Today, we would like to introduce you Sacha Cruz, Class 2024. Sacha is completing his studies at the Global BBA and will be joining ESSEC MSc in Hospitality Management (IMHI)'s in September. He is looking for an apprenticeship in the hotel and restaurant sector, with a CSR component.
Who are you?
Hi! I am Sacha, a 4th year BBA student. Being French, I have always loved food, maybe it comes from my parents who both cook or maybe it is because it is so easy to have access to the best food in here. Whether it was during my exchanges or simply during family trips, this passion took me through multiple cooking classes around the world and I am now pursuing my passion for food in my professional career in the hospitality industry (not as a chef unfortunately).
Why did you choose the ESSEC Food Chair?
Despite being a very complete program, I felt like the Global BBA did not provide a way to specialise in a specific industry or sector. When I saw the FBC communications I knew there was something to investigate: understanding the challenges faced by the food industry is, in my opinion, one of the most interesting and ever present topic as a business school student. No matter who you are and where you live, you need food to survive, but is it possible to provide enough food for everybody? What impact do you leave on the planet when you eat? What is a successful restaurant? How can food chains, producers, distributors etc reinvent themselves to face all these questions ?
It was to answer all those questions that I joined the food chair, and also a bit for the study trip and the Cordon Bleu seminar.
What has been the most interesting, surprising, or exciting experience you had within the ESSEC FBC? And why?
The most interesting experience we had within the FBC was in my opinion the "Food Concept Creative Workshop" where we had the chance to receive representatives of three companies of the travel retail industry : Altarea Commerce, SSP Group plc and VINCI Airports. This workshop consisted in solving real business cases that were given by the three companies. While intense, it gave us the opportunity to reinvent a way to consume food, start from scratch, tackle challenges that do not exist in more "traditional" contexts and in fine discover in details the world of Travel Retail through the expertise of some of the biggest actors of this industry.
And now...?
The end of the semester marks the end of my wonderful experience with the FBC chair and in parallel my undergrad studies at the Global BBA. However, it does not mark the end of my ESSEC journey as I will be joining the Msc IMHI in September. I am now actively looking for an apprenticeship in the hospitality industry and if my apprenticeship could include a CSR component, that would be a perfect fit.
I cannot wait to see what the world has in reserve for me, maybe another chair :)
Vice President of Center Store Category Management at Food Lion
1moGlad to have you on my team Akshat