Vancouver, BC, Canada, January 8, 2016 – Rouxbe Online Cooking School (Rouxbe) has hired former French Culinary Institute (FCI) and International Culinary Center (ICC) President and Chief Operating Officer Gary Apito as Vice-President of Operations. Apito will bring to Rouxbe, over two decades of culinary and career school expertise to the growing table at the world’s leading online cooking school.
Gary led FCI as Chief Operating Officer through its biggest growth period as it scaled revenue by tenfold, grew its square footage from 10,000 square feet of space to over 100,000, and added a west coast acquisition of the former Professional Culinary Institute in Silicon Valley California during his tenure.
As VP Operations, Gary will join the outstanding Rouxbe leadership team to continue their rapid expansion into the online institutional training sector which now provides professional cook training at over 190 progressive food service establishments around the world in English, Mandarin, Arabic and Spanish.
Rouxbe CEO Joe Girard shares, “Gary has been on our radar since we met in 2009. We could not be happier to have him join our team and know well the intelligence, passion, and commitment to excellence that is his hallmark.”
Apito remarked, “After seventeen years at one of the most prestigious bricks and mortar culinary Institutes in the world, this new role with Rouxbe is the perfect opportunity to launch online awareness of the remarkable content and learning management system at Rouxbe. Culinary education continues to evolve as evidenced by so many recent culinary school closures across the country, and the rapid rise of online alternatives to conventional education and training. Passionate students deserve a flexible, low- cost option at the highest standard, and Rouxbe is that platform”.
Rouxbe has grown dramatically in recent years and has developed specialized programs at the highest caliber, including both Professional Cook and Plant-Based certification programs. Their enterprise division has acquired top brand clients like Marriott International, Waldorf Astoria New York City and Chartwells Higher Education Dining Services to train and professionally develop their staff. In its wellness division, Rouxbe’s Culinary Rx course, provides a food-first approach to medicine, delivering an online, self-paced, cooking and nutrition course that healthcare professionals prescribe to their patients or clients. This instructor-guided cooking course has the potential to be one of the most influential and life changing wellness experiences of its kind.
About Rouxbe
Founded in 2005, Rouxbe (pronounced “ROO-bee”) is the world’s leading online cooking school for cooks of all levels (home or professional). Rouxbe deliver technique instruction and training to over 170,000 home cooks, culinary students, professional cooks and healthcare professionals in over 180 countries, in multiple languages.
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