Almudena Gil supo desde muy temprano que quería dedicarse a la gastronomía, pero no de cualquier manera. Para ella, el aspecto empresarial de los negocios gastronómicos era tan importante como la cocina. Gasma le dio la oportunidad de combinar management y gastronomía, sus dos pasiones, en el grado universitario de gastronomía y completar su formación con prácticas en establecimientos tan prestigiosos como el Hotel Balneario Las Arenas de Valencia.
His leap into the professional world came about through María José Morera and BCN 5.0, the logistics and accounting offices of the Iglesisas – elBarri Group. As head of the logistics department, his duties included controlling and analyzing restaurant processes, working together with the dining room and kitchen teams, and optimizing resources to obtain the best results, among other aspects.
Currently, Almudena Gil combines her work at Cooking Numbers (a company that emerged from BCN 5.0) as logistics manager with teaching. She works with the first year students of the Gastronomy Degree in the practical part of the marketing course, teaching them to apply all the theoretical concepts to gastronomy.
Su experiencia como alumna de la primera promoción del Grado en Gastronomía de Gasma – Universidad CEU Cardenal Herrera ha marcado, y con fuerza, su desarrollo como docente. “Intento coger mi bagaje profesional y transmitirlo en clase”, confiesa, porque sabe mejor que nadie que el futuro profesional de los alumnos depende de que sean capaces de transformar los conocimientos adquiridos en el Grado en acciones.
«Humility, honesty and teamwork» are also some of the values he works on with his students, which, according to Gil, must be combined with «a constant curiosity to learn about new restaurants, new foods, new techniques and, of course, culinary management.»
His time at BCN 5.0 and his experience with elBarri confirm the importance of the professionalization of the sector for the development of gastronomic businesses. «More and more restaurants need that support from people who know what cooking is, but who also know how to land the numbers in the kitchen,» Gil notes.
Although creativity is a decisive factor in all gastronomic businesses in order to differentiate themselves in an increasingly competitive market, the profitability and viability of these creative products also play an important role.
«When there is so much creativity and so much innovation, it is very important to know how to control the raw material, the numbers, everything that is sales and suppliers.»
Almudena Gil
The pandemic and its repercussions on the gastronomic sector have proved him right. Covid-19 witnessed the closure of many businesses, including the elBarri group itself, but also the transformation of culinary management models such as BCN 5.0 into a key tool for restaurants across the country.
Thus, it is impossible to deny that management has become an indispensable discipline. «Without management, we are nothing in the world of cooking,» Gil warns.
En ese sentido, es fundamental subrayar el papel que desempeñan instituciones como Gasma, que basan en gran medida su oferta formativa en el binomio management y gastronomía. El Grado en Gastronomía (con especialización en Gastronomic Business: Food & Beverage), el máster en ciencias gastronómicas y el Máster en Gestión, Innovación y Dirección de Negocios Gastronómicos son solo algunos ejemplos.
Si te apasiona la cocina y el mundo de los negocios gastronómicos, no dudes en contactar con nosotros.
