Is Becoming a Bakery Chef a Good Career Choice in India?

When we generally talk of the bakery, a lot of mesmerizing products comes in our mind. Cakes, doughnuts, biscuits, chocolate cookies, and many more that are favorite in our daily life. Bakery Chef are quite popular in crafting these modern products with their creativity and presentations.

There was a time in early 2000 when Bakery professionals were looking for job opportunities in abroad to fulfill their better prospects in the future. But with the growth of tourism in India, many Hotels and bakery establishments were set to meet the demands for the foreign clientele.

Now with a modern population of India making a taste for Bakery delicious products, there are huge opportunities for professionals to grow in this market of billion population. Recent trends have shown that Bakery Chef is among the most popular creative and earning field for new age professionals.

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Bakery Profession – A Brief History

Bakery goods have been part of the food industry since their evolution. With the culinary improvements, there was parallel growth in their methodologies too. At the beginning of the 20th century, it was now seen as a completely separate branch from Food production and an era of Bakery products started. New bakers used their creativity to add colors, styles, and shapes in their products to further attract more customer.

With the end of the colonial era, many of these bakery products especially cakes, bread, doughnuts, brownies, etc were now used in celebration with weddings, birthday cakes, anniversaries or enjoy the business events. Now with modern evolution these bakery and similar establishments become commercial. Many companies have set corporate products that cater to a large population and have large warehouses where bakers are in a lot of demand these days.

Now there are courses available in the education curriculum that offers sophisticated guidance for students and learners to kick start their careers in Bakery. Chef IBCA is a premium institute for the learning curve in Bakery; taught with top industry experts for giving students the right platform from their beginning.

Scope and Career Prospects

There are numerous opportunities for Bakery profession in India. Many Hotels and restaurant are there where professional bakers are required to meet their daily requirements. Most of these establishments have their hierarchy for the Bakery section under the Food production department. From trainee to executive chef each position comes up with different role and responsibilities.

Many Hotels and restaurant go for taking interviews in the top institutes and campus placements. Students and learners must try to maximize their opportunities for grabbing the best positions in the industry. An effective beginning can give students the right path for building a smart career in Bakery. Learning with experience, creativity and discipline are the qualities that students must acquire to have a long sustainable career in Bakery.

Even with skills and experience many professional go on to start their Bakery, selling products to direct customers. Many ambitious bakers plan to use their skills to self-entrepreneurship and launch their brand in the market. There are also other options as a Cookery Show Host, Event and Wedding Caterer, Writing with Blogging and Journalism, Restaurant Manager and regular positions in Cuisines/Railways/Airlines Bakers.

What is the difference between a baker and a pastry chef?

Generally, anyone who works in a Bakery establishment is termed as Baker while a Pastry Chef is more an expert position with expertise in Sweet dishes and better pay-grade.

Also Read: Tips to Improvise your Next Batch of Cookies

There are a lot of products made in traditional bakery arrangements with Bread, pastries, pies, rolls, cakes, quiches, several savory and sweet dishes. When you are working in a bakery it is common to work on a mixture of these multiple products on a single day. Basic preparations of these bakery items should be known to a Baker for earning a specialization in the future. For an amateur and beginners level bakers, it might involve long working hours, basic skills, learning and taking the experience from other senior-level experts.

While a Pastry Chef is more of a high up position in the Bakery Hierarchy with a management position. Although job responsibilities will vary from establishments to establishments, still they are the one with profound expertise in the production of dessert products and deals with presentations to enhance the user experience with their skills. Although you might find them working with bakers all the time and guiding trainees to teach them on the advanced skills.

How much does a bakery chef earn in India?

In terms of income, it is tough in the beginning with trainee Chef earning Rs 10K to Rs 15K per month. Once you have the understanding of your work and industry your salary will gradually rise to Rs 40K to Rs 50K with experience ranging from 5 to 10 Years respectively.

By acquiring skills and experience you can get the topmost positions as Executive Chef of Hotels and Chains to earn high packages with more than Rs 1Lakh per month. Corporate Chefs can earn around 5 to 10 Lakh depending on the size of the hotel chains.

While many of these experts use their creativity and open their local bakery shops to sell their products directly to customers. Once the products and name get recognition in the market then they can millions with their business to form new franchises in the country.

Conclusion

Bakery as a profession has lots of opportunities in Food industry but requires organized structure for acquiring top positions in the establishments. Like every profession, Bakery follows a hierarchal structure in giving step by step growth for the professionals. A well-planned course with practical guidance and theoretical approach will put on the right path for their subsequent career growth. One has to be creative, have learning aptitude and acquire perfection over time to achieve tremendous height in their professional field.

At the Institute of Bakery and Culinary Arts (IBCA), we are affiliated with City and Guild (UK) for offering you an international structure learning with Level 3 accreditation. Short courses from 1 month, 3 months, 6 months and 18-month advanced diploma are available for students to apply, take industrial certification and build a bright career for multiple opportunities in Bakery.