Blathnaid Bergin is passionate about many things but giving people the opportunity to be prepared as they set up a food service business is her main goal.
Having worked as an advisor to the hospitality industry with specialist expertise in the area of food service business operations management for many years, she set up The School of Restaurant & Kitchen Management in August 2010.
She has a Diploma in Hotel Management (Hons) from Shannon College of Hotel Management, M.Sc in Hospitality Management (Hons) D.I.T, Diploma in Training and Adult Education ( Hons) N.U.I.Galway, Certificate in Human Resources- Leicester P.T. , Trainers in Industry, N.U.I. Maynooth.
Blathnaid has advised hotels, restaurants, cafes, pubs and spoken at industry conferences including Hospitality Ireland and the Licensed Vintners Association and the Entrepreneur Show. She has contributed industry related articles to Hospitality and Catering Review and Licensing World. Blathnaid has worked on many industry projects with the Tourism Research Centre, Dublin.
She has also worked with the Department of Foreign Affairs and is a regular contributor to RTE’s The Business on Radio 1 on the subject of the food service industry.
Blathnaid was Chairperson of the Abbeyleix Food and Wine Fair from 1996-1999 inclusive bringing 120 artisan food producers (including the entire Temple Bar Market) to the beautiful heritage town of Abbeyleix at a time when Farmers Markets were a fledgling industry.
She is a mentor with Offaly, Laois and North Tipperary Enterprise Boards and has been a business lecturer at the Ballymaloe Cookery School since 1996.
Blathnaid is honoured to have been asked by Margaret Jeffares, CEO of Good Food Ireland to be that organizations Standards and Protocol Inspector.
Blathnaid is passionate about many things but gets most worked up about the standards in the food service industry today. She will argue that those who own or operate a coffee shop, a deli or any food business should have the same standards as those who own or operate the Four Seasons. She works with clients to transform their businesses from a dull sheen to a bright sparkle. Blathnaid does not do anything by halves and will show students how to implement five star standards and systems throughout the food operation.
Subjects that Blathnaid will cover are Kitchen Management, Menu Planning, Costing and Pricing, Customer Care, Trainer Skills, Restaurant Management, How to have a systems based business, Recruitment and Retention of the right staff and ensuring that a five star standard is applied right across your business.
Blathnaid will also endeavour to ensure that you really enjoy the whole experience by structuring the course to balance work and life.
