Ruhy Sethi: Chef Growth & Innovation at Sodexo

My journey as a chef began in 2011 when I had just passed out from IHM, Meerut, and joined The Oberoi, Gurgaon. I spent six years in various departments and gained experience in different cuisines with my core strength being continental cuisine. Then I moved to Lite Bite Foods and worked in their Korean restaurant, Hahn’s Kitchen where I was entrusted with designing the menu and aligning it with the Indian palate.

Soon enough my path brought me to Sodexo, and it’s been an enriching three years now working on the food platform with various industries ranging from healthcare to education and manufacturing.

I am based in Noida and provide support to the entire north region. I may not be present at every event taking place in the region but I m bonded with all my teammates across various segments. I am glad that they communicate freely and it’s a joy to be collaborating and working together with the chefs at different sites despite the distances. It has been a pleasure to share solutions, feedback and suggestions.

I thoroughly enjoy working with every aspect of food from planning to creation to plating and I find unlimited opportunities here to explore more.

We leverage technology to stay connected and updated with all the changes happening in our industry. My work allows me wide scope to experiment, invent and improve continuously. I feel empowered when I know I can bring about change and do things differently and that enables us to adapt to various situations. For example, when we launched the concept of convenience food we trained chefs across the region by adapting our training methods to mentor chefs with different mindsets and those who had set ways of doing things.

During my initial days at Sodexo, I got an opportunity to showcase my skills wherein I created a dish called future biryani at an event for a major tech company. The recognition and appreciation that I received both from my seniors at Sodexo and the client’s leadership team was a thrilling experience for me.

I must add that I am very blessed to have a supportive team. And the leadership team is also very supportive. I like working at Sodexo because I am not bound to a monotonous routine here. I feel free to create something new and it is appreciated. Here, you are heard. And taken care of. Good work is always appreciated here.

Despite leading an exciting and engaging professional life I have managed to strike a work-life balance thanks to the flexibility I get from Sodexo.

I would like to say to all the women at Sodexo, “keep doing what you are doing. Take care of yourself and never mistake kindness for weakness. It is a great sign of strength. “