Military chefs take on Tesco culinary colleagues to mark Reserves Day, in Armed Forces Week

Image of Tesco Staff and Military Personnel, including Flt Lt Will Bissett (Retired) in the centre with the bagpipes, seen here at Tesco HQ in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire today (21/06/2023).
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Tesco’s HQ this morning hosted a live cook off to celebrate Armed Forces Week.

The military team included regular and reserve personnel from the Royal Navy, Army and RAF, led by the ‘Commando Chef’, Colour Sergeant Mike Beaton MBE.

Personnel were challenged to make dishes against the clock, without a full recipe, with a focus on easy and cost effective meals.

mage of AS2 Anthony Morris (RAF Reserves) (left) and Tesco Chef Neel Shah (right), seen here at Tesco HQ in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire today (21/06/2023).

The event highlighted the power of food in bringing communities together, as the teams made a traditional Ukrainian recipe and recipes inspired by cooking on military operations such as ‘Chicken Curry in A Hurry’.

Tesco has always had a strong association with the Armed Forces. It was founded in 1919 by Jack Cohen, a WW1 veteran who used his ‘demob money’ from the Royal Flying Corps to buy up left over supplies from the military NAAFI wagon and sell them on a market stall.

Tesco is the UK’s biggest employer of military veterans, and this year they are the headline sponsor of Armed Forces Day (24 June).

Image of ‘Commando Chef’, Colour Sergeant Mike Beaton MBE, seen here at Tesco HQ in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire today (21/06/2023).
Photographer: Cpl Tim Hammond – Copyright: UK MOD © Crown copyright 2023

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