Chef Puneet Arora

Born in 1975 in India. Son of famous Chef Satish Arora. Married to Gayatri who is a qualified dentist and practices in London Education : St. Xavier's Boys Academy, and took a Diploma in Hotel Administration and Food Technology from Sophia's. While he was in Sophia's, his initial training revolved primarily around international cuisine. He completed his training through Taj as well as the Oberoi Group of hotels. Career : Puneet started his career peeling sackfuls of onions as a trainee chef at the Taj Banquet Halls. After training under Anton Mossian at Dorchester Hotel in London, he moved to the Taj Samudra in Sri Lanka, where he catered for the Australian cricket team, known for its culinary fastidiousness. 2001, was approached by NOON products, London, the biggest manufacturer of Indian ready meals in UK, to work with them as an Executive Chef NPD (New Product Development). Worked there for five years then offered the opportunity to work with G.K.Noon's other company, Bombay Halwa Limited, London, as an Executive Chef & Production Manager. Bombay Halwa is involved in in-flight catering menus for British Airways, Air India, Qatar Airways - to name a few and it also manufactures ready meals for supermarkets like TESCO and ASDA. June-2008 December 2008- Executive Chef & NPD Manager- Bangkok International Cuisine Company Ltd- Bangkok- Thailand ( www.biccl.com ) Heading Product Development- catering to customers from around the globe, currently working on projects with Phillips Foods ( U.S.A ) the largest manufacturer of crab meat in the world, ICELAND (U.K ), SPARS ( South Africa ), Co-Op ( U.K ) , Tops Supermarket ( Thailand ), Brakes ( U.K ), SU ( Systems U supermarket in France), Showa Boeki ( Japan ), Woolworths ( Australia ), Food service Dubai to name a few. Leading projects from concept level to final production on factory floor, reporting directly to the General Manager my job profile also requires contributing towards business strategies, improving efficiencies on the factory floor, training of staff and working closely with marketing on developing new concepts and packaging. December 2008-Onwards- Factory Manager & Executive Chef- Bangkok International Cuisine Company Ltd- Bangkok-Thailand. Responsible for the day to day running of the factory with a capacity of producing 12tons of ready to eat food/day. Heading a team of 200 staff members. My new job profile takes me to Singapore. I am joining SATS (Singapore Airport Terminal Services) as Project Manager International Food Solutions from October 2011 onwards. My last working day with BIC is the 30th of September 2011. Finalist- Professional of The Year ( Asian Achievers Award-UK ) 2007 Travelled on board the inaugural flight of AIR SAHARA from London to Delhi as   Celebrity Chef on board interacting with the first class and business class Passengers- Jan 2006 Made Honorable member of the Craft Guild OF Chefs England- 2005 First Indian Chef in the world to be involved in Supersonic Cooking Finalist- Craft Guild of Chefs U.K.- Development Chef of the Year 2005 Winner of the Best in Britain Award (BIBA) for the Biryani Recipe of the Year 2004 British Meat International Chef Of The Year 2002