South African Chefs Association

General information

Its core purpose is to set and maintain the highest level of culinary excellence, food standards and professionalism throughout South Africa.

We accomplish these goals through the transfer of skills and the upliftment of individuals, our members… ‘The South African Chef’.

One of our many objectives is to have a significant impact on the careers of the chefs with whom we share the knowledge that our members have acquired through international food promotions, competitions, workshops, educational conferences and various other learning experiences. SACA has in excess of 4 000 members, who include catering and hotel company directors, restaurateurs, chefs, cooks, culinary educators, apprentices and trainees and can be found in every type of catering activity.

The governing body of SACA is a board of directors – 14 leaders in the catering world, elected to serve the interests of the Association in a voluntary capacity. Each region has its own decentralised organisation structure. The current patrons of SACA are Fedics, Southern Sun, Tiger Brands, McCain Foods, Rainbow Food Solutions, Lucky Star and Excella Cooking Oils.

Our educational wing falls under the Centre for Culinary Excellence, with a reference library and computer centre as well as a state-of-the-art Skills Kitchen and Culinary Theatre.

The practical arm, the Tsogo Sun Centre for Culinary Excellence, was created in partnership with the University of Johannesburg and built with sponsorship from companies in the hospitality industry. This is where we fulfill our mandate of training, offering subsidised, basic skills courses to members of the hospitality industry, be they formal or informal.

Culinary Team South Africa has represented our country in the Culinary Olympics since 1980 and received official team status from the Bureau of Heraldry in 2008, becoming South Africa’s official representative in the culinary world. The Team is run on sponsorship and they meet regularly to practice both the Cold Table and Hot Kitchen, as these are the two sections of the Olympics.