A new program is launching in Honolulu to help chefs gain experience and join the local workforce. It features the University of Hawaii Pacific Culinary Institute and a renowned local chef.

For chef Roy Yamaguchi, culinary education comes first. As director of the Culinary Institute of the Pacific, Yamaguchi helped establish a partnership with the Culinary Institute of America this year.

The workforce development program is now offered at Kapiʻolani Community College. So far, it has helped more than 60 students obtain certificates of completion from both institutions.

Students work on about 20 recipes a day, Yamaguchi said. Approximately 75 to 90 meals will be produced during the program’s five-day intensive training period.

He said this helps chefs-in-training “taste and see different types of recipes made by others, not just themselves.”

The goal is to improve their cooking skills, but Yamaguchi also hopes to shape their mindset.

Participants need to believe they can do it, he said, adding: “In my opinion, when you change that mindset and get out of that shell, you can achieve so much more.”

This lesson, instilled by his mother, is something Yamaguchi aims to pass on to Hawaii’s next generation of culinary leaders.

He notes that Denise Yamaguchi also played an important role in the collaboration between the two institutes.

Along with the Hawaiʻi Agriculture Foundation, it works with large farms and agribusinesses to create internships for high school students. This, he said, will help them “move the needle so kids can be exposed to different kinds of real-life jobs.”

The State Department of Education will launch these internships starting in 2025. Students will learn more beyond growing food, including packaging, marketing, pricing and other aspects of the business.