Chef Jeff Schueremans has cooked for Nelson Mandela, U2, Dire Straits, Elvis Costello and held the title of Team Chef for South Africa’s National football team Bafana-Bafana (1996 to 2008). Originally from Belgium, Jeff is a world-renowned international culinary consultant, chef and judge, as well as the former Vice President & Competition Director of the South African Chefs Association (SACA).
Prior to immigrating to South Africa in 1983 and working under the infamous Billy Gallagher at the Southern Sun group of hotels, Jeff ran his own restaurant in Belgium and was instrumental in setting up the back-stage kitchens for world renowned music festival Rock Werchter alongside his concert promoter cousin Herman.
Jeff is a connoisseur and knows his way around every corner of the hospitality industry. He has worked as a consultant for companies including South African Airways, South African Breweries, Wits University, Eskom and Royal Mnandi. He has also appeared on and worked with a number of cooking shows including Master Chef South Africa, Bring n Braai and Chopped SA.
Mr Schueremans is an accredited culinary A category judge for both SACA and WACS. He has served as a head judge for gastronomic competitions spread across South Africa, including the Global Pizza Challenge, Checkers Championship Boerewors, Bring ‘n Braai, Oyster festival and Chopped SA. He has also judged various competitions across the globe hosted in destinations including Australia, Belgium, Cambodia, Canada, Egypt, France, Germany, Ghana, Indonesia, Kenya, Luxembourg, Mozambique, Namibia, Netherlands, New Zealand, South Korea, UAE, USA and Zimbabwe.
Jeff is a strong believer in giving back to the community. Since 1993, he has been involved in organising and participating in many initiatives on behalf of the World Cooks Tour for Hunger, including conquering Kilimanjaro.
Jeff has received numerous awards over the years including most notably the gold, silver and bronze medals during the 1992 and 1996 Culinary Olympics held in Germany (Team South Africa).
Among his many impressive accolades and alongside business partner Martin Kobald, Jeff owns 50% of the Global Pizza Challenge brand.
Mr Schueremans is an honorary member of the Academy of Chefs.
Executive Chef Martin Kobald, a culinary extraordinaire in South Africa since 1988, is Vice President of the Worldchefs – World Association of Chefs Societies (WACS); Honorary Past President of the South African Chefs Association (SACA); and a globally accredited culinary A Category judge for both SACA and WACS. Chef Martin also currently serves as the WACS Executive representative on the following working committees: Honorary Membership Committee, WACS Historical Committee & Global Development of Young Chefs Committee.
From September 2005 until June 2009, Chef Martin was national group executive Chef for Fedics Food Services.
Chef Martin has served as a judge in various competitions, including the Global Pizza Challenge; Checkers Championship Boerewors and Chopped SA, and has judged various international culinary competitions worldwide including Singapore, Istanbul, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Cambodia and Australasia. Chef Martin Kobald was one of the Chef judges on Clover’s Little Big Cook Off, Season 1 (2014) and 2 (2015) which was run on SABC3 and subsequently on African based tv programming.
Not only does he know his way around a whisk, but Chef Martin is dedicated to sharing his passion for the art and science of cooking through his cooking school, ChefMLK School of Cooking. He was also titled Global Master Chef from the Global Master Chef Society in April 2014.
Chef Martin is committed to making a difference to the lives of others. He is the convener of the Bidvest World Chefs Tour Against Hunger organisation and raised, alongside over 260 other chefs from around the world, an incredible R8 million to feed over 5, 000 children for five years.
As part of his portfolio of VP of WACS, Chef Kobald is focusing developing young chefs in around the world with projects like ‘Sustainability Education’ advancing the culinary arts.
Alongside business partner Jeff ‘the Chef’ Schueremans, Chef Martin currently owns 50% of the Global Pizza Challenge brand.
Philippe Frydman is an Executive Chef & Foodservice Specialist with extensive experience in award-winning restaurant environments. He is an analytical professional skilled in successfully navigating large and small food service operations through periods of accelerated growth.
Philippe has assisted various establishments in the South African service industry throughout his career by providing expert knowledge and support in the areas of recruiting, purchasing, controls, budgeting/financial reporting, décor, menus and business expansion activities.
Mr Frydman has consulted for a variety of notable businesses including FG La Pasta, Saint Andrew Signature Hotel and Spa, Chopped SA, Holiday Inn Sandton, Crown Plaza Rosebank, BidAir 1st class lounge at OR Tambo, Sunnyside Park Hotel Parktown, ANGT, Citadelle and La Trappe to name a few.
Between 1999 and 2009 Philippe worked for the O’Hagan’s franchise as a National Operations Support Specialist where he successfully established 32 restaurants throughout South Africa. He trained and educated staff through the development of standardized procedures and created a cohesive look and feel for each brand launch.
Philippe has achieved a number of impressive accolades over the years including: 1) acting as the judging panel convener at the first Chef Challenge for the newly formed Supreme Chef Kenya, 2) being the culinary producer for Chopped SA season 1 in 2013, 3) acting as the demonstration area convener for the Bidvest World Chefs Tour Against Hunger in 2011, and 4) being elected as the Chairman of the Academy of Chefs South Africa in 2009 following his induction in 2004.
Philippe believes in giving back to the community and has been actively involved in supporting the popular global chefs CSR initiative, World Cooks Tour Against Hunger since the early 90’s.
He is the Chairman for the Academy of Chefs and a member of the South African Chef’s Association. Philippe has judged several Global Pizza Challenge events in South Africa over the years and will once again be on the judging panel in 2018.
We will this year be inviting mystery judges that appear on the day.