When people think about chefs, the picture is often incomplete. There’s the white jacket, the apron, the intensity and sometimes the ego. What’s far less visible is the human reality behind that façade: people operating under pressure, balancing creativity with operational systems, and carrying responsibility for food as well as staff.

Trevor Boyd, operations general manager: Food and Beverage at City Lodge Hotels (and Hostex 2026 ambassador), notes that misunderstanding often sits at the heart of how the food industry is misjudged.

“Behind that hard exterior is someone trying to deliver standards: standards of food, consistency and leadership, all while managing daily pressure,” he explains. “Kitchens demand precision, pace and resilience, and sometimes that means firmness – what often gets labelled as ego is, in reality, accountability.”

Read the full article in African Business Quarterly here.