Alumni Spotlight: Tobias Azizah

21 August 2024

When you think of places like Meta, you probably think about innovation in technological spaces. But every Meta office is filled with people who need to be fed, and that’s the job of UWL alumnus Tobias Azizah, International Microkitchen Program Manager.

Prior to his current role in hospitality, Tobias first got interested in event management while studying at college, where he started doing volunteer work for a charity called UK Unsigned. Here he organised concerts, hosted themed club nights, and tried his hand at everything from building concepts to booking acts to the necessary logistics and marketing needed to make an event happen.

I loved the essence of building something and having people come and just have a good time. Back then I didn’t know there was a name for what I was doing. I didn’t know events management was a thing, but I wanted a more formal education.”

He came to UWL as a mature student and threw himself into learning, drawing on his industry experience to enhance his education.

I needed the professional expertise to take me to the next level, whatever that meant for me. But I made great friends on the course, I loved the lectures. Events Management is one of those degrees that’s very entrepreneurial. You learn all sorts of things about marketing, events, accounting, food and beverages.”

While studying, Tobias did a module in Spanish and once he graduated, chose to go to Spain to continue his learning. It was his eventual hope to get involved in the festivals and carnival events in the Caribbean, starting with the hallmark festivities in Santo Domingo in Dominica Republic. But it was during his six months in Spain that his love of food really kicked in.

During my time in Spain I turned vegan. I wasn’t developing a fixed diet; I was just being conscious about what I eat. With that comes research, learning and understanding. My cooking skills then went through the roof as Spain is not typically that plant-based friendly, so I ate out a lot less, and coming back from that I had a newfound passion and respect for food and speciality diets.” 

Coming back to the UK, Tobias found himself hunting for jobs. He estimates he must have applied for over 150 before he was eventually headhunted by a contracting company that worked with Meta. When he got the job, he drew on both his culinary and events experience to impress the manager for Meta’s onsite catering facilities.

The dynamics in a company like this are not the same as in a restaurant. You’re catering to the same audience all the time, so you need to be more intentional about allergies, cultural and religious habits and intolerances. The kitchen team needed someone to do this, so the culinary manager decided to bring me on board.”

Over the last nine years, Tobias has seen a lot of growth at the company. In this time his operational and management responsibilities have spanned many geographies across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and the Oceania regions.

Meta was going through an explosive office growth around 2016. Because of the need for bigger and better culinary services, I got much more involved in the project side, working with alongside project managers and architects to support designing kitchen spaces, choosing equipment and manage workflow.” 

One of the main challenges in Tobias’ line of work is accounting for cultural trends and practices. For example, in Asia there is more of an appetite for hot snacks and beverages like instant noodles, soups and teas, so they included a hot water dispenser, or putting a chai machine into the kitchens in India where tea is more culturally relevant than coffee.  

I can’t claim to have all the answers on the cultural food needs everywhere. You have to rely on local vendors in each country. We also get feedback from employees and customers. We travel around a lot, try to keep innovating and stay on top of food trends the best we can.”  

This job briefly saw Tobias relocating to Asia, while traveling around the region supporting office services in cities like Sydney, Tokyo, Mumbai, Manila and Singapore, before returning to the UK full time to raise a family.

I was fortunate to see a lot of places in the world that I otherwise wouldn’t have been able to see. It was conducive to my lifestyle at the time. Nowadays, I have a family, so I only travel about once a month.”  

Food, for Tobias, always plays a key part in a company’s culture.

We’re always trying to make sure that the people who come into work are having a good time, working efficiently and have a space within which they can collaborate.”  

Outside of Meta, he also sits on the board of directors for the Vegetarian Society – a national charity that promotes a vegetarian diet. One of Tobias’ goals is to be able to utilise his knowledge in order to guide businesses towards better practice in terms of nutrition and providing for their workers.

But even with all of this, he is proudest of the work that goes on at home, raising his two young children.

It’s easy to celebrate corporate work achievement, but I’m really proud of myself and my wife for balancing our parenting duties to allow me to do what I do. Being out there, travelling, caring for very loving and bright children, and I think we’re doing a good job there. And I don’t think parents say that enough about themselves.” 