A Farewell from Bobby Lax

Dear TUCG Members,

I am writing to let you know that after 14 dedicated years I will be making a change professionally and stepping away from the Tofino Ucluelet Culinary Guild (TUCG). I am very grateful for the time I have had as a founding member and the executive director of what was once a small food hub but has now grown to an organization made up of over 50 food businesses, dozens of food producers and hundreds of residents across the west coast and I am proud of the impact we have been able to have over the years.  

While TUCG experiences the challenges of the food industry that many of you can relate with (long hours, razor thin margins, staffing shortages – to name of few), my time spent at the Guild has still been incredibly fulfilling, working to better the 'good food' supply chain between our province's producers and the many chefs, grocers and home cooks that value their work and who care about where their food comes from.   

One thing that I have been asked a lot recently is “don't you own the guild?'” To clarify, I do not. The idea of a food buying group on the west coast was brought to me by a group of 5 restaurants and a fisherman back in 2010; I was just lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time to be offered its first employee position.  When it was originally established TUCG was set up as a not-for-profit society designed to have any excess revenue invested back into the organization to help further our impact as a quality driven food hub. Even though I do not own it, I do feel like TUCG was my first child. One that I helped raise, lost hair over, and beamed with pride from. Now, I get to stand back and watch it walk on its own two feet, free from my constant doting and endless parental advice. I like to think I will never be far away from it as my family, and I will continue to be one of its most supportive household members, as well as someone the team can call on with any questions they may have. TUCG has a great history of alumni staff coming back for the occasional summertime shift to lend a hand to an organization that they have been proud to be a part of. I do not see that tradition ending with me. 
 
Going forward my role within TUCG will be filled through a team effort between Rob Renna as the new executive director and sales manager, Chelsea Cameron as the purchasing manager, and others in the team who will fill in the remaining odd jobs a small organization’s executive director tends to hold after 14 years.  
 
Many of you know Rob already. He brings a wealth of experience from the hospitality industry as a trained chef and a longtime front-of-house restaurant manager. Rob is well connected in our community, having lived and worked out here for the last 20 years. In addition, Rob has worked as the TUCG office manager and sales representative for the last 2 years. He is very familiar with our membership's priorities and needs, and is an ideal fit as the leading face of TUCG in the community. I appreciate the energy Rob brings to this role. 

Chelsea Cameron grew up in Tofino and has worked as a pastry chef in some of the best restaurants on the coast. She has been with the organization for the last 4 years and on a day-to-day basis is the keeper of all the important details that allow us to smoothly source food from dozens of independent suppliers and move that food out to hundreds of members week in and week out. I have full confidence in her move into this position and am so grateful she is carrying the baton for this role. Chelsea and I very much share a passion for quality ingredients that we are proud to offer our TUCG members.  

If you are curious, I will be embarking on a new professional path as a recreation programmer with the District of Tofino. As a longtime recreation committee volunteer, this has been the other passion of mine for many years. I absolutely find parallels between these two paths as I will be once again be working to better interconnect our community in a healthy way.  

I want to thank everyone who has been a part of this food journey for me. I have always bragged that each day I came to this job, I was able to work with some of the most honest, passionate, 'salt of the earth and ocean people’, and for this I am endlessly grateful. There were few days I went into our little warehouse and thought 'is this really what I should be doing with my life'? I knew why I was there. I was given a unique opportunity to be a connector between our province's integrity filled food producers and the people in my community that appreciate good ingredients and value the meaningful relationships that come from sharing food. Ultimately, what else could a person ask for? 

Thank you all for your support over these last 14 years, it has been one of the great pleasures of my life to do this work and serve our community in this way. 

Sincerely, 

Bobby Lax