"Like any start-up, we had our ups and downs, but nothing could prepare us for what happened in early 2020 when the lockdown was announced," says Chef Arvind.
According to IBM International School of Business and Oxford Economy, 99% of Indian startups fail within the first 5 years. Add the COVID 19 pandemic crisis into the mix and we saw the balance 1% fighting to keep afloat. Read on as we learn the story of the institutes’ troubled times and victorious comeback.
Whitecaps International School of Pastry located in Bangalore celebrated another successful year with an intimate celebration held at the institute with all students and staff. The evening which marked it’s 6th year of operations featured inspirational stories, fun games like blind tasting, dumb charades as well as a beautiful interactive acoustic performance by DeepAum, a bollywood duo. The night ended with an award ceremony to honour the staff and a tasty multi level cake followed by a patisserie cafe style buffet spread.
We chatted with Chef Arvind Prasad who has been the director since its inception in 2016. Chef Arvind is an award winning chocolate master chef and recently was appointed brand ambassador for India of Callebaut belgian chocolate maker.
“Like any start up, we had our ups and downs, but nothing could prepare us for what happened early 2020 when the lockdown was announced" says Chef Arvind.
"Though we were becoming a brand name to be reckoned with in the culinary world of baking institutes, our peak potential did not see light of the day through covid lockdowns and we had to beat the odds and evolve to survive."
The down sized team carried on to conduct online batches despite being primarily a hands-on academy. When International borders closed they had to cancel many pre-scheduled masterclasses with internationally renowned celebrity master chefs which was a financial setback for the management. "To translate the same program online during the pandemic was definitely a challenge for the students and the master chefs, but we managed to keep the brand alive" touted Chef Arvind.
"I will always be grateful to Chef Richa and Chef Badri for sticking by my side and believing in the vision and patiently awaiting the better times and a strong comeback" says the Chef as his eyes lightly teared up.
Whitecaps' offers a 6 month excellence diploma programme with an internationally recognized certification from London and Swiss affiliations. They even have a 5 week Cake engineering course and scheduled short courses to help grow interest and professional skill among baking enthusiasts.
The burning desire to help home bakers and aspiring pastry chefs turn their passion into profession was the key motivation that kept the lights on through the tough times.
“The art of baking is very much a hands on skill" says Chef Arvind adding "The right industry grade equipment should be used to produce delicious pastries you find at most high end bakeries. We ensure our students use only the highest international grade ingredients and professional equipment.”
Today in 2022, they stand tall, back with a bang as they turn 6 years young with full batches, all star faculty lead by Chef Arvind and a dedicated workforce ready to work tirelessly toward becoming the top hands on pastry school in India.
For more information on Whitecaps, Visit www.whitecaps.in or contact at 8050388102.
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