The talent agency for haute cuisine, Baya, is born with a commitment to sustainable work and a well-thought-out hospitality industry.
BAYA is the new agency that Lydia Ibáñez and Ángela Royo, two haute cuisine professionals, have created to improve the situation of a crushed sector. After months of observation and listening, Ibáñez and Royo detected a lack of communication between generations and an incipient general dissatisfaction among workers in the gastronomy sector. Their mission is to capture, select and retain talent to ensure that all jobs are filled with good working conditions.
Ángela Royo and Lydia Ibáñez, creators of the haute cuisine talent agency BAYA
Haute cuisine is at a turning point and new gastronomic talent can make a change to adapt to current conditions. After validating the idea with professionals and restaurant owners, 98% said that the biggest problem was the staff: “We want to be the largest community of haute cuisine talents in the world. We want to offer its members the best possible conditions to help them reach their full potential,” says Lydia Ibáñez, CEO of BAYA.
BAYA Team (from left to right) Lydia Ibáñez, Raquel Prieto, Ángela Royo, Soledad López and Julia Pijuán
BAYA began to take shape in 2019 at the University of Mondragón, where the two colleagues met. Throughout their careers, both Lydia and Ángela have worked in MICHELIN restaurants and haute cuisine venues around the world. It was then, when they both detected a lack of communication and a general discontent among professionals in the sector, as many leave their jobs due to bad practices. This problem is not only limited to one country, but is a global issue. BAYA has worked with chefs and restaurants all over the world such as South Korea, Costa Rica, Switzerland, Finland, France, United Kingdom and Spain.
Labour sustainability: the best talent in the best jobs with the best conditions
“At BAYA we are committed to sustainable work and a well-thought-out hospitality industry, we seek to foster talent and ensure that all positions are filled by highly skilled and committed people,” says Lydia. Her goal is to change the way of working in haute cuisine, creating a healthy, fair and respectful working environment.
Header of the BAYA agency website
Currently, BAYA has two types of clients: restaurants and talents. They help to find professionals who want to provide their best version, be treated correctly and that this results in a win-win situation for both. BAYA works in two main areas: the selection and retention of talent. In this way, it offers innovative and sustainable solutions for the gastronomy sector in a real and effective way.
