A vida dos chefs fora dos restaurantes: Carmen Correia at TEDxCampos
## Speaker Context * Speaker is a celebrity chef agent. * The talk was at a TED event. * The speaker established an intent to start with a "very shocking statement" and asked the audience, "please pay attention to the very end." ## People * Alicia (Audience member): Mentioned by the speaker to "pay attention to the very end." * Sean Hergod: A man, 36 years old, from Australia, who has a restaurant in New York City. * Jeffrey: The speaker's assistant who pre-screens potential dates. ## Organizations * Chef Network: A speaker's bureau that books various personalities, including celebrity chefs, to generate revenue for chefs outside of restaurants. * Food Network: Mentioned as a source of energy in the speaker's office about five years ago, which led to increased interest. * Cargill beef: An American cattle farm/producer involved in a 20-year deal with a large grocery chain. * Italian consulate: Mentioned regarding changes in wordings around food imports. ## Places * Brazil: Location where the speaker was welcomed. * New York (City): Location where the speaker recently visited, visited a restaurant called "Show Sho," and where Sean Hergod has a restaurant. * Toronto: Location of one of the speaker's offices and where the speaker's sister and the speaker visited a cake shop. * Sao Paulo: Location where the speaker found the best chocolate cake. * Washington D.C. area (implied): Related to the cattle farm deal (using American beef). * Quebec: Area where cheese producers are mentioned to have banded together. * Canada: Country from which the speaker will be returning. ## Tools, Tech & Products * Macbook: (Not explicitly mentioned, but implied by professional setting). * iPad: Cited as a great example of quantum innovation; it was purchased because "it's fun," not for utility. ## Concepts & Definitions * Celebrity chef agent: A business that makes money for chefs outside of a restaurant. * Speaker's bureau: An agency that books authors, presidents, olympians, and celebrity chefs. * Brand ambassador: Preferred term for chefs, rather than "celebrity." * Incremental innovation: Focusing on the existing products available, such as changing a restaurant's menu four times a year. * Breakthrough innovation: Changing how consumers are thinking, attempting to "wow" them. * Quantum innovation: A very rare change that completely changes how consumers see a product or service. ## Numbers & Data * 10 acres: Size of the speaker's parents' farm. * 16: Age when the speaker realized their parents couldn't read the macaroni and cheese boxes. * 20 years: Duration of the deal signed by a large grocery chain with Cargill beef. * 5 years: Approximate time frame when the energy around celebrity chefs went "kaboom" in the speaker's office. * 2,000: Number of chefs the speaker's company takes care of. * One third (33.3%): Proportion of the 2,000 chefs who go out to events. * One third (33.3%): Proportion of the 2,000 chefs who are within their own countries/cities. * One third (33.3%): Proportion of the 2,000 chefs who are trying to gain stage presence/travel. * 36: Age of Sean Hergod. * 8: Number of grilled cheese sandwiches offered at one specific Toronto shop. * 100: Number of cheese producers mentioned in a small area of Quebec. * Forty percent: Estimated percentage of the speaker's business driven by pharmaceuticals. ## Claims & Theses * The speaker can make money for chefs anything outside of a restaurant. * The publisher's job is actually to print the book; it's the chef's job to sell it. * The chefs are brand ambassadors for food and lifestyle, not just food and wine. * The easiest way to remember what Chef Network does is: "we make revenue for chefs anything outside of a restaurant." * Little boutiques (like cheese producers) can join together and change government rules. * An innovative organization helps its people see that there are many types of innovation. * Innovation does not come from a big beautiful office; it comes from the trenches. * To be innovative, you have to really encourage yourself and others around you. * The iPad is an example of quantum innovation because it was built for fun, not just utility. ## Mechanisms & Processes * Getting a restaurant off the ground: Involves helping chefs get published, showing them how to sell cookbooks, and advising on getting clients, banks, and sponsors. * Selling cookbooks: The process involves showing chefs how to get clients, banks, and sponsors, and how to pay for the book and get it off the shelf for world sales. * Beef production transparency: Large grocery chains signing deals can override local or organic sourcing efforts (e.g., signing a deal with Cargill beef instead of supporting local producers). * Crafting an "international" perception: Entities like the Italian consulate are changing wording, altering "import" to "heritage food" to fight against localism efforts. ## Timeline & Events * Before the talk: The speaker visited New York "about last week." * When the speaker was growing up: The speaker would beg parents to make macaroni and cheese, and only figured out the issue at age 16. * Before the speaker came to the talk: The speaker visited the Italian consulate. * Five years ago: The energy around celebrity chefs went "kaboom" in the speaker's office. ## Examples & Cases * Macaroni and Cheese: Early example of processed food vs. scratch cooking learned from the speaker's childhood. * BMW endorsements: Example of endorsements outside of food and wine. * Tourism exchange: Specific example of a tourism exchange between French chefs in Montreal and New York chefs. * Show Sho: Restaurant in New York City cited as a place to see herbs to vegetables concepts. * The "whole entire herb" concept: One chef in New York ordering herbs (like chive) from farmers requiring the root, bulb, and stem. * Best chocolate cake: The cake found in Toronto, which the speaker claimed was the best, comparing it to other examples. * Grilled cheese sandwiches: Mentioned as a niche restaurant item popping up everywhere. * Pork specialization: Chef Todd English specializing only in pork. * Hook fishing/sustainability: Shops selling sustainable fish only caught by hook, not net. * American cattle farm deal: Specific case where a large grocery chain signed a 20-year deal with Cargill beef for the organic section. * Private label: The grocery chain creating its own private label, which was noted to be of better quality than expected. ## Trade-offs & Alternatives * Culinary focus vs. Expansion: Chefs' careers are not limited to food and wine, expanding to include environment, transportation, and tourism. * Cooking Method Trade-off: Cooking from scratch (labor-intensive, better flavor) vs. processed alternatives (e.g., store-bought Mac & Cheese). * Beef Sourcing Trade-off: Supporting local/Canadian beef producers vs. accepting 20-year deals with large US producers like Cargill. * Word Choice Trade-off: Using the term "import" vs. changing it to "heritage food" in marketing. * Innovation Source Trade-off: Thinking innovation only comes from large companies vs. recognizing it can come from a few people or the kitchen. ## Counterarguments & Caveats * Parents couldn't read the boxes: The reason the speaker's parents couldn't cook the Mac & Cheese correctly. * Not just food and wine: Correcting the scope of chef endorsements to include tourism, environment, etc. * Celebrity status caveat: The speaker prefers "brand ambassador" over "celebrity." * Labor intensity: Noting the significant labor involved in farming/cooking from scratch, contrasted with the ease of modern food. * Consumer influence: Acknowledging that, despite desire for local, the market is ultimately "consumer driven." * "I'm not even sure why": Expressing uncertainty about the reason for certain marketing changes (e.g., removing "fat" or "salt" from wording). ## Methodology * Research: The speaker conducted research, including reviewing TED talks. * Observation: The speaker observes trends by spending time with chefs and visiting various businesses (grocery stores, niche shops). * Inquiry: The speaker asks direct questions, such as inquiring about a friend's picture for Facebook. ## References Cited * TED talks: The general context of research material. * Italian consulate: An entity whose wording changes were noted. ## Conclusions & Recommendations * The speaker requests an invitation for anyone in the audience coming to Toronto or New York, to send an email to info@chefnetworking.com with the subject "Brazil Visitor." * The speaker asks for the audience to send help/support to the speaker's endeavors. * Visitors should follow the rules for dating: Must have two pieces of valid government ID, no lies about last names, must have active Facebook, must not wear socks, must have no kids, and if divorced, must be prepared to move back in with parents (though this might not apply in Brazil). * The message is to encourage self and others to be innovative. ## Implications & Consequences * If the trend continues, pharmaceuticals are becoming heavily involved in influencing food/lifestyle messaging. * If people do not innovate, they risk stagnation and failing to meet consumer needs. * If chefs do not gain this reach, their ability to earn revenue outside the restaurant is limited. ## Open Questions * What will the audience do with the information provided? * What is the full extent of the pharmaceutical influence on food decisions? ## Verbatim Moments * "if that's okay so alicia pay attention to the very end." * "i make money for chefs anything outside of a restaurant." * "the publisher's job is actually to print the book it's your job to sell it." * "it's not just food and wine it's not just agriculture it's for environment um transportation tourism as i mentioned before" * "eating local inorganic recycling" * "it's so funny to see the trends of the chefs now having relationships with the farmers the farmers with agriculture that's how we were raised" * "the only entertainment was your free time" * "it's not editing the flavor" * "they're brand ambassadors for food and lifestyle that's what they are" * "no detail is nothing new it's just a saving of waste of a certain animal" * "the whole entire herb" * "it's very impressed" * "it's really hard to watch for" * "they're changing that word to heritage food" * "fat is flavor for me" * "pharmaceuticals are probably forty percent of our business and people don't think that when they think celebrated chefs and craft foods or anything else but the pharmaceuticals are driving a lot of decisions out there" * "The only successful relationship is with food so that's me." * "no liars" * "i don't need your money i just want to make sure that your bills are taken care of"