Membership categories are designed to follow your professional culinary career. Choose the designation that best describes you.

• Professional Culinarian - A Culinarian with a minimum of three years full-time employment in the culinary profession.
• Culinarian - A Culinarian is an individual not involved in the management or supervision of staff, with a minimum of 6 months full time employment. A Culinarian should be pursuing on-the-job training and experience necessary to advance to the membership level of Professional Culinarian. A culinarian membership is subject to a limit of five years.
• Student Culinarian - A Student Culinarian is a student or apprentice with less than two years full-time employment, a student enrolled in an accredited postsecondary culinary education program, or a registered apprentice as defined by the ACF apprenticeship training program. A student membership is subject to a limit of four years.
• Junior Culinarian - A Junior Culinarian is a high-school student between 16 and 18 years of age.
• Associate - An Associate Member is a representative of a group, company or corporation providing products or services to the culinary profession.
• Allied - An Allied Member is an individual employed in a field related to the culinary profession (such as dietitians, nutritionists, and restaurant managers or owners).
• Property Membership - A Property Membership is an affordable option for companies who wish to enroll their employees. A minimum of six culinary staff must be enrolled to receive a discount. Each employee may join a local chapter or become an ACF national member.
• Culinary Enthusiast - A Culinary Enthusiast Member is an individual that is not employed in a culinary field, but has a passion for the culinary arts. Individuals who enjoy cooking, baking, dining at independent restaurants, or who may have their favorite chef on speed dial should join as an Enthusiast.
• Military - ACF offers military personnel the benefits of a membership at a reduced price.

• Largest and most prestigious chefs’ organization in America
• 80 years of leadership in the professional food service industry
• Professional networking at local, regional, national, and international levels
• Monthly, national, cutting-edge publication; The National Culinary Review, (NCR)
• Monthly, national, ACF newsletter; Center of the Plate, included inside the pages of the NCR
• Opportunity to attend Regional Conferences and National Conventions
• National, regional, and local seminars, workshops, and symposiums
• Earned Professional Chef/Pastry Chef or Culinarian/ Pastry Culinarian Certifications
• ACF Web Site (www.acfchefs.org); all you need to know about the ACF on the Internet
• Internet JobBank; service for members to post their resumes, review resumes for new employees, or look for a new job; chef jobs are posted for free as a service to our members
• Vendor Resource Guide, a virtual trade show on the ACF Web site
• Local, national, and international culinary competitions
• International Culinary Olympics held every four (4) years in Germany
• Automatic membership in the World Association of Cooks Societies (WACS)
• National and Local Awards and Honors
• American Academy of Chefs, ACF Honor Society
• Voice of helping to feed hungry children; ACF Chef & Child Foundation
• High School Certification; ACCESS ACF
• Programmatic Accreditation for colleges and universities
• Subsidized Chef-TRAC Program; chapter certification courses
• Member Services Center; centralized Member Call Center via a toll free number
• Educational Grants for professional chef members
• Complimentary Term Life Insurance Program
• Horizons 2000 Video Lending Library
• Discounted Alamo Rental Car Rates
• Apprenticeship Program

For more detailed information on all membership benefits, please visit the ACF National website or call (904) 824-4468.    

Most members choose to include a local chapter experience as it provide great networking, professional development, and other community activities. To include chapter membership click here