Women that change the society united through the Mediterranean Women Chefs
Conference and dinner Redefining Success powered by Fortenova group held
Ivana Alilović, Mira Šemić, Maša Salopek and Gordana Fabris
Four different women, four different stories, but they all share a passion for their work. This is the message of the Conference Redefining Success powered byFortenova Groupand organized by the Mediterranean Women Chefs platform, which took place on Thursday 15 November in theZonar Hotelin Zagreb. The conference was followed by a fund raising dinner for a scholarship for a young talented future chef or sommelier. The conference brought together women and men of various generations, from young students of gastronomy and tourism management to women who work in large corporations, family businesses and media. Gordana Fabris, the Director of Human Resources of the Fortenova Group, was the first to present her job. “As a company that has gone through a true metamorphosis, it is completely natural that we are part of the Redefining Success project. Not only have we, in just six years, from a former company in bankruptcy, built the Fortenova Group as one of the most desirable employers in the country that develops its talents and builds a positive employee experience, but in our environment we are also leading in the approach to sustainability. One of our important ESG goals is diversity of representation at all levels, while achieving gender equality. Therefore, in 2023, we adopted the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Policy for the entire Group, and in accordance with this, we internally carry out a whole series of activities that strengthen these topics, and we also use every opportunity to support these positive practices at events such as this conference”. She particularly referred to the changes that come with the new generations who know what they are looking for from an employer and want a greater flexibility in working conditions.
The main speaker, Maša Salopek, the best pastry chef in the world in 2021 according to The Best Chef, told her life’s journey from a graduate professor of literature to the best pastry chef in the world. “The most important moment was when I realized that my happiness was in gastronomy. I decided to become a confectioner because I didn’t see myself in the role of a chef who has to slice 30 kg of meat” – Maša, an extremely slim young woman, made the audience laugh. Paradoxically, she does not eat sweets, but she believes that precisely because of this, her senses are more objective and her palette of tastes is wider. “Even today, when I look at that world award, I think that anything is possible, if you really want to” – says Maša and modestly adds that many other geniuses deserve the award better than her.
Mira Šemić, the legendary sommelier, wine academician and director of the gastronomic guide Gault&Millau Slovenia and Gault&Millau Serbia, delighted the audience with an open recounting of her rich life. “For me, work and private life were always intertwined and they gave me the joy of living,” said the dynamic Mira, who immediately after the conference in Zagreb left for Belgrade, for a wine festival. The last one to introduce herself was the director of the Tourist Board of Zagreb County, Ivana Alilović, a woman that in just a few years, through tireless work and dedication, turned her region into a desirable tourist destination, with a clear vision of sustainable development. Ivana showed that even in the public sector there is room for those who want to change something for the better. When she comes home exhausted from work, she first of all asks for silence. Only after that she can devote herself to her three sons and her husband.
The day of the fund raisin conference and dinner Redefining Success powered by Fortenova Group was not chosen by chance: November 15, the European Union celebrates Equal Pay Day. Although the agreement on professional equality between women and men was signed back in 1957 in Rome, statistics show that in EU countries women earn 13 percent less than men for equal jobs and from now until the New Year they work for free! That is why the conference is dedicated to gender equality, and its main goal is to present successful women and to show how women in leading positions can influence changes in their work environment and in society in general. With their inspiring stories, the four speakers certainly encouraged others, especially young women, to believe in themselves and their abilities, and to fight for their dreams. The best proof of this was their dynamic conversations during the conference break, along with salmon snacks, a selection of excellentPresident‘s cheeses, sparkling wines fromVina BeljeandAgrolaguna, and natural mineral waters from Jana and Jamnica.
At the donor dinner held after the conference, funds were collected for the professional training of a young future chef or sommelier in a leading restaurant abroad or in Croatia. The first winner was awarded a Mediterranean Women Chefs scholarship worth 5,000 euros, which covers the costs of travel, accommodation and pocket money. Next spring, Viktorija Bašić, an excellent student of the final year in the School Oliva Allegra, a private high school Wallner, in Split, will do an internship in Provence. She will spend a month under the mentoirship of chef Michel Basaldella, an instructor at the prestigious gastronomic school of Alain Ducasse. Viktorija also received a gift card for shopping at Konzum. The food retail company that provided part of the groceries for the dinner.
The exclusive five-course dinner was prepared by Japanese-French chef Ippei Uemura, from the restaurant Tabi in Marseille – 3 Gault&Millau toques and a Michelin plate – and the pastry chef Maša Salopek who is the head pastry chef of the restaurant Cap Aureo in the Grand Park Hotel in Rovinj – 4 Gault&Millau Croatia toques. Chef Uemura praised the quality of fresh, top-quality food and wine from local producers. Especially the famous ikejime sea bass ofMarfishthat went well with the Sauvignon produced by thePuhelek winery, the red tuna from Pelagos that was perfectly paired with the rosé Rossella, fromPoletti wineryin Istria and the veal fillet fromThe Meatwith the Castello red wine by Festigia, Agrolaguna. Along with marinated sea bream with spring garden, guests enjoyed the Graševina Premium from the Belje winery, while their Ultra premium Goldberg White rounded off the gastronomic experience with the Autumn mantra chocolate and pear dessert. The dinner was enriched by Petar Alebić’s truffles from the region of Turopolje and the exotic products fromSelecta Adria. The guests at the dinner were delighted with the raffle prizes: from the bottles of top wines and the visits to the wineries to fine cosmetics, gift vouchers for treatments in beauty salons, overnight stays in Hotel Zonar and a dinner in one of the best Zagreb’s restaurant. But the greatest reward for all the participants of the conference and the dinner was the good feeling that, through socializing and sharing experiences and fund raising they gave a chance to a young girl to start the journey she dreamed of to become a great chef of tomorrow.
