Celebrating Chef Wayne Nichols: Corporate Executive Chef Foodbuy Canada
Chef Appreciation Week on September 10-16, 2023 is our industry’s opportunity to honour and recognize all those serving in the culinary industry for their dedication, love of food, and willingness to serve their local community. Let’s celebrate all the heroes behind the food – front of house and back of house colleagues, cashiers, sous chefs, baristas, chefs, and hospitality leaders.
At Foodbuy, we have a team of dedicated culinary experts who provide insight and guidance to drive operational improvements and deliver strong financial results for Foodbuy members and Compass Operating Units. The Culinary Solutions team is overseen by Chef Wayne Nichols. The team is committed to improving product quality while lowering costs to our members and Compass Operating Units.
Chef Nichols works closely with other culinary leaders on the team to better understand business needs. Leveraging this knowledge, they are able to align with stakeholders to drive positive results through rationalizations, optimizations, rigorous product testing and sharing best practices. The Culinary Solutions team provides insight to our sourcing and category efforts addressing business needs across the board in order for Foodbuy to deliver quality ingredients and maximize savings.
As a graduate of Humber college, Chef Nichols completed the Culinary Management program with honours. He has practiced in renowned hotels across the nation and had the privilege of cooking for prime ministers, many dignitaries, and royalty from around the world, while publishing articles and appearing on TV as a guest chef. Midway through his career, Nichols had the opportunity to fulfill one of his dreams by working on a cruise ship, the Nordic Empress, with Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines in Miami Florida.
Chef Nichols began his culinary career in his grandma’s kitchen, where he developed a passion for cooking that he has carried with him. He says,
“Your ingredients can sense your love and passion, which is the building block for culinary excellence and great food.”
Nichols brings a love of culinary innovation and leadership to his role. He promotes a standardized approach to menu planning inspiring culinary creativity and cultivating sustainable practices.
Chef Nichols has been an integral part of Foodbuy since 2004. From all of us at Foodbuy, thank you Chef Nichols and all the other chefs who sprinkle a little love into their dishes! Let’s take the time to show our appreciation of our industry heroes in September and all year round.