Certified Master Chef®

The ACF Certified Master Chef is the only American Master Chef certification in the U.S. recognized by the Department of Labor. It is designed to identify chefs who have demonstrated mastery of culinary competence and expertise through education, experience, knowledge and skills.

The role of the ACF Certification Commission is to oversee the ACF’s certification process and ensure that the certification ladder is relevant to today’s culinary market. In addition, the Commission ensures that we retain consistency, marketability and value/approachability for members across the entire ladder, while managing liability. All levels of certification from CFC/CFPC to CMC/CMPC need to be structured and administered in a similar manner using the same evaluator standards, testing competencies and overall atmosphere of the testing environment.

The ACF Certification Commission has recognized a need to align the CMC/CMPC credentials more closely to the rest of the certification ladder that ACF has built over the past two decades. The Certification Commission practical exam subcommittee is tasked with this process with the goal of completion by the end of the year. As part of the process, the subcommittee may perform pilot exams to confirm or reevaluate processes identified. While refinements may be made, these pilot exams meet the requirements of an approved exam and if the candidate meets the standards, may be awarded the CMC/CMPC credential. Candidates currently in the pre-approval stage for the CMC/CMPC and current on their CEC/CEPC/CCE certification may be considered for a pilot exam.

New applications are on hold until the new format has been finalized. For questions, please send an email to certcommission@acfchefs.org.