Custom Programs

Our custom programs leverage our unique knowledge and experience in hospitality to help businesses address today’s most pressing challenges, from carbon footprints to workplace cultures. Our courses empower businesses to make real positive change with expert knowledge, practical tools and inspiration from some of the industry’s leading chefs, entrepreneurs, academics and activists.

Designed to inspire creative thinking, cultivate better leadership, and strengthen environmental stewardship, we offer a range of tried and tested courses, such as single lectures, half-day workshops and two-day events. Or we can curate a bespoke program to meet your specific organizational needs.

Our Focus Areas

Leadership
Many culinary schools don’t address how to effectively lead a team. MAD bridges this gap with workshops that equip participants with the necessary tools to cultivate inclusive workplaces where staff are engaged, productive, and fulfilled. Together, we’ll develop:


• Skills to communicate effectively, navigate conflicts, and provide constructive feedback
• Strategies for understanding and implementing diversity, equity, and inclusion as core business values
• Leadership practices that promote psychological safety and healthy work environments for the entire team

Sustainability
With the right knowledge, the hospitality industry can do more than provide nourishment and pleasure. Chefs, waiters, bartenders, and sommeliers can become effective stewards of the environment, driving positive change throughout the food system. In our program, you’ll learn:


• Techniques to minimize food waste, conserve resources, reduce your carbon footprint, and make other choices that benefit both nature and your business’s bottom line
• Collaborative approaches that allow you to source responsibly, support local communities, and preserve biodiversity
• How environmental responsibility can be built into every facet of your business, transforming it into a catalyst for social and environmental good

Creativity
Creativity lies at the heart of the hospitality industry, yet it can be an elusive skill to master. We can help you exercise your creative muscles with talks and workshops about:


• The development of Nordic gastronomy and how it came to shape not only restaurants but the way ordinary people eat around the world
• How hospitality can serve as a powerful tool to elevate communication, foster innovation, and revolutionize your approach to work, regardless of industry or field
• The visionary approaches that innovative chefs, foragers, and farmers are applying both to cuisine and to broad social and environmental challenges

Sample programs