On the 24th of January GZAAT hosted Luka Nachkebia, our 2010 alumni, as a guest speaker. Luka is known for many things, one of the most famous ones being his role as a judge on the reality culinary show MasterChef Georgia. It was noted that Luka’s lecture was one of the most attended by students at the school ever. The library, which is where the lecture took place, was crowded. The students sat on the floor and stood as all chairs were taken. It is interesting to note that students prefer younger speakers, which may be because of the age similarity.
Luka Nachkebia at GZAAT
Luka talked about all sorts of things, trying to touch on as many culinary-related subjects as he could. Luka managed to explain the processes happening in our minds and bodies relating to food, in a much easier and more relatable language. One of the memorable discussion points was food marketing psychology. As an example, Luka spoke of the popular fast-food chain McDonald's. He told students how much the company is working on every single detail, so the customer who enters their restaurant, will stay there and order - how they ensure there’s always the delicious smell of burgers wafting in your nose and noise from the kitchen to make you believe that the restaurant is always working. This led to discovering the marketing psychology behind restaurants’ brand colors. As it turns out, blue and green are used less as it is associated with mold and spoiled food, while on the other hand, red is appetizing and associated with freshness. In the meeting, all of the students were engaged, listening actively and asking questions. The lecture ended with great applause and students took selfies with Luka.
Class of 2024 students with Luka Nachkebia
Edited by: Natalia Tutberidze