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Recently, many catering industry associations have been intensively cleaning up title plaques such as "Chinese Culinary Master", "Famous Chef", and "Famous Store", requiring offline stores to remove and destroy them, and online platforms to remove and delete them. The Chinese Culinary Association has also clarified that all relevant titles and certificates issued by the original evaluation are invalid and abolished. This "honor sweep" originated from the strict regulations on evaluation and commendation behavior in the "Management Measures for Social Organization Evaluation and Commendation Activities". For a moment, the sentiment of 'there are no more masters in the catering industry' emerged within the industry.

 

Removing the plaque is easy, but removing restlessness is difficult. Cleaning up illegal titles does not mean denying the value of skills, but rather using this as an opportunity to guide the entire industry to rectify the root cause, abandon the accumulated problems of "emphasizing titles over skills", and move the value standard of the catering industry from certificates back to the stove, returning to the quality and practical ability of dishes themselves.

 

Once upon a time, titles such as "master" and "famous teacher" were rampant. Some practitioners do not emphasize the importance of knife work, but are enthusiastic about running and obtaining certification; Some stores don't impress people with their taste, but use signs to intimidate them. The decoupling of titles from craftsmanship and the mismatch between honor and quality not only misleads consumers, but also distorts the industry evaluation system. When 'master' becomes a label on the assembly line, chefs who focus on their skills are submerged in title inflation. This clean-up, which seems to be "overnight clean-up", is actually to squeeze out the foam for industry credit and make craftsmanship become hard currency again.

 

Taking Xinyang, Henan Province as an example, the Xinyang Cuisine and Catering Industry Association not only requires its members to stop using invalid titles, but also actively proposes to "demonstrate industry value through dish quality and practical ability". This statement is more profound than the delisting itself - it marks the industry association's reflection on the role of the "certificate issuer" and also indicates that the way out for local cuisine lies not in the number of titles, but in the depth of skills.

 

The courage to clear the portal is certainly commendable, but if it stops at delisting, it is tantamount to treating the symptoms without addressing the root cause. Cleaning up is' breaking ', but the deep proposition of industry self-discipline lies in' standing '. If we only break through without establishing, the industry may fall into an evaluation vacuum, and even give rise to disguised fee ratings. The urgent task is to reconstruct a new evaluation mechanism centered on practical ability, dish quality, and consumer reputation - to weaken the lifelong and honor oriented approach, and to strengthen substantive evaluation methods such as dynamic assessment, skill competitions, and blind tasting. Let the chef's skills not rely on certificate endorsement, but on the dishes to speak for themselves; Let the reputation of a restaurant not rely on plaques, but on the accumulation of word-of-mouth from customers. The role of industry associations should also return from "certificate issuers" to "service providers": organizing skills training, building communication platforms, and formulating operational standards. Not only passively following management measures, but also promoting the maturity of the industry evaluation system.

 

Of course, it is also necessary to prevent overcorrection. Cleaning up illegal titles should not evolve into a comprehensive denial of past technical contributions. For culinary masters who have truly undergone strict assessments, possess exceptional skills, and are recognized by the industry, their professional value and social contributions should not be erased due to the revocation of their titles. The key is that future industry evaluations must be based on transparent, standardized, and dynamic rules.

 

The brand can be removed, but the craftsmanship cannot be lost; Titles can be abolished, but skills cannot be broken. Cleaning up the "Master" plaque, sweeping away the impetuous spirit, and guarding the foundation of craftsmanship. When the industry no longer judges heroes based on plaques, but instead uses stove fireworks as a benchmark to measure the value of craftsmanship, that is the true "return of masters" in Chinese catering. (Source: Economic Daily, Author: Yang Zipei)

 

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