Beyond Brunswick

An apprenticeship in their chosen field is such a valuable opportunity for a young person. 

Ryan Wu's story epitomises the idea of 'following your passion' and that the value of self belief, hard work and dedication to a goal can drive a person to achieve great things. These qualities, coupled with the guidance and support of an employer, family and friends really make all the difference.

The Dream

Having long-harboured a passion to enter the hospitality trade, Ryan managed his high school studies alongside part-time jobs in the industry. Admiring his solid work ethic, exceptional teamwork and communication skills as well as his commitment to excellent customer service, Ryan’s employer Eat Cannoli, offered to take him on as an apprentice.  It is a winning partnership, and both Ryan and Eat Cannoli have never looked back.  

Eat Cannoli is an artisan café in Wood Street, Preston.  Everything there is made from scratch, 100% gluten free, and the café is accredited by Coeliac Australia.  This unique work environment has offered Ryan an amazing opportunity to learn and to stretch his baking skills while completing his apprenticeship under the watchful eye of proprietors Dom and Kate, who have supported and encouraged Ryan’s career aspirations all along the way. Ryan takes every chance he can at Eat Cannoli to to learn about the hospitality business - and to eat cannoli of course!

Competition beckons

In May this year, Ryan travelled to Sydney to compete in the biggest, most intense bread baking competition – LA Judge Award Baking Apprentice of the Year 2024.

This fierce 3 day competition tests the apprentices’ skills in both theory and practice – it is the most prestigious baking award in the country. As part of their trials, competitors have to complete 8 theory papers covering a very wide field of knowledge - from formulations, to types of wheat, to machinery engineering in the industry. Practical tests for the competition are similarly demanding  and included dough handling, shaping and showing understanding of the properties of bread. 

You are only eligible to compete once in your life for this award, so I found it very intense and hard. All the competitors were in the same position, of course,  and had prepared as well as was possible.  The competition not only tested us on things we had learned ‘on the job’ and by experience, but on so much more.  We all had to study really hard to be able to compete – learning a lot of industry knowledge. 

I didn’t win at LA Judge – but I learned so much from the experience.  Most importantly, you don’t have to win - but you have to inspire yourself to try.  I consistently challenge myself to get better and better at what I do, and I wanted to see if I could cut it with the best in Australia. It was my very first competition and I am so  happy that I gave it a go.

So along comes September, and Ryan enters the Bake Skills 2024 Bakers Championship to again put his  passion to the test.

Second in prestige only to the LA Judge competition, the Bake Skills 2024 Bakers Championship  is completed over 2 days and focuses solely on the practical skills of working with bread. The contest delivers much prestige and opportunity to those that can cut the mustard (or the bread, if you like!)

Each year at the Fine Food Australia expo, food and hospitality companies to come together to  create and build partnerships as well as to show off new technology and skills being implemented in the business. Hosting competitions at this event helps to identify, promote and support future industry leaders and connects these up-and-coming artisans to current leaders across the world’s food industries. 

On Day 1 of the competition, participants had to produce bi-coloured plain croissants, almond croissants, 4 strand and 5 strand plaited white bread, plain, sweet and savoury brioche shapes,  baguettes, ciabatta, 3 kinds of turkish bread and plain rye sourdough.  Day 2 really tested the competitors as they made plain white sourdough, flavoured rye sourdough, and pretzels. On top of this,  they also had to design and bake their crowning glory - a decorative bread plaque representing a yearly theme - this year being the celebration of the 40th anniversary of the Fine Food Australia event.

Whoa - this competition was full on!  Having experienced LA Judge, I knew that I again needed to be well prepared, but also very efficient with my time and believe in my ability.  I had to do all my preparation outside of work hours (and work with gluten!) but I made the decision to back myself.  I thought , "I have worked hard, I have studied hard, and I know my stuff!"

Well - can you imagine?  Even after putting so much into the comp,  I was so shocked when I was announced the Champion!  

When the judges said that 'in the 40 years of this competition they had never seen such a perfect croissant'- well, I was over the moon!  I earned full marks for taste, appearance, texture and smell - and  I am the first person from a gluten-free bakery to ever have won the competition! 

Everyone congratulated me - even people I didn't know - and so many said that I had '"done the impossible"  in training and working in a gluten-free environment and then winning a competition which is only gluten based. 

I am so excited that I will be travelling next year to Germany to attend the world's biggest bread and pastry conventions (the iba trade fair) as part of my prize winnings. 

I'd like to thank my fellow competitors for bringing such great skills to the table, as well as my trainer, Sean, at William Angliss who has really challenged me to push myself this year.

Lastly, I really want to thank my employers (and friends), Kate and Dom (Eat Cannoli), who are always so supportive of me and who share in this success!