tree’s international chefs, the youngsters were shown how to create authentic dishes using the organic ingredients.
The organisers also invited three of the most promising participants from the programme to the COCA restaurant at CentralWorld in Bangkok early this month where they spent the day gaining practical work experience in a professional restaurant environment.
The special seafood set menu the participants helped create was offered for THB899 (US$28.00), with all revenues donated to the Zy Movement Foundation. The three children were given a certificate and daily wage.
“Farm-to-table event enables promising youngsters to gain real-world experience in a professional kitchen and support their independent living,” said Trevor MacKenzie, Mango Tree’s global managing director.
“Zy Movement Foundation is a wonderful partner which helps thousands of children with disabilities to overcome their difficulties, while also improving public understanding of these issues and creating a more barrier-free society. We are proud to partner them and help to develop new opportunities for young people at our restaurants,” he added.
A total of 42 representatives from Asian Cuisine & Hospitality and its partners, COCA Holdings, Zy Movement Foundation and COCA Boutique Farm joined the event in Thailand, and US$12,000 was raised in cash donations.
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