The American Personal & Private Chef Association (APPCA) has long been dedicated to the development and growth of the Personal Chef industry and the support of its members, regardless of which Personal Chef association with which they choose to affiliate.

We believed that Personal Chefs, regardless of locale or affiliation, should have the opportunity to voluntarily and publicly pledge themselves to uphold the highest level of professional comportment.

At the APPCA's 2002 national conference, a discussion group explored the benefits and logistics of developing a code of ethics for the Personal Chef industry. This group of Personal Chefs identified elements that they thought would be key to the success of such a code. The Code should:

• Be developed by Personal Chefs, for Personal Chefs and their clients
• Encourage voluntary commitment.
• Uphold the highest levels of professionalism in each article.
• Be open to all Personal Chefs, regardless of affiliation.
• Hold Personal Chefs accountable to their clients and peers.
• NOT be written to endorse or publicize any particular Personal Chef association.

With a highly motivated membership eager to work toward developing a code of ethics that met these criteria, the American Personal & Private Chef Association provided the tools to enable this development and underwrites the enactment of the code.

As a result, the Personal Chef International Code of Ethics was introduced at the APPCA′s 2003 national conference.

The next step in the enactment of the Code of Ethics is managing the anticipated flood of registrations from those Personal Chefs who now have the opportunity to receive recognition for their excellence and professionalism as Personal Chefs.