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Joan Roca explains his culinary-social tour project at the World Economic Forum in Dubai
With the cooperation of BBVA, this chef from El Celler de Can Roca attended the largest meeting of experts in the world.
November 12, 2014
DUBáI
Innovation and internationalization, the keys to a tour which has become a milestone in the world of gourmet cuisine
Last November 11, BBVA and Joan Roca, a chef from El Celler de Can Roca, took part in the annual gathering at the World Economic Forum of Dubai, which brings together a thousand international experts from 80 different disciplines. During the gathering, integrated into the topic of “Creative Economics,” the chef from the best restaurant in the world in 2013 explained how he is transforming world cuisine through innovation and internationalization.
During his intervention at the World Economic Forum, Joan Roca also provided information on the results of the culinary-social project which he calls “The Cooking Tour Experience”, the first edition of which took place last summer, forming a milestone in the history of gourmet cuisine and in the up-and-coming generation of future chefs.
“It is amazing to get the opportunity to tell this story and talk about the model of El Celler de Can Roca in front of an audience of such important experts,” explained the eldest of the Roca brothers. “I hope that our experience serves as an example which demonstrates that creativity can be used to make a positive impact in places like Texas, Mexico, Colombia and Peru. Gourmet cuisine can be used to build bridges between different cultures, and as a vehicle for social inclusion.”
In the words of Ignacio Moliner, BBVA’s Brand and Communication Director, “Joan Roca and El Celler de Can Roca are perfect symbols of the vision we have at BBVA, in which technology, innovation and internationalization are changing the world and are helping us to achieve a better future for people.”
Throughout five weeks during the recent months of August and September, the BBVA-El Celler de Can Roca tour traveled through six cities in four countries, producing 49,000 dishes from 56 different varieties, all adapted to the local gourmet cuisine styles, as a way to pay homage to Texan, Mexican, Colombian and Peruvian cuisine. Moreover, the Roca brothers provided training to more than 7,000 food services students and chose 12 of them to receive a training scholarship in Girona, in what has constituted a revolution in the history of fine cuisine restaurants.
After the World Economic Forum meeting, under the auspices of the Embassy of Spain in the United Arab Emirates, BBVA and Joan Roca took part in several meetings with businesspeople, the media, local authorities and opinion leaders. At these meetings, they analyzed the increasing importance of gourmet cuisine in the internationalization of the Spain Brand, as well as the maturity of a sector which has already created an important niche in the international scene.
