In this week's CTA Brussels video interview, Chef Stephane Durand, Executive Chef at Culinary by Design, Haiti, explains the challenges that he is facing in Haiti to find the right products and quality, and the support needed to help redevelop the farming infrastructure. Promoting local cuisine and healthy eating is one of the ways to tackle some of the challenges.

CTA is recruiting a trainee for its Brussels Office. The position is open to ACP and EU nationals. A six months contract will be offered from October 2016. This contract can be renewed once for a maximum of 6 months. Further details on requirements and how to apply can be found in the note attached.

A platform that promotes stronger linkages between chefs and small-scale producers in Caribbean, Pacific and Indian Ocean countries was launched in the Caribbean. Chefs for Development aims to stimulate demand of local agrifood products in the domestic and hospitality sector, improving public health and reducing unsustainable food import bills in island countries. The platform was unveiled in the Cayman Islands, where the Caribbean Week of Agriculture 2016 opened on Wednesday. Chefs for Development (Chefs4Dev) is an online community which uses chefs’ role as ambassadors of local cuisine and teams them up with smallholder farmers and agro-processors who can supply quality products.

Dutoit Group of South Africa has taken a position in the well established Fruit Company, Nico de Jong of the Netherlands. Pieter du Toit, Managing Director of the Dutoit Group, describes this transaction as a strategy to bring producers closer to the European (EU) retail trade with added value at lower cost. “We have full confidence in Alfred de Jong and his team to use this new platform to the advantage of both suppliers and the EU retail trade”. Alfred de Jong, Managing Director of Nico de Jong BV, commented that after building the company for nineteen years, this transaction brings a new perspective of growth as member of the Dutoit Group.