American Culinary Federation

The American Culinary Federation (ACF) was founded in 1929 to represent and advocate for professional chefs in North America. Currently, it has over 14,000 members in more than 170 chapters around the globe. The ACF is a leader in providing apprenticeships, educational resources, training, competitions, and accreditations to enhance the careers of chefs and future chefs. The ACF also operates the world’s most comprehensive culinary certification program and is considered the premier certifying body for culinary professionals in the United States.

The ACF Certification program provides 15 certification levels for career advancement. Cooks and chefs can achieve certification based on their experience, education, and completion of the certifying exams. There are five main groups of certificates for ACF students: the culinary/savory certifications, the pastry certifications, the student certifications, the educator certifications, and the military certifications.

The culinary/savory certification levels are available for all types of cooks. They include the designations of Certified Fundamentals Cook (CFC), Certified Culinarian (CC), Certified Sous Chef (CSC), Certified Chef de Cuisine (CCC), Certified Executive Chef (CEC), and Certified Master Chef (CMC).

The three first savory certification levels are the CFC, CC, and CSC designations, with varying education and experience requirements. The CFC designation, for example, demands no experience, only a high school diploma or 75 continuing education hours (CEH). Applicants must have completed two courses through ACF-approved providers or any academic institution: a 15-hour course in nutrition and a 15-hour course in food safety and sanitation. Additionally, they must take the written and performance exam and pay the application fee.

Depending on experience and education, CFC-certified individuals may be able to upgrade to the CC designation, which requires a high school diploma or 100 CEHs plus 2 years of entry-level culinarian experience; an American Culinary Federation Education Foundation (ACFEF) culinary arts program certificate of one year with an additional year of entry-level culinarian experience; an associate’s degree in culinary arts; or an ACFEF apprenticeship program certificate. Additionally, CC applicants must have taken three 30-hour courses in food safety and sanitation, nutrition, and supervisory management.

The CSC program requires that all candidates have at least 2 years of experience supervising a shift or food station within the past 10 years. Moreover, applicants must have a high school diploma or 150 CEHs plus 5 years of entry-level experience; an ACFEF culinary arts program certificate with 4 years of experience; an associate’s degree in culinary arts with 3 years of experience; or an ACFEF apprenticeship program certificate with 4,000 hours of on-the-job training. The mandatory course requirements for obtaining the CSC designation are identical to the CC designation.

The ACFEF apprenticeship program provides students with a combination of classroom instruction and on-the-job training. It requires no previous experience to enroll, and upon successful completion apprentices become eligible for an ACF certification like the three savory certification programs mentioned. Apprentices in the ACFEF program receive their education via an educational institution and work full-time with a qualified supervising chef. Some benefits of becoming an ACFEF apprentice include participating in an earning-while-learning program, receiving mentorship from professional chefs, developing culinary skills, and learning several baking and cooking skills by rotation through every kitchen station.