FAQs

FSD Chefs Immersion is an exclusive community for noncommercial foodservice industry leaders produced by FoodService Director. These invite-only events create environments where culinary professionals don't just exchange business cards—they exchange transformative ideas. Held at top universities across America, these immersive experiences focus on culinary innovation, meaningful connections, and career advancement. The program brings together elite chefs to collaborate, share best practices, and develop solutions that transform menus, operations, and entire foodservice programs.

FSD Chefs Immersion events are exclusively for noncommercial foodservice industry leaders by invitation only. This includes executive chefs, culinary directors, and foodservice managers from universities, colleges, healthcare systems, corporate dining, and other institutional foodservice operations. The selective nature ensures high-quality networking and meaningful professional exchanges. {needs validation: specific criteria for invitations, application process, or nomination requirements}. Attendees represent the top tier of noncommercial culinary professionals committed to innovation and excellence in their field.

FSD Chefs Immersion hosts four exclusive events annually at prestigious universities across America. Each event leverages the unique culinary facilities and academic environments of host institutions. Confirmed locations include:

• Big Ten Conference University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, IL (March 16-18, 2026)
• University of Michigan (June 22-24, 2026)
• West Coast University of California Davis Campus (August 3-5, 2026)
• Southeast NC State University (October 19-21, 2026)

FSD Chefs Immersion events feature collaborative experiences designed to transform culinary operations and careers. Activities include hands-on culinary workshops, menu innovation sessions, operational best practice sharing, and networking opportunities with industry leaders. The Culinary Showcase highlights innovative noncommercial foodservice creations from participating chefs. Each event creates an environment where meaningful connections form and transformative ideas emerge, directly impacting attendees' professional growth and operational success.

The arritre at Chefs Immersion is business casual.

We want everyone who comes to FSD Chefs Immersion to have a great experience. Whether you are attending, speaking, exhibiting, sponsoring or working with or for us, our focus is on creating an environment and experience that everyone can participate in and benefit from.

Informa is a leading international business-to-business information services group that connects people with knowledge to help them learn more, know more, and do more. Through its Informa Connect division, the company delivers content-led live and on-demand events, training, and specialist content to businesses and professionals across various industries.

As part of the Informa family, FSD benefits from global reach, industry expertise, and the infrastructure necessary to host gatherings that assemble key decision-makers and financial partners in environments specifically designed for meaningful business connections and actionable insights across the convenience retail landscape.

Informa Connect is dedicated to creating experiences that deliver positive impact while minimizing environmental footprint. Through the FasterForward sustainability program, events like ours will move faster to become zero-waste and net-zero carbon by 2030.

In the future, we will actively help partners, customers, and wider markets achieve their own sustainability goals. By attending FSD events, participants will not just gain valuable industry knowledge and connections, but they will also support a more sustainable future for their industries.