The BC Hospitality Foundation is pleased to announce Vancouver’s Monique Cheung and Naramata’s Erin Cronie as winners of the 2016 BCHF Industry Scholarships. The annual scholarships, with a value of $1000 each, are open to children seeking post-secondary study in a hospitality-related career, whose parents also work in the BC food & beverage, hotel or culinary industry (including suppliers and distributors).

Monique Cheung, whose parents and grandparents both worked in the restaurant industry, asserts that “through the medium of food and customer service, we are given the opportunity to affect positive change daily”, as she wrote in her application to the scholarship committee. After completing her master’s degree at Slow Food’s University of Gastronomic Sciences in Italy, she returned to Vancouver to work the line at her family’s restaurant. Believing that the industry is nothing if not creative and adaptable, Monique will use her scholarship to continue her wine studies through the WSET program, while continuing to educate her customers on the true values of good food and wine.

Similarly, Erin Cronie, whose parents both work in the BC wine industry, hopes educate her customers about the wonderful world of wine. Wanting to be part of the wine business since she was 16, Erin has already worked alongside her father as a commercial wine supplier, and with her mother as both a wine sales representative and at her mother’s wine bar in downtown Penticton. She has also worked on a winery bottling line and a wine shop, eager to learn all aspects of the wine business and the science behind it. She will use her scholarship to continue her wine studies in the Okanagan so that she can continue to share her passion about BC and international wines with her customers.