Le Cordon Bleu and Newrest have announced a three-year global partnership that will train 160 chefs each year. The first training sessions, to be held in November 2026, will bring together Newrest chefs and Le Cordon Bleu instructors in Paris and Lima.
Newrest’s aim is to develop advanced culinary skills plus a shared culture of excellence and craftsmanship among its global team of chefs. The caterer enters the programme with a long-term view to build stronger culinary teams, raise the level of expertise across the company and deliver an enhanced culinary experience for airline clients and their passengers.
Fundamentally, it’s about giving chefs new skills and inspiration that they can take back to their kitchens, share with their teams and translate into what is put on the plate.
Bespoke B2B training
The collaboration showcases Le Cordon Bleu’s ability to develop bespoke B2B training solutions adapted to the specific needs, challenges and ambitions of an organisation. Founded in Paris in 1895, Le Cordon Bleu has a presence in more than 20 countries. It is widely regarded as the leading global network of culinary arts and hospitality management institutes.
Initially, the two organisations collaborated during Newrest’s annual Chefs Unlimited event at Le Cordon Bleu São Paulo in May 2025. That involved Newrest chefs working alongside teams from Le Cordon Bleu in workshops, demonstrations and hands-on sessions.
“That first experience was a success and revealed a strong alignment between our two organisations, not only in our approach to culinary excellence, but also in our belief that developing great cuisine means continually investing in the people behind it,” comments Paul Schvartz, COO Europe and North Africa at Newrest.
A second event, held in Paris in February 2026, revealed a collective ambition to develop a structured, long-term collaboration.
“The three-year partnership is the natural progression of that relationship. It allows us to take what began as a successful exchange between chefs and develop it into an ambitious global training programme,” adds Schvartz.
Global training programme
In 2027, 10 sessions have been scheduled. Along with Paris and Lima, Le Cordon Bleu campuses in Ottawa, London, Istanbul and Bangkok have been selected as venues.
The programme has been developed exclusively for Newrest. It combines structured training with common technical standards and has inbuilt flexibility. The aim is for chefs to take what they learn and adapt it to their own kitchens, local ingredients and culinary traditions.
The programme is not reserved for executive chefs or those working on First or Business Class menus. It is designed to develop culinary talent across Newrest’s operations, with cooks and chefs at different levels participating.
“The idea is also that what they learn doesn’t stay with the individual chef,” explains the company’s COO. “They bring those techniques, ideas and standards back into their kitchens and share them with their teams, allowing the impact of the programme to reach much more widely across our operations.”
He emphasises: “The partnership isn’t about Le Cordon Bleu creating a new global menu for Newrest. It’s about giving our chefs new techniques, encouraging creativity and experimentation, and building an even stronger culinary foundation across our teams.”
Le Cordon Bleu’s perspective
“For Le Cordon Bleu, this collaboration perfectly aligns with our mission and educational philosophy,” says Isaure Coitreau, the organisation’s International Communications Director. “Beyond sharing technical knowledge, it allows us to contribute to the development of culinary talent on a global scale and to bring our expertise directly into professional environments where it can have an immediate impact.
At Le Cordon Bleu, we strive for excellence in education and are driven by a simple but powerful ambition: to share our expertise and inspire a passion for culinary arts and hospitality around the world. Partnerships such as this one enable us to fulfil that mission by helping professionals continue to grow throughout their careers while promoting the highest standards of culinary excellence.”
As Coitreau emphasises, the collaboration highlights the breadth of what Le Cordon Bleu can offer: “Beyond educating future professionals, and delivering culinary experiences worldwide, we work with individuals, businesses and organisations around the world to develop talent, strengthen skills and promote excellence across the culinary arts and hospitality industries.
Creating meals to remember
Along with quality ingredients, passion and talent have long been recognised as key factors in creating great food.
Newrest’s Schvartz states: “Our challenge is to deliver a great culinary experience while dealing with some very specific constraints – scale, consistency, logistics, timing and, of course, the fact that the meal will ultimately be served at 35,000 feet. But those constraints don’t change what we expect from the food itself.
The quality of the ingredients, the balance of flavours, the precision of the preparation and the presentation all matter. Particularly in premium travel, the culinary experience has become an integral part of the overall passenger journey and an important expression of an airline’s standards and identity.
That’s why working with Le Cordon Bleu makes so much sense for us. It gives our chefs access to one of the world’s most respected culinary institutions, with an extraordinary tradition of excellence, while giving them the opportunity to refine their techniques, exchange ideas and explore new approaches to their craft.”
He stresses that the goal is not to make everyone cook the same way. That’s important as, with kitchens around the world, Newrest identifies the diversity of its cultures, ingredients and culinary traditions as one of its greatest strengths.
“Our ambition is to raise the bar across the board while giving our chefs the freedom to express excellence through local ingredients, flavours and culinary traditions,” says Schvartz.
Fostering creativity and ideas
To that end, the collaborative programme will focus on strengthening techniques, encouraging creativity, exploring new ideas and presenting chefs with opportunities to learn from colleagues with markedly different culinary backgrounds.
“Newrest and Le Cordon Bleu have designed the training specifically around the environment our chefs work in and the unique challenges of airline catering,” explains Schvartz. “Airline catering has very particular demands. You’re producing at scale, consistency is essential, there are significant logistical constraints and yet the quality and presentation of the food still have to meet very high standards.
The challenge is therefore to take the very best culinary techniques and apply them within this demanding environment, without compromising on quality, creativity or presentation. That’s what this programme is designed to do. The programme has been developed exclusively for Newrest and combines structured training with common technical standards, but there’s also flexibility built into it.
“Ultimately, we want to create a shared standard of culinary excellence, not standardised cuisine. We want the same commitment to quality, creativity and consistency across our operations, while ensuring that the food continues to reflect local ingredients, flavours and culinary traditions,” concludes Schvartz.
That journey begins in earnest for Newrest and Le Cordon Bleu in the capitals of France and Peru.
