Diversity in our industry? We’ve got a ways to go.

As wine lovers, we are inherently in love with the diversity in taste, aroma, and flavors of each wine. It is important to us, in our company, to experience the same commitment to diversity in the food and beverage industry. Just as the artistic touch used to craft our wine selection is based on measurable scientific truths, diversity and inclusion in the food and beverage industry must depend on measurable goals.

These days, many talks about enhancing diversity do not give a clear definition of what diversity in the food and beverage industry actually means. These vague notions of diversity can sometimes be a smoking gun for a restaurant or organization’s actual commitment to a more equitable industry.

 

Increasing Visibility of Important Issues

Diversity is still missing in board rooms, while women-led kitchens are still in the low percentages. According to the 2020 Bureau of Labor Statistics, women occupy only 6.3% of the head chef positions at prominent U.S. restaurant groups and on the whole, only 21% of head chefs in the United States are female.  

When the COVID-19 pandemic emerged in 2020, the situation worsened. According to a recent survey by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the number of female business owners who ranked their business’s overall health as “somewhat or very good” fell from 60% in January to 47% in July 2020. By contrast, the number of male business owners reporting a “good” business health status only fell from 67% to 62%. Based on the history of our industry, this discrepancy, while not alarming, cannot be tolerated.

Additionally, in 2019, the most common ethnicity of head chefs is White (56.3%), followed by Hispanic or Latino (19.9%) and Black or African-American (11.0%).

 

Dough Wines firmly believes in increasing the visibility of issues of diversity, particularly those relating to women and those who identify as BIPOC. We support our Dough Wines Ambassador, Joanna James, whose non-profit, MAPP (Mentorship, Advocacy, Pandemic relief, and the Power of women) champion female-led organizations to empower their success. Through our partnership with the James Beard Foundation (JBF), a “MAPP Changemaker” level partner, we are able to make headway in workplace equality and diversity so that women can become leaders in the kitchen and progress in their careers.

 

Why do we support MAPP and JBF in their advocacy efforts?

Deloitte/ FMI’s research reflects that 67% of food industry companies have quantifiable diversity goals and implementation timeframes. However, we are also concerned about the speed and scale across an entire organization and industry. Can something that is implemented in one area be amenable to scale in another, considering the different socio-cultural contexts? How do we sustain the impact of diversity and inclusion practices? These are big questions, but our team at Dough Wines is committed to contributing to the solution.

 

What have larger companies in the food and beverage industry done to ensure diversity?

In another post we wrote, When We Say “Kitchen Equality,” What Do We Mean?, we found that while women outnumber men in cooking schools and throughout the culinary industry, the presence of female executive chefs continues to lag behind. The Deloitte/FMI study found a similar pattern where women and historically marginalized people made up only 35% of the executive boards of food and beverage companies in 2020, compared to 47% who make up the boards of non-food consumer product businesses. Fortunately, Fortune 500 companies have paved the way and sensed the changing tide, by making a commitment to support the development and growth of women and BIPOC suppliers by sourcing goods and services from a diverse supplier base. They aim to develop long-term sustainable relationships with minority, women-owned, or LGBT+ enterprises that add value, provide innovation and bring continuous improvements to their supply chain. 

 

Some enterprises have made strong steps towards creating a more equitable food and beverage industry

PepsiCo has ensured pay equity in 71 countries that collectively make up 99 percent of their salaried employee population. Women and men are paid within 1 percent of each other and in the U.S., Asians, Blacks, and Hispanics are paid within 1 percent of non-minorities. What else? Danone America’s expansion of a gender-neutral “Parental Bonding Leave” policy to its manufacturing employees, enables them to take up to 18 weeks of paid time off after the birth or adoption of their child. This benefit is available to all the company’s 5,700 U.S. employees, whether they work in an office or in one of Danone’s 14 manufacturing facilities across the country.

 

Supporting Foundations with Real Impact

At Dough Wines, we partner with individuals and organizations that have produced real and measurable impact in the food and beverage industry. Our mission is to “rise to the occasion” by creating positive systemic change for ethical operation, diversity and equality in the culinary arts space, and food sustainability.

We support our partners in advocating for diversity practices that can scale across organizations and industries because they have the knowledge and passion to light the flames of change. Our ambassador, Joanna James’, MAPP program has worked with Madame Vice President Kamala B. Harris in their advocacy efforts for paid family leave so that women do not need to make the choice of a family or a career. The JBF Mentorship program also connects women, non-binary, trans individuals, and BIPOC individuals to mentors to facilitate their career advancement. As mentioned in the Deloitte/FMI study, cultivating a strong pipeline of diverse leaders two and three tiers below senior ranks can ensure that the right talent is available when senior positions open up. This will lead to an increasingly equitable outcome and career mobility for chefs belonging to the BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) community who might otherwise remain in the lower ranks. 

We also support the JBF Investment Fund which provides financial and professional resources to chefs belonging to the BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color). The JBF Relief Fund provided small independent restaurants grants to bring swift economic relief and assistance during the initial phase of the COVID-19 pandemic and half of the grantees were to women-owned businesses. We must push the conversation about kitchen equality, where barriers placed upon the employment, responsibilities, and career advancement of chefs from diverse backgrounds at the forefront of our industry’s narrative. Stoking these flames requires constant care and careful positioning. Dough Wines is committed to this mission.

 

Believing that change can and will happen

Bias can and should be eliminated in the processes for recruiting talent. This means having clear metrics and making an investment to generate and use diversity and inclusion data so that leaders can be held accountable for the outcomes of these processes. Since food and beverage companies have a greater sphere of influence in the marketplace and even in society at large, their abilities to advance equity in the marketplace can be significantly influenced through the choices they make about adding more companies owned by women and members of the BIPOC community to their supplier network, marketing to consumers with more inclusive messages and spokespeople, and by selecting locations to help address food deserts in underserved areas. 

We can and should join forces with the community we are in to advance equity and advocate for local actions and policies. At Dough Wines, we believe in starting our impact with other wine and food lovers. Being at the heart of this community spears us to make a change that would last generations. With the synergy that we have created in supporting JBF and Joanna James’ MAPP initiatives, there is no reason to doubt the transformation of the food and beverage industry where diversity and inclusiveness exist side by side with heavenly food creations. After all, every single dish should have a good balance of flavor, just as every kitchen and boardroom should combine those with different talents and backgrounds.

 

Conclusion 

Dough Wines believes that vague commitments are not enough to not enact real improvements—real actions, goals, and communities do. As long as we set the course with intention and check the navigation charts as we embark on the journey, there is no reason to believe that workplace equality and diversity cannot become a reality. Our team and partners are committed to this mission. As the saying goes, “If you follow a recipe, you know exactly what you’re having for dinner.” Learn more about our advocacy in the food and beverage industry here.

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