Yesterday, Stand With Ukraine took part in the EU–Ukraine Business Summit in Brussels to present La Cantine de Marioupol. The summit was co-organized by the European Commission as part of the preparations for the Ukraine Recovery Conference, scheduled for 25–26 June in Gdańsk.
More than 1,000 decision-makers, investors, and institutional stakeholders gathered over two days.
During the summit, participants had the opportunity to taste cookies prepared by trainees from Cuisine Mode d’Emploi(s).
The project in a few words:
A culinary training program for veterans and displaced people, primarily from Mariupol. Cooking is used as a tool for professional reintegration, psychological recovery, and economic revitalization.
So far, 22 trainees have been trained: 11 in Toulouse in autumn 2024 and 11 in Le Havre in summer 2025. Today, 80% of graduates are working in the hospitality and restaurant sector in Ukraine.
This summer, the project is opening a permanent site in Dnipro: a 450 m² training bistro and bakery located within a housing complex built with French support for 380 displaced families. The center will train 72 participants each year.
The project was developed in partnership with Chef Thierry Marx and his Cuisine Mode d’Emploi(s) network. It is supported by the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, the cities of Le Havre and Mariupol, BNP Paribas, Expertise France in Ukraine, Martin Duplantier Architects, and the Embassy of Ukraine in France.
It represents an inclusive and replicable model designed to be expanded across Ukraine.
