Culinary team leader for Chick-fil-A tells grads, ‘Do it with excellence’

Angela Canada can still vividly recall the smell of ripe peaches and fresh milk filling the warm summer air as her grandmother sat outside in her yard, hand-cranking homemade peach ice cream for the family.

“We would go visit my grandparents every summer in Montgomery, Alabama, because that’s where my dad and his side of the family grew up,” said Canada, who was born and raised in Augusta. “I just remember it was so hot in Alabama, but my grandma would be outside. She would make peach ice cream because she would get fresh peaches for the season.

“She had this old-school, hand-crank ice cream maker, and she’d hand-crank the machine making her delicious homemade ice cream,” she added. “I cherish those memories.”

Canada, now a principal culinary team leader for Chick-fil-A Corporate in Atlanta, was inspired by that fond memory of her Grandma Emma and created Chick-fil-A’s summer staple, the Peach Milkshake, about 15 years ago.

Canada, who will be the keynote speaker at Augusta University’s Undergraduate Commencement Ceremony at 10 a.m. Thursday, Dec. 12, in the Augusta Marriott at the Convention Center, said she has also created the recipes of several other popular items on Chick-fil-A’s menu.

“I tend to look for inspiration when working on a new menu item, and I remember the flavor experience of my grandmother’s homemade peach ice cream,” Canada said, adding that the Peach Milkshake is made with Chick-fil-A Icedream dessert, vanilla cream milkshake base, peaches and peach puree. “That recipe is my secret homage to my grandmother.”

“I tend to look for inspiration when working on a new menu item, and I remember the flavor experience of my grandmother’s homemade peach ice cream. That recipe is my secret homage to my grandmother.”

Angela Canada, a principal culinary team leader for Chick-fil-A Corporate

This old-fashioned favorite has been signaling the start of summer for Chick-fil-A fans since it was first introduced to menus in 2009.

“I developed the recipes for items like the Spicy Chicken Sandwich, the Spicy Chicken Biscuit, the Peppermint Milkshake – which is out now, so get it while it’s in season, if you’re a milkshake person – the Chicken Tortilla Soup, the Chick-fil-A Chick-n-Strips, the current salads that are on the menu, as well as many other things,” said Canada, who has worked for Chick-fil-A Corporate for more than 20 years. “I’ve had really cool opportunities to touch a lot of different items that you’ll find on our menu today.”

For the love of science

Canada will be the first to admit that she never dreamed she would be working as culinary team leader for Chick-fil-A when she was growing up in Augusta.

“As a child, I attended C.T. Walker Magnet School, and I still have very fond memories of that school and my experience there,” she said. “From there, I went on to graduate high school from Richmond Academy and enrolled at South Carolina State University where I got a degree in biology and a minor in chemistry.”

“I would see my mom, my aunts and even my grandmothers on both sides of my family cook all kinds of dishes, and it piqued my interest. One summer, when I was about 9, I had the chance to go to a rec center that was offering a cooking and baking class. From that moment on, I always wanted to try and experiment with different recipes.”

Angela Canada, a principal culinary team leader for Chick-fil-A Corporate

Initially, Canada thought she wanted to become a pediatrician, but she quickly realized that was not the right path for her.

“I got to a point of asking myself, ‘Well, what am I going to do?’” Canada said. “I knew I wanted to do something within the area of science, but I didn’t know what.

“And here is a little fun fact about me: I am the person who would tell you I didn’t really enjoy or like science while I was in school,” she added, laughing. “But somehow, I continued to take these science courses in high school and college. So, go figure how someone who says they didn’t like science ended up being a science girl.”

While she was attending SC State, Canada met Sharon Ross through an internship she had with the United States Forest Service.

“I was doing a lot of lab and analytical work for them, but I also had a chance to go out into the field, into the swamps and deal with the moccasins and wild boar,” Canada said. “I learned a lot from Sharon, not just about a career, but it was more just about life and life skills. She was also the person who connected me with the professor, Dr. Jimmy Reeves, who helped steer me on the path toward food science, which has now led me to where I am today.”

The path to food science

Prior to graduating from South Carolina State, Canada said Ross told her about a summer program at Alabama A&M University that was sponsored by the United States Department of Agriculture.

“The purpose of the program was to introduce students to different careers under the umbrella of agriculture,” Canada said. “I picked something that was close to what I interned doing, which was plant and soil science.”

When Canada and her parents arrived at the summer program, they met Reeves, who was serving as a liaison on the campus of Alabama A&M for the USDA.

“Well, my mom and Dr. Reeves get in this conversation, and she’s talking about how much I enjoy trying different recipes at home and how I always talk about how you eat with your eyes and how the presentation of your food is important,” Canada said. “While they were talking, Dr. Reeves mentioned there was an area of study under this umbrella of agriculture called food science. He explained all about food science and what that meant, and I decided in that moment, ‘OK, I’m going to switch from plant and soil science to food science because this sounds like something more aligned to what I might be interested in.’

“Long story short, that’s how I eventually decided to get my graduate degree in food science at Alabama A&M University,” Canada added. “The rest is history.”

“Food science is really about just the science of food. If you think about any of the sciences, like the biological part or the chemical part or microbiology that’s associated with food, that’s really what food scientists know: the science behind it.”

Angela Canada, a principal culinary team leader for Chick-fil-A Corporate

Basically, food scientists study microbiology, chemistry and engineering to understand the nature of foods and the underlying principles of food processing and preservation.

“Food science is really about just the science of food,” Canada explained. “If you think about any of the sciences, like the biological part or the chemical part or microbiology that’s associated with food, that’s really what food scientists know: the science behind it.

“For example, we understand the science behind what’s going on to make that top of the bread caramelize and turn golden brown or what’s causing your steak to caramelize and crust over,” she added. “We understand the science behind it all.”

Almost every food item on the shelves in grocery stores has been studied by food scientists, she said.

“When you go to the grocery store and you walk down the aisle and see chips from these companies like Frito-Lay, they just don’t slice random potatoes and fry them,” Canada said. “There’s a process and a lot of thought that goes into things like what variety of potatoes give the best crunch, what flavors do they deliver and what kind of packaging do these chips need so that they don’t get crushed. For that one bag of chips that you buy, there’s a lot of science involved.”

Combining science with cooking

If her parents hadn’t stopped to talk to Reeves at the summer program about her love for cooking that day, Canada acknowledges she doesn’t know where her college career would have taken her.

“My dad taught me a very important lesson that I still share with people today,” she said. “He would say, ‘You need to have a plan A, a plan B and you might want to have a plan C, just in case plan A and B don’t work out.’ And my mom, she was the greatest inspiration and catalyst that led me down the path of my career where I am today.”

“My dad taught me a very important lesson that I still share with people today. He would say, ‘You need to have a plan A, a plan B and you might want to have a plan C, just in case plan A and B don’t work out.’”

Angela Canada, a principal culinary team leader for Chick-fil-A Corporate

As early as 9 years old, Canada remembers finding herself in the kitchen experimenting with her mom’s recipes.

“I would see my mom, my aunts and even my grandmothers on both sides of my family cook all kinds of dishes, and it piqued my interest,” Canada said. “One summer, when I was about 9, I had the chance to go to a rec center that was offering a cooking and baking class.

“From that moment on, I always wanted to try and experiment with different recipes,” she added. “So, I’d go through my mother’s cookbooks, and she would purchase the ingredients for me to try the different dishes for my family.”

Canada particularly had a knack for baking.

“I remember one year wanting to bake something special for my mom – a cake for her birthday,” she said. “I can still visually see the photo of this cake and the recipe in my mom’s old cookbook. It was a cake with coconut and lemon, and I remember the family really liked it.”

Becoming a part of the Chick-fil-A team

For Canada, combining the creation of food and the science behind it was something she never dreamed was a future career. She worked within the food industry for a few years before learning about an opening at Chick-fil-A Corporate.

“At the time, I knew enough about Chick-fil-A to know that it was a reputable brand, and, in my mind, they were a strong brand,” Canada said. “I would say I knew about Chick-fil-A but didn’t really know about Chick-fil-A.”

“Be courageous. Don’t allow fear and the ‘what ifs’ keep you from moving forward. Move forward even when you’re afraid, even while you’re afraid, in that moment.”

Angela Canada, a principal culinary team leader for Chick-fil-A Corporate

“In fact, I remember Chick-fil-A being in Regency Mall next to the movie theater, and I would sneak my food into the movie theater and eat it while I was enjoying a movie,” she added, laughing. “So, when I saw the job opportunity, I just started down this journey. But I questioned if I had enough to offer Chick-fil-A for them to hire me.”

Canada recalls that she almost didn’t apply for the job. But she did.

Now, more than 20 years later, she couldn’t be happier.

“I remember, in the process of just interviewing with Chick-fil-A, each and every person that I interviewed with, it was a great experience,” she said. “And I tell people that today. I just remember going through the experience and thinking, ‘You know what? I don’t know what’s going to happen with this in the end, but this is a great interview experience.’”

Through that experience, Canada also learned never to let fear be a deterrent in life.

“Be courageous,” she said. “Don’t allow fear and the ‘what ifs’ keep you from moving forward. Move forward even when you’re afraid, even while you’re afraid, in that moment.”

After more than two decades working at Chick-fil-A, Canada believes the people throughout the company make all the difference in the world.

“I can honestly say guest experience at the restaurant level, the all-around care and kindness, that starts at the top. It truly does,” Canada said. “It starts at the top and trickles down to the restaurant level to our operators and our team members, and then to our guests who are the recipients of that kindness.”

“My parents both told me and my brother, ‘Whatever you do, do it with excellence. Don’t half-do something. If you’re going to do it, do it with excellence.'”

Angela Canada, a principal culinary team leader for Chick-fil-A Corporate

Currently, Chick-fil-A is the third largest quick-service restaurant company in the United States. More than 200,000 team members are employed by independent owner-operators in more than 3,000 restaurants across the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico.

Canada also loves the fact that Chick-fil-A’s goals mirror the work ethic that her parents, Clarence and Hattie Canada, taught her growing up in Augusta.

“My parents both told me and my brother, ‘Whatever you do, do it with excellence. Don’t half-do something. If you’re going to do it, do it with excellence,’” Canada said. “And here at Chick-fil-A, we are committed to excellence, and that inspires me and others around me to do our very best work.”

That’s the advice she would offer current and graduating students at Augusta University, she said.

“Give it your best effort,” Canada said. “I did not say perfection because no person or thing is perfect, but whatever you’re going to do, give it your best and do it with excellence.

“I like to call it progressive excellence,” Canada added, smiling. “Whatever you do in life, make sure you are making small steps of progress with excellence.”