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History

The school’s education permit and first students

The end of the National Prohibition Act on 5 April 1932 gave a strong boost to the development of the hotel and restaurant industry. In order to ensure the availability of professionally skilled work force, entrepreneurs in the field began to plan a restaurant school. The Support Association for the Finnish Hotel and Restaurant School was founded on 18 December 1933. The school received an education permit from the government on 11 January 1935, and the first students began their studies on 11 February of the same year. The school did not yet have its own building.

The establishment of the Hotel and Restaurant School Foundation

During the Second World War, the shortage of food and materials made the operations of restaurants and schools extremely difficult. Resourceful and creative kitchen workers developed new products out of modest means. Foodstuffs were preserved to ensure the provision of goods during wartime. The wartime inflation caused the financial collapse of the school’s support association. The responsibility for maintaining the school was transferred to a foundation established on 5 June 1946, with representatives from a wide range of businesses and organizations in the field.

The Olympic Games - demand for education increased

In the 1950’s the shortage of foodstuffs was over, and the last war indemnities were paid in 1952. The sales of coffee was deregulated in 1954. The 1952 Olympic Games in Helsinki brought about two new hotels, the Palace and the Vaakuna. To meet the needs of the Olympics, Perho organized waiter/waitress courses for secondary school graduates. At the end of the decade, a department providing management level education was established in Perho and the school expanded its course activities.

Own school building and the establishment of restaurant Perho

In 1951 the Finnish Hotel and Restaurant School purchased a site on Perhonkatu. The council of trustees for the hotel and restaurant industry (nowadays the Finnish Hotel and Restaurant Association FHR) and the Finnish Alcohol company agreed on adding an education support charge in the prices of alcohol served at restaurants. The school building was designed by professor Aarne Ervi and was completed in 1957. A teaching restaurant began its operations in the same building, and was named restaurant Perho in a naming competition.

The establishment of a hotel and restaurant school foundation

In 1964, a hotel and restaurant institution foundation was established and it set out to build new facilities in Haaga for the management level education. The hotel and restaurant school (present Helsinki Culinary School Perho) concentrated on educating cooks and waiting staff.

Shortage of work force and education renewal

There was a heavy shortage of professionally skilled work force in the 1960’s. The restaurant school devised a system in which students alternated between studying for four months at the school and for eight months in the industry. This arrangement made it possible to double the number of students.

Renaming the school as Helsinki Hotel and Restaurant School and renovation of the school building

In the 1970’s the shortage for professional skilled staff continued. New schools were founded all over Finland almost yearly throughout the decade. The name of the school was changed into Helsinki Hotel and Restaurant School, to distinguish it from the other schools. The city of Helsinki became involved in funding the school. The school building designed by Aarne Ervi was renovated in 1978 and the restaurant facilities were reopened to the customers. Long work training periods in the middle of the school year were dispensed with, the professional training during the school year was transferred into Perho’s own restaurant, and the study period system was taken into use. The student admissions were decreed by law to be carried out through the national joint application. The Helsinki Hotel and Restaurant School launched a hotel receptionist study programme in 1972 and a management training programme in 1975.

50 years of education
Helsinki Culinary School

In the 1980’s there was still a shortage of work force and new schools continued to emerge. There was an enormous boost in the establishment of new licensed restaurants at the end of the decade. The Helsinki Hotel and Restaurant School celebrated its 50th anniversary and the school was renamed Helsinki Culinary School Perho.
The national renewal of intermediate education changed the structure of the education in the middle of the 1980’s. Helsinki Culinary School Perho and the Haaga Institute built together a dormitory for the students of both schools.

Renewal in the 1990’s

The 1990’s were a period of change, also at Perho. There was a renewal in the structure of vocational education in which versatility, study modules, accreditation, optional studies and international activities gained considerable attention. Finland’s decision to join the EU broke the monopoly of the Finnish Alcohol company in selling alcoholic beverages. The system of education support charges that financed the building of both the Perho and Haaga school buildings was discontinued in 1993.

The merging of Perho and Haaga Institute

Helsinki Culinary School Perho and the Haaga Institute formed a strategic alliance in 1994. The position of the Haaga Institute as a polytechnic providing the highest level of education in the industry was established in 1996 and the foundations maintaining Helsinki Culinary School Perho and the Haaga Institute were merged in 1997.

60 years of education – a cause for celebration

Good taste since 1935

The school celebrated its 60th anniversary in 1995. An exhibition on the history of the school was a part of the festivities and was set up in the Jugend hall in Helsinki. The school published a recipe-cum-history book of Perho’s best drinks and recipes, published also in English (titled The Best of Perho). Perho had its own wine cellar established in 1995. The cellar was filled first with the delicious wines of the festive anniversary. A small brewery was also founded, with Perhon Rohkea beer as its main product. The beer was named after Perho’s one master brewer Antero Rohkea, the other being Sauli Jarva. The school library received its own facilities when rooms previously used for staff accommodation were renovated.

Increased international activities, quality system and quality prizes

Perho’s international contacts increased in the 1990’s. The waiter/waitress and restaurant cook study programmes received an international accreditation in spring 1995. The development of the Perho Quality system was also begun in the 1990’s. The Southern Finland Province Governor’s Quality Prize was awarded to Perho in 1999.

Perho Quality strengthens and co-operation diversifies

The development of the Perho Quality system was continued. The Ministry of Education gave the first Finnish vocational education quality prize to Perho in 2001. In the years 2002 and 2003 the Ministry of Education allotted profitability grants to Perho as a credit for the school’s good results. The school’s first project financed by the European Social Fund (named ‘Customer-oriented working life co-operation’) was brought to a close in May 2002.

Competition activities increased in the new millennium. In 2001, Perho was named a top Skills training unit. The students of the school have participated in several national and international competitions, for example the Skills competition in Seoul. The Nordic waiter/waitress and cook student competitions were organized together with the Finnish Hotel and Restaurant Association in April 2002. New partner schools joined the international activities.

A change to the business idea of restaurant Perho and a renewed logo

The business idea of restaurant Perho was changed in 2000. The quantitative and qualitative aims of the new curriculum were observed in forming the new business idea. At the same juncture, the business facilities of the restaurant were renovated. Perho’s stylish logo from the 1950’s was taken back to use in a slightly modified form, to replace the beautiful butterfly logo.

Taste of success in the years 1995 – 2005

The school celebrated its 70th anniversary in January 2005. The quality prizes received over the years are reflected in our slogan ‘Taste of success 1995 – 2005’. To celebrate the anniversary, a wine festival was arranged at Perho. Perho’s brewery had its 10th anniversary. On this year of celebration, Helsinki Culinary School Perho took part in organizing the World Skills Competition at the Helsinki Fair Centre.

At the beginning of the study year 2006, an international Restaurant Cook study programme was launched, with English as the language of tuition. The group consists of 10 Finnish and 10 foreign students coming from Cameroon, Brazil, Mexico, Greece, Bulgaria, Australia, Canada, the United States, the Netherlands and Germany. The beginning of the study year 2006 saw also the start of using the renewed curriculum ‘Perhosta parhaat’ (‘the best come from Perho’). From the educational perspective, the most important changes in the curriculum were the vocational skills demonstrations, their assessment and the integration of various subjects on the courses.

After the polytechnic education provided by the Haaga Institute Foundation was transferred into the new Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences, the Haaga Group continues to maintain the operations of Helsinki Culinary School Perho, Haaga-Perho, and Hotel Haaga. As of 1 January 2007, the Managing Director of the Haaga Group is Mr Hannu Nyyssölä.

The Perho school building reached the age of 50 in 2007. In April 2007 the first stage of renovating the teaching facilities of the school was begun. The second stage will begin in summer 2008.

Ravintolakoulu Perho, Helsinki Culinary School, Perhonkatu 11, 00100 HELSINKI