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US Personal Chef Association

Category: Chef Associations

Out of a growing demand for personal chefs, the United State Personal Chef Association established a certification program in 1996. The purpose of this was to establish an industry standard for professional commitment, to have a standard by which the public could assess individual competence, and to set standards which would allow the U.S. Personal Chef Association to regulate and assess its own profession. When a personal chef is endorsed by the Association, customers can be assured that Association-certified criteria have been met. These include: at least two years experience working as a “cook-for-hire” involving the full range of planning, purchasing, and cooking; formal educational experience or demonstrated equivalent; evidence of continuing education in both culinary training and in business training; attendance at national conferences; certification from the National Registry of Food Safety Professionals; and passing a written exam. There are also requirements for renewal of certification with the U.S. Personal Chef Association. Membership benefits include a special rate for liability insurance, MenuMagic software, hireachef.com listing, Personal Chef Magazine, and access to software that allows a chef to create his/her own website.

Hireachef.com is the largest database of working personal chefs on the internet. For the chef, the website provides statistics of searches; for the customer, it provides easy access to names of personal chefs by region. Other features of the website include a list of local chapters with links to each chapter’s activities, information about the U.S. Personal Chef Association annual conference, information about training and continuing education opportunities, a member exchange forum, and links to the industry and personal chefs in the news.