Quay Crew Releases Yacht Chef Salary Report

Quay Crew surveyed more than 100 head chefs from various yacht sizes for their first yacht chef salary report to provide insight into head chefs’ real-time compensation. Jasmin Gosling, Quay Crew’s galley consultant, notes that readers should know the galley is a much more fluid department than others, with head chefs able to join yachting later in their career and flit between yachting and shoreside jobs. 

Of the more than 100 head chefs surveyed, 80% were men, 19% were women, and 1% preferred not to say. Private/charter positions comprised 60% of surveyed chefs, solely private accounted for 37%, and solely charter made up 3%. Chefs on board yachts ranging from 39 meters to 100 meters plus were surveyed, with salaries and amount of leave on offer generally rising with vessel size. 

Although this rise is similar to other crew positions, Quay Crew found no strong correlation between professional experience and pay for chefs on yachts.

“This is likely due to the fact that appointing, and retaining, a head chef is a somewhat personal choice — and if the owner/charter guests like you and your food, you will achieve good longevity and a better salary, whether you have Michelin experience or not,” Gosling wrote in the report. 

Surveyed chefs had an average of 9.94 years of land-based experience, while 64% of respondents had five or more years of experience on superyachts. Most respondents had professional culinary training, a Ships’ Cook Certificate, or Michelin experience. Chefs with Michelin experience worked on land for an average of 11.6 years, while chefs with only professional culinary training worked on land for an average of 6.9 years.

Although most chefs received some type of certificate or professional training, only 6% of respondents had worked on their current yacht for seven or more years. A whopping 46% of respondents reported being on their current yacht for less than a year, and 35% reported being on board for one to three years. Gosling attributes the lower longevity back to the personal choice of owners and charter guests. 

“This is another reason that longevity is lower than you can expect from other superyacht roles, with job mobility higher,” Gosling said. 

Quay Crew’s report finds that the average monthly salary for a head chef is €8,879, with the average salary on a private yacht being about €500 more than that on a private/charter yacht. Head chefs on yachts up to 39 meters received an average monthly salary of €6,786, while head chefs on yachts over 100 meters received an average monthly salary of €10,071 — supporting the idea that the bigger the boat, the higher the wages. 

Time for time leave ranked highest among respondents at 54%, while 60 days or less came in second at 27%, some rotation third at 11%, and 8% reported “other” types of leave. 

“Pay and leave packages are where I would expect them to be, and although longevity could be better, this is not surprising due to the personal nature of the role,” Gosling said. “As such, any good head chef can enjoy a successful career in yachting.” 

Visit Quay Crew for the full report and read more salary reports here.