When business owners are asked how they motivate their staff, the typical answer is expressed in dollars and cents.
And let's not kid ourselves--how much employees get paid is important to them.
But it's not the only motivational tool in your arsenal.
Businesses that look outside the square to motivate their staff enhance their opportunities to increase sales. For sales people, the commission-based pay structure is how they are typically paid.
Although there is no sense that this is changing, I urge people to think about other incentives.
We recently did work with a company where staff had the option of taking a cash bonus or a Red Balloon Day voucher. Interestingly, staff were more appreciative of the latter.
A Red Balloon Day is where employees receive a voucher to do anything they want, from skin diving to dinner in a restaurant.
One company sent two salesmen to a raceway to do laps in a V8.
The Daily Telegraph (Sydney), December 8.
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Aussies urged to take leave, and consume
The federal Government will this week move to unlock Australian employees' $31bn in unused annual leave, in an attempt to provide a boost to the economy that would be three times bigger than the payments that start flowing today from the economic stimulus package.
Tourism Minister Martin Ferguson said Tourism Australia would convene a round-table meeting with peak employer groups during the week to launch a campaign to "encourage people to organise their lives at work and at home to actually have a break, and to have a break here in Australia".
The "No Leave, No Life'' campaign would promote the concept that workers who took holidays come back to work "with greater energy and satisfaction in their lives and therefore, are better workers''.
Employers would benefit if staff took leave as it accrued, because it cost them progressively more to pay out in later years as wages and salaries rose.
Mr Ferguson has told recipients of the federal Government's economic stimulus payments they had a "responsibility'' to use the money to take a domestic holiday.
Australians should shun overseas destinations and inject some of the $10 billion of handouts into the local tourism industry, he said.
The Australian, December 8.
Tourism Minister Martin Ferguson said Tourism Australia would convene a round-table meeting with peak employer groups during the week to launch a campaign to "encourage people to organise their lives at work and at home to actually have a break, and to have a break here in Australia".
The "No Leave, No Life'' campaign would promote the concept that workers who took holidays come back to work "with greater energy and satisfaction in their lives and therefore, are better workers''.
Employers would benefit if staff took leave as it accrued, because it cost them progressively more to pay out in later years as wages and salaries rose.
Mr Ferguson has told recipients of the federal Government's economic stimulus payments they had a "responsibility'' to use the money to take a domestic holiday.
Australians should shun overseas destinations and inject some of the $10 billion of handouts into the local tourism industry, he said.
The Australian, December 8.
Brisbane Bites Back
Table Talk - Simon Thomsen
http://www.smh.com.au/
I'm sorry Sydney, but I've been seeing other restaurants.
In Brisbane. She understands me. Or at least the fact that dining out shouldn't cost more than your mortgage repayment, along with the fact that increasingly, we're all in a casual mood
I've spend more than a month up north during the second half of 2008, dining out as the editor of the Brisbanetimes.com.au Good Food Guide, an online guide to the state's best restaurants, cafes and bars.
The 2009 edition was launched a few weeks back in a very Brisbane setting - an alfresco veranda at the State Library. It's a smart riverside location - between the Queensland Art Gallery and the new GOMA (Gallery of Modern Art) - in a city that's starting to revel in its talents while enjoying the charms of the subtropical climate.
Urbane in the CBD, where chef Kim Machin creates witty and whimsical contemporary dishes, was named Restaurant of the Year. This fine diner scored two hats for its troubles.
There was a little bit of hand-wringing that the city doesn't boast a three-hat restaurant, but I've found that most egos in the Sunshine state are kept sufficiently in check to cope. I reckon Queenslanders are too laidback to worry about whether the dining's fancy enough to compete with the top end of Melbourne and Sydney dining. They'd rather go out and have a good time.
But the strange thing is, Brisbane's full of expats from Sydney and Melbourne. Even Matt Moran's heading to town after Christmas to open a riverside restaurant.
Noosa is Queensland's San Sebastian, with a two-hat restaurant, River House, plus Muse, Berardo's and one of the country's best Japanese, Wasabi, all awarded one hat. Not bad for a region that's home to about 35,000 people. And if you think the food's good, just wait until you see the beach.
Brisvegas itself - even the locals are in on that joke, so it's not the backhander some assume - has come a long way since the bad ol' days of the moonlight state. Only a decade ago, I remember going to breakfast in Fortitude Valley where the Californian Cafe offered the 'trucker's breakfast' - a dozen fried eggs with a mixed grill. Now the city's party central boasts a fabulous French patisserie, great cafes serving locally roasted Merlo coffee, one of Australia's finest drinking dens, The Bowery, and the consistently excellent Isis Brasserie, which is about to get a major nip and tuck after 11 years in the biz.
Strangely, for a city with its own Chinatown, the Cantonese food was mostly disappointing and the yum cha I used to enjoy a decade ago seems to have lost its sheen. Anyone got any suggestions on places we've missed?
My favourite moment? Pearl Cafe, just a lofted six from the Gabba. It won our best new restaurant award. It's fun, relaxed and groovy. That's it pictured above. Now who's up for a fish finger sandwich? That sleepy old country town’s turning into a pretty decent swan.
There are around 150 Queensland restaurants listed in the BrisbaneTimes.com.au Good Food Guide. If you think we've missed a goodie, let us know!
http://www.smh.com.au/
I'm sorry Sydney, but I've been seeing other restaurants.
In Brisbane. She understands me. Or at least the fact that dining out shouldn't cost more than your mortgage repayment, along with the fact that increasingly, we're all in a casual mood
I've spend more than a month up north during the second half of 2008, dining out as the editor of the Brisbanetimes.com.au Good Food Guide, an online guide to the state's best restaurants, cafes and bars.
The 2009 edition was launched a few weeks back in a very Brisbane setting - an alfresco veranda at the State Library. It's a smart riverside location - between the Queensland Art Gallery and the new GOMA (Gallery of Modern Art) - in a city that's starting to revel in its talents while enjoying the charms of the subtropical climate.
Urbane in the CBD, where chef Kim Machin creates witty and whimsical contemporary dishes, was named Restaurant of the Year. This fine diner scored two hats for its troubles.
There was a little bit of hand-wringing that the city doesn't boast a three-hat restaurant, but I've found that most egos in the Sunshine state are kept sufficiently in check to cope. I reckon Queenslanders are too laidback to worry about whether the dining's fancy enough to compete with the top end of Melbourne and Sydney dining. They'd rather go out and have a good time.
But the strange thing is, Brisbane's full of expats from Sydney and Melbourne. Even Matt Moran's heading to town after Christmas to open a riverside restaurant.
Noosa is Queensland's San Sebastian, with a two-hat restaurant, River House, plus Muse, Berardo's and one of the country's best Japanese, Wasabi, all awarded one hat. Not bad for a region that's home to about 35,000 people. And if you think the food's good, just wait until you see the beach.
Brisvegas itself - even the locals are in on that joke, so it's not the backhander some assume - has come a long way since the bad ol' days of the moonlight state. Only a decade ago, I remember going to breakfast in Fortitude Valley where the Californian Cafe offered the 'trucker's breakfast' - a dozen fried eggs with a mixed grill. Now the city's party central boasts a fabulous French patisserie, great cafes serving locally roasted Merlo coffee, one of Australia's finest drinking dens, The Bowery, and the consistently excellent Isis Brasserie, which is about to get a major nip and tuck after 11 years in the biz.
Strangely, for a city with its own Chinatown, the Cantonese food was mostly disappointing and the yum cha I used to enjoy a decade ago seems to have lost its sheen. Anyone got any suggestions on places we've missed?
My favourite moment? Pearl Cafe, just a lofted six from the Gabba. It won our best new restaurant award. It's fun, relaxed and groovy. That's it pictured above. Now who's up for a fish finger sandwich? That sleepy old country town’s turning into a pretty decent swan.
There are around 150 Queensland restaurants listed in the BrisbaneTimes.com.au Good Food Guide. If you think we've missed a goodie, let us know!
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Restaurant and cafe turnover falls in October
http://www.hospitalitymagazine.com.au
Turnover of Australia's cafe, restaurant and takeaway foodservices fell slightly in October, according to the latest monthly estimates from the Australian Bureau of Statistic.
The monthly Retail Trend Estimates which are being closely watched by industries showed that there had been an overall lift in retail turnover across a variety of industries of 0.2 per cent.
The cafe, restaurant and takeaway food industry fell by 0.6 per cent compared to the previous month, according to the report. Other industries to record a fall included clothing and soft good (-0.2 per cent), and household good retailing (-0.7 per cent).
The food retailing sector had growth of 0.6 per cent.
The October result follows the September ABS report which showed cafes, restaurants and takeaway food grew revenue by 0.2 per cent.
Turnover of Australia's cafe, restaurant and takeaway foodservices fell slightly in October, according to the latest monthly estimates from the Australian Bureau of Statistic.
The monthly Retail Trend Estimates which are being closely watched by industries showed that there had been an overall lift in retail turnover across a variety of industries of 0.2 per cent.
The cafe, restaurant and takeaway food industry fell by 0.6 per cent compared to the previous month, according to the report. Other industries to record a fall included clothing and soft good (-0.2 per cent), and household good retailing (-0.7 per cent).
The food retailing sector had growth of 0.6 per cent.
The October result follows the September ABS report which showed cafes, restaurants and takeaway food grew revenue by 0.2 per cent.
Consumers demand one organic symbol
www.hospitalitymagazine.com.au
More than 70 per cent of organic food buyers say they would prefer to have one, new certification symbol used by all organisations, compared with only 14 per cent who prefer to continue with different certification symbols.
The research conducted by Newspoll found that changing to one, new certification symbol is generally viewed as easier, clearer and less confusing. Having one symbol is also viewed as being easier to recognise and remember, and as having a clearer and stronger meaning.
Some also saw it as providing confirmation of uniformity in certification procedures by certification organisations.
The Newspoll was commissioned by the Organic Federation of Australia, the peak body for the organic sector and was conducted nationally among main grocery buyers.
Regular organic food buyers were asked to rate the current system of having eight different certification symbols on a scale from 0 to 10, where 0 is “very confusing and hard to identify organic foods” and 10 is “very clear and simple to identify organic foods”.
Their average rating was only 3.1 out of 10. "The research showed very poor awareness of most of the certification symbols and that the words “Certified Organic” were important in guiding consumer awareness about genuine organic products, said Andre Leu, chair of the Organic Federation.
"The experience from around the world shows that having one symbol to identify organic products generates a huge increase in sales.
The survey was conducted among 966 main grocery buyers nationally aged 18 years and over.
More than 70 per cent of organic food buyers say they would prefer to have one, new certification symbol used by all organisations, compared with only 14 per cent who prefer to continue with different certification symbols.
The research conducted by Newspoll found that changing to one, new certification symbol is generally viewed as easier, clearer and less confusing. Having one symbol is also viewed as being easier to recognise and remember, and as having a clearer and stronger meaning.
Some also saw it as providing confirmation of uniformity in certification procedures by certification organisations.
The Newspoll was commissioned by the Organic Federation of Australia, the peak body for the organic sector and was conducted nationally among main grocery buyers.
Regular organic food buyers were asked to rate the current system of having eight different certification symbols on a scale from 0 to 10, where 0 is “very confusing and hard to identify organic foods” and 10 is “very clear and simple to identify organic foods”.
Their average rating was only 3.1 out of 10. "The research showed very poor awareness of most of the certification symbols and that the words “Certified Organic” were important in guiding consumer awareness about genuine organic products, said Andre Leu, chair of the Organic Federation.
"The experience from around the world shows that having one symbol to identify organic products generates a huge increase in sales.
The survey was conducted among 966 main grocery buyers nationally aged 18 years and over.
Beach classic gets a kick-start
www.smh.com.au
Far from swanning about, Brad Seymour is focused on an exciting new venture, writes Keeli Cambourne.
BRAD SEYMOUR is a team player. He played for the Sydney Swans as one of its star defenders.
In his latest role as a radio and television commentator, he's also a member of a well-oiled machine.
He is applying that same all-hands-on-deck philosophy to running the Hyams Beach Cafe , nestled above the pristine white sands of Jervis Bay.
Seymour, who took on the cafe after seeing it advertised on the internet, has undertaken a transformation of the once-sleepy general store and takeaway.
"I'd been talking to [my wife] Mel about doing something like this. I had been retired for five years. I had always harboured an ambition to have a cafe, I don't why," he says.
"We used to live in Tamarama and when my son, Jonah, was born we used to spend every day in some sort of cafe. And when we found this I liked the idea of putting my handprint on it."
Before being discovered by Sydney escapees, Hyams Beach was a sleepy coastal village, albeit on one of the most pristine stretches of coastline on Australia's eastern seaboard. The general store catered for the handful of locals who needed everyday essentials in between shopping trips to Vincentia or Nowra.
Hamburgers were about as adventurous as the menu went and for years that is all the holidaymakers really wanted, too.
But the demographics of Hyams have changed in the past decade and with it the tastes of the new locals who now call the village home, let alone the thousands of Sydneysiders who flock there from September to May.
"I'm not sure what the cafe was really like before we took it over but we saw it and liked it and thought it needed to be tidied up here and there to start with."
That tidying up has been more than a lick of paint and a few new signs. The couple added an outside deck and the cafe now stocks Simon Johnson and Maggie Beer gourmet foods as well as bread and milk.
But the most dramatic change was to the menu, which was totally reinvented.
"I had no experience in running a cafe or a restaurant but my attitude has always been roll up your sleeves, put your head down and have a crack at it.
"We had a lot of changes in staff and we started to put the pieces together to form the big picture."
One of those changes was hiring young local chef Doug Innes-Will, who impressed Seymour with his confidence and entrepreneurship. Innes-Will approached Seymour with his vision for the cafe and restaurant.
Part of Seymour's vision, which is shared by Innes-Will, is to showcase the local produce, creating dishes with ingredients such as mushrooms from Mittagong, meats from Bowral and fruit and vegetables from Nowra.
Now the menu boasts dishes such as citrus-cured salmon salad and braised duck curry. And the hamburgers haven't been forgotten - they've just been given a bit of a makeover.
"Essentially I think the South Coast is still untouched in that way," Seymour says.
He is not the unseen partner. Every weekend before the summer onslaught and then every day throughout December and January, he's behind the coffee machine, waiting tables and being host.
"I did do a barista course but you learn more on the job . . . when you make as much coffee as I do over the summer you learn what is good and bad," he says.
"I think a lot of football followers that come through the front door want to talk footy with me and that's great. I think that is a positive thing because it gives my customers and me an interaction and a way to communicate."
And listening to the locals has been integral to being accepted in the village, says Seymour.
"In the end, what I think is wrong or right doesn't matter," he says. "I am open to hearing what the locals want. The store and cafe is the heart and soul of the village."
The Hyams Beach Cafe is open for breakfast and lunch daily and for dinner some nights from January to March.
Far from swanning about, Brad Seymour is focused on an exciting new venture, writes Keeli Cambourne.
BRAD SEYMOUR is a team player. He played for the Sydney Swans as one of its star defenders.
In his latest role as a radio and television commentator, he's also a member of a well-oiled machine.
He is applying that same all-hands-on-deck philosophy to running the Hyams Beach Cafe , nestled above the pristine white sands of Jervis Bay.
Seymour, who took on the cafe after seeing it advertised on the internet, has undertaken a transformation of the once-sleepy general store and takeaway.
"I'd been talking to [my wife] Mel about doing something like this. I had been retired for five years. I had always harboured an ambition to have a cafe, I don't why," he says.
"We used to live in Tamarama and when my son, Jonah, was born we used to spend every day in some sort of cafe. And when we found this I liked the idea of putting my handprint on it."
Before being discovered by Sydney escapees, Hyams Beach was a sleepy coastal village, albeit on one of the most pristine stretches of coastline on Australia's eastern seaboard. The general store catered for the handful of locals who needed everyday essentials in between shopping trips to Vincentia or Nowra.
Hamburgers were about as adventurous as the menu went and for years that is all the holidaymakers really wanted, too.
But the demographics of Hyams have changed in the past decade and with it the tastes of the new locals who now call the village home, let alone the thousands of Sydneysiders who flock there from September to May.
"I'm not sure what the cafe was really like before we took it over but we saw it and liked it and thought it needed to be tidied up here and there to start with."
That tidying up has been more than a lick of paint and a few new signs. The couple added an outside deck and the cafe now stocks Simon Johnson and Maggie Beer gourmet foods as well as bread and milk.
But the most dramatic change was to the menu, which was totally reinvented.
"I had no experience in running a cafe or a restaurant but my attitude has always been roll up your sleeves, put your head down and have a crack at it.
"We had a lot of changes in staff and we started to put the pieces together to form the big picture."
One of those changes was hiring young local chef Doug Innes-Will, who impressed Seymour with his confidence and entrepreneurship. Innes-Will approached Seymour with his vision for the cafe and restaurant.
Part of Seymour's vision, which is shared by Innes-Will, is to showcase the local produce, creating dishes with ingredients such as mushrooms from Mittagong, meats from Bowral and fruit and vegetables from Nowra.
Now the menu boasts dishes such as citrus-cured salmon salad and braised duck curry. And the hamburgers haven't been forgotten - they've just been given a bit of a makeover.
"Essentially I think the South Coast is still untouched in that way," Seymour says.
He is not the unseen partner. Every weekend before the summer onslaught and then every day throughout December and January, he's behind the coffee machine, waiting tables and being host.
"I did do a barista course but you learn more on the job . . . when you make as much coffee as I do over the summer you learn what is good and bad," he says.
"I think a lot of football followers that come through the front door want to talk footy with me and that's great. I think that is a positive thing because it gives my customers and me an interaction and a way to communicate."
And listening to the locals has been integral to being accepted in the village, says Seymour.
"In the end, what I think is wrong or right doesn't matter," he says. "I am open to hearing what the locals want. The store and cafe is the heart and soul of the village."
The Hyams Beach Cafe is open for breakfast and lunch daily and for dinner some nights from January to March.
Finest chefs unite in support of vulnerable children
www.hospitalitymagazine.com.au
As part of its 2008 Christmas Appeal, Anglicare Victoria hosted its fifth annual Dinner with the Angels on November 25 at the Savoy Ballroom, Grand Hyatt Melbourne where top chefs from 15 of the city’s finest restaurants united in support of Victoria’s most vulnerable children.
A live auction of items helped raise $165,000 for Anglicare Victoria’s continuing work with the State’s most vulnerable children, young people and families. Anglicare’s Christmas Appeal aims to raise $1million in funds to continue its vital services and 10,000 gifts to distribute to children in need.
Restaurants Bottega; Circa, the Prince; Comme; European; L’Oustal, Maha Bar & Grill; Pearl; Pure South; Red Emperor; Seagrass; Taxi Dining Room; The Montague; The Press Club; Tutto Bene; and Verge all generously donated their time and produce to prepare a lavish three-course meal for 300 guests.
As part of its 2008 Christmas Appeal, Anglicare Victoria hosted its fifth annual Dinner with the Angels on November 25 at the Savoy Ballroom, Grand Hyatt Melbourne where top chefs from 15 of the city’s finest restaurants united in support of Victoria’s most vulnerable children.
A live auction of items helped raise $165,000 for Anglicare Victoria’s continuing work with the State’s most vulnerable children, young people and families. Anglicare’s Christmas Appeal aims to raise $1million in funds to continue its vital services and 10,000 gifts to distribute to children in need.
Restaurants Bottega; Circa, the Prince; Comme; European; L’Oustal, Maha Bar & Grill; Pearl; Pure South; Red Emperor; Seagrass; Taxi Dining Room; The Montague; The Press Club; Tutto Bene; and Verge all generously donated their time and produce to prepare a lavish three-course meal for 300 guests.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Crown Melbournes welcomes Gordon Ramsays Maze restaurant
www.hospitalitymagazine.com.au
Crown Melbourne has announced that Gordon Ramsay’s Maze restaurant will open in Australia’s newest hotel in February 2010
An agreement has been reached with Gordon Ramsay Holdings International to open Maze, one of London’s most popular and successful restaurant concepts, within Crown’s new, third hotel in early 2010.
Crown’s CEO, David Courtney, who made the announcement, said: "We’re thrilled to announce the exciting news that Gordon Ramsay will open a Maze restaurant at Crown.
Ramsay and Maze fit extremely well within the positioning of our new hotel as Maze has become renowned for being stylish, contemporary and providing an innovative food offer.
Maze will be hugely popular and will be a major drawcard for local, interstate and international visitors. Bringing Gordon Ramsay and Maze to Melbourne further cements our strategy of bringing some of the world’s best dining experiences to Crown and Melbourne.
Ramsay said: “This is our first step in bringing the Gordon Ramsay brand to Australia and after having seen the way Crown operates feel that this is an exciting and challenging opportunity.
While based on French cuisine, Maze's food has Asian influences and offers small tasting plates. Guests are encouraged to order individually or sample many dishes. Maze London, New York and Prague menus, for example, feature dishes such as bouillabaisse of red mullet with fennel puree and halibut ravioli with braised carrots, gremolata and veal vinaigrette.
Maze has been awarded a Michelin star and won an unprecedented number of awards during its first year of operation and most recently was named Best Breakthrough Restaurant at the San Pellegrino World’s Best Restaurant Awards.
Crown’s Third Hotel Tower (which is yet to be named) will be located on Clarendon Street, adjacent to the Crown Entertainment Complex.
Crown Melbourne has announced that Gordon Ramsay’s Maze restaurant will open in Australia’s newest hotel in February 2010
An agreement has been reached with Gordon Ramsay Holdings International to open Maze, one of London’s most popular and successful restaurant concepts, within Crown’s new, third hotel in early 2010.
Crown’s CEO, David Courtney, who made the announcement, said: "We’re thrilled to announce the exciting news that Gordon Ramsay will open a Maze restaurant at Crown.
Ramsay and Maze fit extremely well within the positioning of our new hotel as Maze has become renowned for being stylish, contemporary and providing an innovative food offer.
Maze will be hugely popular and will be a major drawcard for local, interstate and international visitors. Bringing Gordon Ramsay and Maze to Melbourne further cements our strategy of bringing some of the world’s best dining experiences to Crown and Melbourne.
Ramsay said: “This is our first step in bringing the Gordon Ramsay brand to Australia and after having seen the way Crown operates feel that this is an exciting and challenging opportunity.
While based on French cuisine, Maze's food has Asian influences and offers small tasting plates. Guests are encouraged to order individually or sample many dishes. Maze London, New York and Prague menus, for example, feature dishes such as bouillabaisse of red mullet with fennel puree and halibut ravioli with braised carrots, gremolata and veal vinaigrette.
Maze has been awarded a Michelin star and won an unprecedented number of awards during its first year of operation and most recently was named Best Breakthrough Restaurant at the San Pellegrino World’s Best Restaurant Awards.
Crown’s Third Hotel Tower (which is yet to be named) will be located on Clarendon Street, adjacent to the Crown Entertainment Complex.
Downturn will not put us off food
www.hospitalitymagazine.com.au
Despite slowing consumer spending the future still looks bright for hospitality and tourism students, as Australians look for new ways to treat themselves to life’s little luxuries, says William Blue College of Hospitality and Tourism.
The comment comes amid a predicted fall in Australian tourism and the recent drop in the Australian dollar. William Blue College says that while job prospects may be on the decline, the demand for hospitality will be sustained as the summer holiday season approaches.
“As consumers, Australians are creatures of comfort with a taste for the finer things in life. Even in an economic downturn, people still need to eat, sleep and be entertained,” says Jenny Jenkins, William Blue head of college.
“It’s about being smarter when it comes to making your dollar go further. Consumers are now looking at how they can continue to be entertained and enjoy top dining experiences that don’t break the budget. William Blue’s own training restaurant, Billy Blue Brassiere, has experienced a significant upturn in patrons over the last few months and recently won the 2008 Training Restaurant of the Year Award,” she says.
Interestingly, Jenkins predicts the wedding and event planning sector will continue to grow, following a record 116,000 weddings in 2007 – its highest level since 1990.
Jenkins also expects domestic tourism to see a significant boost over the holiday period, as the falling dollar encourages Australians to travel domestically.
She suggests that those pursuing a career in the hospitality and tourism industry, which employs over one million Australians, need to ensure that their skills, experience and qualifications are up-to-par in an increasingly competitive market.
According to Jenkins, hospitality is now a real career path that gives individuals the opportunity to contribute to an organisation’s overall business performance and bottom-line.
“Businesses are becoming increasingly choosey about the type of people they take on board.
Rather than employing people with no experience because they are under-staffed, employers are looking to highly-trained candidates who are multi-skilled and understand all the facets of the business.
“The more experience and qualifications a graduate has, the more valuable they are to an employer. In times of downturn people should look to up-skill and further their education to secure their careers and ensure they are less expendable,” says Jenkins.
Despite slowing consumer spending the future still looks bright for hospitality and tourism students, as Australians look for new ways to treat themselves to life’s little luxuries, says William Blue College of Hospitality and Tourism.
The comment comes amid a predicted fall in Australian tourism and the recent drop in the Australian dollar. William Blue College says that while job prospects may be on the decline, the demand for hospitality will be sustained as the summer holiday season approaches.
“As consumers, Australians are creatures of comfort with a taste for the finer things in life. Even in an economic downturn, people still need to eat, sleep and be entertained,” says Jenny Jenkins, William Blue head of college.
“It’s about being smarter when it comes to making your dollar go further. Consumers are now looking at how they can continue to be entertained and enjoy top dining experiences that don’t break the budget. William Blue’s own training restaurant, Billy Blue Brassiere, has experienced a significant upturn in patrons over the last few months and recently won the 2008 Training Restaurant of the Year Award,” she says.
Interestingly, Jenkins predicts the wedding and event planning sector will continue to grow, following a record 116,000 weddings in 2007 – its highest level since 1990.
Jenkins also expects domestic tourism to see a significant boost over the holiday period, as the falling dollar encourages Australians to travel domestically.
She suggests that those pursuing a career in the hospitality and tourism industry, which employs over one million Australians, need to ensure that their skills, experience and qualifications are up-to-par in an increasingly competitive market.
According to Jenkins, hospitality is now a real career path that gives individuals the opportunity to contribute to an organisation’s overall business performance and bottom-line.
“Businesses are becoming increasingly choosey about the type of people they take on board.
Rather than employing people with no experience because they are under-staffed, employers are looking to highly-trained candidates who are multi-skilled and understand all the facets of the business.
“The more experience and qualifications a graduate has, the more valuable they are to an employer. In times of downturn people should look to up-skill and further their education to secure their careers and ensure they are less expendable,” says Jenkins.
World Barista Championship announces new judges certification workshops
LONG BEACH, CA (November 14, 2008)
Two new judges certification workshops will be held in Long Beach, California and Melbourne, Australia for applicants who aspire to judge at the 2009 World Barista Championship (WBC) competition in Atlanta.
On April 16-19, 2009, national barista champions from over 56 countries will converge in Atlanta’s Georgia World Congress Center to compete for the ranking of world’s top coffee maker in front of a live audience of several hundred spectators and thousands of online viewers from around the world.
Participants that successfully complete the 2-day certification course will be included in a pool of volunteer judges that will evaluate the taste of beverages served in the 2009 competition, as well as, the creativity, technical skill and overall presentation of competitors.
Once certified, judges will be issued a certificate of completion and a license to use the WBC Certified Judge logo in accordance with WBC standards.
In order to attend, all candidates must meet the following prerequisites:
Two new judges certification workshops will be held in Long Beach, California and Melbourne, Australia for applicants who aspire to judge at the 2009 World Barista Championship (WBC) competition in Atlanta.
On April 16-19, 2009, national barista champions from over 56 countries will converge in Atlanta’s Georgia World Congress Center to compete for the ranking of world’s top coffee maker in front of a live audience of several hundred spectators and thousands of online viewers from around the world.
Participants that successfully complete the 2-day certification course will be included in a pool of volunteer judges that will evaluate the taste of beverages served in the 2009 competition, as well as, the creativity, technical skill and overall presentation of competitors.
Once certified, judges will be issued a certificate of completion and a license to use the WBC Certified Judge logo in accordance with WBC standards.
In order to attend, all candidates must meet the following prerequisites:
- Possess two consecutive years experience officiating at WBC-sanctioned national or regional barista competitions;
- Demonstrate the ability comprehend and complete all score sheets in English;
- Agree to comply with the WBC Code of Conduct;
- Agree to attend the 2009 competition and pre-competition events in Atlanta, GA from April 14-19 at his or her own expense; and
- Demonstrate a commitment to coffee excellence and to promoting the barista craft.
In Long Beach, December 4-5, 2008:Specialty Coffee Association of America Headquarters330 Golden Shore, Ste. 50, Long Beach, CA, USAFee: US$200 per person Register Here
In Melbourne, Australia January 14-15, 2009:Box Hill Institute465 Elgar Road, Box Hill, Melbourne, Victoria, AustraliaFee: US$200 per person Register Here
Attendance is limited and advance registration is required. Dates for workshops in the United Kingdom and Africa will be announced shortly. For more information or to register, visit the World Barista Championship website at www.worldbaristachampionship.com.
About World Barista Championship UK Ltd.World Barista Championship UK Ltd is jointly owned by the Specialty Coffee Association of America and Speciality Coffee Association of Europe.
The first WBC competition took place in Monte Carlo in October 2000 and has since held annual competitions Miami, Oslo, Boston, Trieste, Seattle, Berne, Tokyo and Copenhagen.
The organization’s next event will be held in Atlanta, Georgia U.S.A., April 16-19, 2009.
For more information, please visit www.worldbaristachampionship.com.
Doombusters unite to fight the gloom
Kathleen Donaghey
http://www.goldcoast.com.au/
ANALYSTS agree that low confidence is hurting our economy so The Gold Coast Bulletin is calling on readers to 'join the Doombusters' and help revive consumer spirit.
With interest rates at a three-year low and petrol prices tumbling, consumers have more money and no better time to spend it than the lead-up to Christmas.
New stores are still opening, including a wing of boutique shops at Robina Town Centre, there are bargains to be had across the city and accommodation providers are offering holiday deals.
All combined, few cities are better placed to weather the economic storm than one whose name is made of 'gold' and where the sun shines all year round.
With all the fundamentals in place in this city, The Gold Coast Bulletin believes all that's needed to help get the economy flying is a little dose of confidence.
Caravan parks have so far been the first to enjoy the support of locals as bookings flood in for Christmas but other sectors are in need of help.
New Gold Coast business owners like Sean McCormick, who recently opened his jewellery and gift shop Fiera in the Robina Town Centre, agreed shoppers needed a boost in confidence.
Mr McCormick owns six jewellery and gift shops across the south-east and said turnover had fallen 10 per cent since the second week in October.
Sales have also remained slow in what should be the busiest time of the year.
Mr McCormick applauded The Gold Coast Bulletin's campaign to encourage people to get behind small businesses, saying it was exactly what was needed.
"It's coming up to Christmas which is a time of giving and it's time to get out and see what's new in stores," said Mr McCormick.
"Small businesses are at the coalface so people need to get out and support local businesses to get things moving."
Retailers Association chief executive Scott Driscoll said the current slow-down mostly stemmed from psychology which was why he has been eagerly talking things up.
Mr Driscoll said people needed to realise the economic outlook could be turned around from the current doom and gloom just by 'opening your wallets'.
"What we're going through is not an economic problem, it's a confidence problem," said Mr Driscoll, whose organisation represents independent shops, including food, clothing and furniture.
"Household budgets are actually in good shape: we've had interest rate cuts and the Government's $10 billion stimulus package means people will have money in the lead-up to Christmas.
"We're actually expecting a fairly good Christmas."
Restaurant and Catering Queensland chief executive James Visser agreed that the bad times need not remain so.
"While it's true discretionary spending is somewhat down, it's not all doom and gloom," said Mr Visser. "I have a lot of optimism because of the interest rate cuts -- with more expected -- and the Reserve Bank saying we're in a slump and not a recession. People are not going to say Christmas is cancelled.
"There'll be a lot of Christmas parties. It's hard to celebrate Christmas without celebratory cheer."
The latest CommSec retail spending figures show retail trade fell by 1.1 per cent in September and the worst hit sectors were food, clothing and other discretionary retail items. Business closures increased 7.59 per cent in Queensland in the September quarter, according to Insolvency and Trustee Service Australia data.
Insolvency firms on the Gold Coast have been kept busy, with businesses dropping out in building, transport, hospitality and food, although Worrells insolvency practitioner Brian Carey said other states were much worse off.
As a result of the situation, businesses, restaurants and cafes across the Gold Coast have been complaining of fewer customers and sales, including Retravision Bundall and Pacific Fair owner Sep Abedian, who said the customers just weren't coming.
Manchester stores, gift shops and clothing shops such as Karma House and Home have also watched as customers walk in and out without making a purchase.
"We've been expecting it to ramp up but it hasn't ramped up yet," said Karma owner Kerry Goodwin.
Doing his part to turn things around amid the standstill is Hot to Trot shoe shop owner Alan Rasho who is making light of the end-of-the-world mantra to snare a few more customers.
Mr Rasho said he was known for his budget leather shoes at Ashmore Plaza and the way to attract even more shoppers was through his 'doom and gloom sale' with nothing over $40.
"Since the economy has gone bust we've doubled our business," said Mr Rasho. "We haven't been quiet yet. People want their money to go further and this is where they come, especially if you've got a family of four kids who all need shoes."
Retailers across the board are being encouraged to similarly do whatever they can to prop up sales, including discounting heavily and promising interest free periods for 15 months.
Clearance offers, discount shopping vouchers, up to 50 per cent off sales and special offers were now available right across the Gold Coast.
However, if in the end all eventually goes bust and Australia follows the lead of the US and Europe which appear to be slipping into recession, many would agree there is no better place to tough it out than the Gold Coast.
Sunning herself at Broadbeach yesterday, Tess Goot, 23, said there was nowhere she would rather spend her time than on a Gold Coast beach.
"I can't think of a better place to be," she said.
CommSec equities economist Savanth Sebastian said shoppers had not only been spending less, they were also limiting themselves to crucial items, eating at home and saving 'for a rainy day'.
http://www.goldcoast.com.au/
ANALYSTS agree that low confidence is hurting our economy so The Gold Coast Bulletin is calling on readers to 'join the Doombusters' and help revive consumer spirit.
With interest rates at a three-year low and petrol prices tumbling, consumers have more money and no better time to spend it than the lead-up to Christmas.
New stores are still opening, including a wing of boutique shops at Robina Town Centre, there are bargains to be had across the city and accommodation providers are offering holiday deals.
All combined, few cities are better placed to weather the economic storm than one whose name is made of 'gold' and where the sun shines all year round.
With all the fundamentals in place in this city, The Gold Coast Bulletin believes all that's needed to help get the economy flying is a little dose of confidence.
Caravan parks have so far been the first to enjoy the support of locals as bookings flood in for Christmas but other sectors are in need of help.
New Gold Coast business owners like Sean McCormick, who recently opened his jewellery and gift shop Fiera in the Robina Town Centre, agreed shoppers needed a boost in confidence.
Mr McCormick owns six jewellery and gift shops across the south-east and said turnover had fallen 10 per cent since the second week in October.
Sales have also remained slow in what should be the busiest time of the year.
Mr McCormick applauded The Gold Coast Bulletin's campaign to encourage people to get behind small businesses, saying it was exactly what was needed.
"It's coming up to Christmas which is a time of giving and it's time to get out and see what's new in stores," said Mr McCormick.
"Small businesses are at the coalface so people need to get out and support local businesses to get things moving."
Retailers Association chief executive Scott Driscoll said the current slow-down mostly stemmed from psychology which was why he has been eagerly talking things up.
Mr Driscoll said people needed to realise the economic outlook could be turned around from the current doom and gloom just by 'opening your wallets'.
"What we're going through is not an economic problem, it's a confidence problem," said Mr Driscoll, whose organisation represents independent shops, including food, clothing and furniture.
"Household budgets are actually in good shape: we've had interest rate cuts and the Government's $10 billion stimulus package means people will have money in the lead-up to Christmas.
"We're actually expecting a fairly good Christmas."
Restaurant and Catering Queensland chief executive James Visser agreed that the bad times need not remain so.
"While it's true discretionary spending is somewhat down, it's not all doom and gloom," said Mr Visser. "I have a lot of optimism because of the interest rate cuts -- with more expected -- and the Reserve Bank saying we're in a slump and not a recession. People are not going to say Christmas is cancelled.
"There'll be a lot of Christmas parties. It's hard to celebrate Christmas without celebratory cheer."
The latest CommSec retail spending figures show retail trade fell by 1.1 per cent in September and the worst hit sectors were food, clothing and other discretionary retail items. Business closures increased 7.59 per cent in Queensland in the September quarter, according to Insolvency and Trustee Service Australia data.
Insolvency firms on the Gold Coast have been kept busy, with businesses dropping out in building, transport, hospitality and food, although Worrells insolvency practitioner Brian Carey said other states were much worse off.
As a result of the situation, businesses, restaurants and cafes across the Gold Coast have been complaining of fewer customers and sales, including Retravision Bundall and Pacific Fair owner Sep Abedian, who said the customers just weren't coming.
Manchester stores, gift shops and clothing shops such as Karma House and Home have also watched as customers walk in and out without making a purchase.
"We've been expecting it to ramp up but it hasn't ramped up yet," said Karma owner Kerry Goodwin.
Doing his part to turn things around amid the standstill is Hot to Trot shoe shop owner Alan Rasho who is making light of the end-of-the-world mantra to snare a few more customers.
Mr Rasho said he was known for his budget leather shoes at Ashmore Plaza and the way to attract even more shoppers was through his 'doom and gloom sale' with nothing over $40.
"Since the economy has gone bust we've doubled our business," said Mr Rasho. "We haven't been quiet yet. People want their money to go further and this is where they come, especially if you've got a family of four kids who all need shoes."
Retailers across the board are being encouraged to similarly do whatever they can to prop up sales, including discounting heavily and promising interest free periods for 15 months.
Clearance offers, discount shopping vouchers, up to 50 per cent off sales and special offers were now available right across the Gold Coast.
However, if in the end all eventually goes bust and Australia follows the lead of the US and Europe which appear to be slipping into recession, many would agree there is no better place to tough it out than the Gold Coast.
Sunning herself at Broadbeach yesterday, Tess Goot, 23, said there was nowhere she would rather spend her time than on a Gold Coast beach.
"I can't think of a better place to be," she said.
CommSec equities economist Savanth Sebastian said shoppers had not only been spending less, they were also limiting themselves to crucial items, eating at home and saving 'for a rainy day'.
Federal Ombudsman now after butchers, bakers and coffee makers
Queensland Business Review
www.qbr.com.au
Butchers and bakers throughout Queensland and the rest of Australia are about to come under the watchful eye of the Federal Workplace Ombudsman over whether their workers are being properly paid.
Ombudsman Nicholas Wilson said a national food campaign running over the Christmas – New Year period would specifically target butchers, bakers, cafes, grocers, delis and suppliers of bulk food items such as seafood and poultry.
Mr Wilson said employers found to be underpaying workers or in breach of any other workplace laws would be advised to "rectify the situation immediately" however deliberate cases of abuse will have employers paying a $33,000 fine.
The Ombudsman’s move comes on top of a human services campaign that targeted 500 aged and child-care facilities around the country which ended with 600 workers receiving more than $155,000 in back pay.
www.qbr.com.au
Butchers and bakers throughout Queensland and the rest of Australia are about to come under the watchful eye of the Federal Workplace Ombudsman over whether their workers are being properly paid.
Ombudsman Nicholas Wilson said a national food campaign running over the Christmas – New Year period would specifically target butchers, bakers, cafes, grocers, delis and suppliers of bulk food items such as seafood and poultry.
Mr Wilson said employers found to be underpaying workers or in breach of any other workplace laws would be advised to "rectify the situation immediately" however deliberate cases of abuse will have employers paying a $33,000 fine.
The Ombudsman’s move comes on top of a human services campaign that targeted 500 aged and child-care facilities around the country which ended with 600 workers receiving more than $155,000 in back pay.
Business vulnerability to employee or customer sabotage
Peter Switzer November 17, 2008
Article from: The Australian
THE Coogee Bay Hotel is facing one of the greatest threats to its profitability and its all-important brand with the discovery that a customer was served human faeces in a chocolate ice cream desert.
This raises an issue for all small businesses: how vulnerable are they to employee or even customer sabotage, and what protection they should have.
The lesson from this case is that business owners and managers have a massive business risk and while insurance offers some protection, highly enlightened leadership and top-notch employee relations are critically important.
In case you missed this controversial event, a family reported that they had been served human poo in a bowl of chocolate ice cream. The hotel has settled the case with a $50,000 compensation payment. The matter is still subject to police investigation and the culprits are still to be identified.
It's reported that staff have been DNA-tested.
In the meantime the hotel has lost incalculable goodwill, jokesters christening it with economically damaging nicknames such as "Poogee Bay Hotel".
As risk management is critical for all successful business strategies, the question is: does conventional business insurance cover proprietors against the direct economic losses that can come from incidents of this kind?
All food businesses and most operations that serve coffee could potentially poison a customer. Cafes, restaurants and shops could easily and accidentally threaten customers' health through the likes of salmonella.
"Public and products liability insurance would generally compensate customers for personal injury or damage to their property caused by the non-deliberate failure of an employee to exercise the degree of care required," says Gerard McDermott, the executive general manager, customer and sales service, at GIO.
"For example, an employee may accidentally spill a serving tray of hot food and beverage on a customer during the course of serving."
But the big issue for the Coogee Bay Hotel specifically and other businesses generally is that public liability policies do not, as a rule, cover the deliberate and criminal acts of employees.
John Hart, the chief executive of Restaurant and Catering Australia stresses the difficulties for business owners when a disgruntled staff member goes feral.
"I would think the insurance coverage depends on whether the act was malicious," he says. "In such a case, I doubt anything would cover such an action."
The food industry is responsible for self-regulation of the safety of the food and beverages they supply whether as a cafe, restaurant or producer.
"The public and products liability product provides cover to compensate customers for unintended omissions that result in contamination of food, leading to claims," McDermot says.
"For food and beverage manufacturers, specialist insurance known as 'malicious product tamper' can be purchased to cover the deliberate contamination of food.
"However, it is very expensive and only available to those companies with a proven good history, excellent quality assurance programs and recall and crisis management procedures and policies."
These facts underline how exposed small businesses such as cafes and sandwich shops are. It illustrates the risk management, staff training and deep understanding of staff that a boss in this industry has to have.
John Hart believes employers have to manage these situations professionally.
"I am not sure we know what caused this event," he says.
"However, if it was staff out to get back at a customer, we would hope (that) effective management would not allow a situation like this to arise in the first place."
A big risk is that copycat actions could follow this well-publicised event.
"There are some instances where disgruntled staff do things to harm their employers but we do not really hear of these sort on instances," Hart says. "In small businesses like restaurants, if the owners have close working relationships with their staff, this sort of thing would be virtually unheard of."
Public and products liability insurance is a necessity for businesses. It not only compensates third parties such as customers for personal injury and property damage where the business is legally liable, but can also cover the cost of defending claims made against them, even where it is established that there is no fault.
The cost is not prohibitive, with minimum premiums starting at around $600 for $10 million worth of coverage. For a business with a turnover of $250,000 this is a rate of less than 0.25 per cent.
McDermot says liability claims do not happen as frequently as vehicle claims but when they do, the cost can be much higher. From GIO's experience, liability claims of $30,000 to $90,000 are not uncommon.
Any business afraid of being left in the "you know what" has to do risk calculations on what it could step into in the future and take out the smart level of protection.
Peter Switzer is the founder of Switzer Business Coaching
www.switzer.com.au
Article from: The Australian
THE Coogee Bay Hotel is facing one of the greatest threats to its profitability and its all-important brand with the discovery that a customer was served human faeces in a chocolate ice cream desert.
This raises an issue for all small businesses: how vulnerable are they to employee or even customer sabotage, and what protection they should have.
The lesson from this case is that business owners and managers have a massive business risk and while insurance offers some protection, highly enlightened leadership and top-notch employee relations are critically important.
In case you missed this controversial event, a family reported that they had been served human poo in a bowl of chocolate ice cream. The hotel has settled the case with a $50,000 compensation payment. The matter is still subject to police investigation and the culprits are still to be identified.
It's reported that staff have been DNA-tested.
In the meantime the hotel has lost incalculable goodwill, jokesters christening it with economically damaging nicknames such as "Poogee Bay Hotel".
As risk management is critical for all successful business strategies, the question is: does conventional business insurance cover proprietors against the direct economic losses that can come from incidents of this kind?
All food businesses and most operations that serve coffee could potentially poison a customer. Cafes, restaurants and shops could easily and accidentally threaten customers' health through the likes of salmonella.
"Public and products liability insurance would generally compensate customers for personal injury or damage to their property caused by the non-deliberate failure of an employee to exercise the degree of care required," says Gerard McDermott, the executive general manager, customer and sales service, at GIO.
"For example, an employee may accidentally spill a serving tray of hot food and beverage on a customer during the course of serving."
But the big issue for the Coogee Bay Hotel specifically and other businesses generally is that public liability policies do not, as a rule, cover the deliberate and criminal acts of employees.
John Hart, the chief executive of Restaurant and Catering Australia stresses the difficulties for business owners when a disgruntled staff member goes feral.
"I would think the insurance coverage depends on whether the act was malicious," he says. "In such a case, I doubt anything would cover such an action."
The food industry is responsible for self-regulation of the safety of the food and beverages they supply whether as a cafe, restaurant or producer.
"The public and products liability product provides cover to compensate customers for unintended omissions that result in contamination of food, leading to claims," McDermot says.
"For food and beverage manufacturers, specialist insurance known as 'malicious product tamper' can be purchased to cover the deliberate contamination of food.
"However, it is very expensive and only available to those companies with a proven good history, excellent quality assurance programs and recall and crisis management procedures and policies."
These facts underline how exposed small businesses such as cafes and sandwich shops are. It illustrates the risk management, staff training and deep understanding of staff that a boss in this industry has to have.
John Hart believes employers have to manage these situations professionally.
"I am not sure we know what caused this event," he says.
"However, if it was staff out to get back at a customer, we would hope (that) effective management would not allow a situation like this to arise in the first place."
A big risk is that copycat actions could follow this well-publicised event.
"There are some instances where disgruntled staff do things to harm their employers but we do not really hear of these sort on instances," Hart says. "In small businesses like restaurants, if the owners have close working relationships with their staff, this sort of thing would be virtually unheard of."
Public and products liability insurance is a necessity for businesses. It not only compensates third parties such as customers for personal injury and property damage where the business is legally liable, but can also cover the cost of defending claims made against them, even where it is established that there is no fault.
The cost is not prohibitive, with minimum premiums starting at around $600 for $10 million worth of coverage. For a business with a turnover of $250,000 this is a rate of less than 0.25 per cent.
McDermot says liability claims do not happen as frequently as vehicle claims but when they do, the cost can be much higher. From GIO's experience, liability claims of $30,000 to $90,000 are not uncommon.
Any business afraid of being left in the "you know what" has to do risk calculations on what it could step into in the future and take out the smart level of protection.
Peter Switzer is the founder of Switzer Business Coaching
www.switzer.com.au
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Australia named top country brand for third year
CANBERRA (Reuters Life!) - Tourism campaigns featuring bikini-clad models and images of the outback as in the new epic movie "Australia" have helped Australia win the title of world's top country brand for the third consecutive year.
An annual country branding index designed to track travel trends and pinpoint opportunities for tourism had Canada rising to second place in the list of countries with the best brand reputations after coming sixth last year.
The United States slipped one place to be ranked third in the index compiled from a survey of 2,700 travelers from nine countries by brand consultancy FutureBrand and public relations firm Weber Shandwick.
Other countries to make the top 10 in the fourth annual Country Brand Index (CBI) were Italy, Switzerland, France, New Zealand, Britain, Japan and Sweden.
The index identified China, the United Arab Emirates and Croatia as the top three "rising stars" - those likely to become major tourist destinations in the next five years.
FutureBrand's senior executive director Rina Plapler said some countries were now taking on board the idea of brand but this was still a largely underdeveloped category with most countries not using marketing to differentiate themselves.
"Particularly in the coming years, country brands must improve both their strategic orientation as well as their delivery," she said in a statement, referring to tougher times ahead for the travel industry.
Australia has just launched a global tourism campaign pitching itself as a place to "find yourself" aligned with the outback movie "Australia" released this month starring Nicole Kidman, focusing on the beauty of the country's vast landscape.
Tourism numbers to Australia dropped 4.7 percent last year as the country relied on a failed campaign starring a bikini-clad model asking "where the bloody hell are you?"
An annual country branding index designed to track travel trends and pinpoint opportunities for tourism had Canada rising to second place in the list of countries with the best brand reputations after coming sixth last year.
The United States slipped one place to be ranked third in the index compiled from a survey of 2,700 travelers from nine countries by brand consultancy FutureBrand and public relations firm Weber Shandwick.
Other countries to make the top 10 in the fourth annual Country Brand Index (CBI) were Italy, Switzerland, France, New Zealand, Britain, Japan and Sweden.
The index identified China, the United Arab Emirates and Croatia as the top three "rising stars" - those likely to become major tourist destinations in the next five years.
FutureBrand's senior executive director Rina Plapler said some countries were now taking on board the idea of brand but this was still a largely underdeveloped category with most countries not using marketing to differentiate themselves.
"Particularly in the coming years, country brands must improve both their strategic orientation as well as their delivery," she said in a statement, referring to tougher times ahead for the travel industry.
Australia has just launched a global tourism campaign pitching itself as a place to "find yourself" aligned with the outback movie "Australia" released this month starring Nicole Kidman, focusing on the beauty of the country's vast landscape.
Tourism numbers to Australia dropped 4.7 percent last year as the country relied on a failed campaign starring a bikini-clad model asking "where the bloody hell are you?"
2008 International Culinary Olympics
FOOD DETECTIVE: Graeme Blundell November 08, 2008
Article from: The Australian
AUSTRALIAN chefs have won gold in the recent 2008 International Culinary Olympics in Germany. It's held every four years, with more than 2000 contestants competing, and it's bigger than even the Eurovision Song Contest (and almost as surreal, to judge from the YouTube clips).
Displaying formidable training, focus and determination, the Australian Culinary Olympic team won gold in the hot-food category, the headline event of the three-day competition.
Teams from eight countries competed to cook for more than 900 people in a restaurant setting. Australia also picked up gold, bronze and silver in the pastry section, silver in the cold buffet category and bronze for hot food (plated cold).
The Australian team was made up of Shane Keighley, Neil Abrahams, John Lanzafame, Shannon Kellam, Jenni Key, Matt McBain, Andre Kropp and Daniel Hiltbrunner.
Acting Detective can't wait for the reality television series. Anything to bump Great British Menu from the world's cable food networks.
It's a show increasingly seasoned with culinary paranoia and, besides, who cares what the French think? www.culinary-olympics.com.
Article from: The Australian
AUSTRALIAN chefs have won gold in the recent 2008 International Culinary Olympics in Germany. It's held every four years, with more than 2000 contestants competing, and it's bigger than even the Eurovision Song Contest (and almost as surreal, to judge from the YouTube clips).
Displaying formidable training, focus and determination, the Australian Culinary Olympic team won gold in the hot-food category, the headline event of the three-day competition.
Teams from eight countries competed to cook for more than 900 people in a restaurant setting. Australia also picked up gold, bronze and silver in the pastry section, silver in the cold buffet category and bronze for hot food (plated cold).
The Australian team was made up of Shane Keighley, Neil Abrahams, John Lanzafame, Shannon Kellam, Jenni Key, Matt McBain, Andre Kropp and Daniel Hiltbrunner.
Acting Detective can't wait for the reality television series. Anything to bump Great British Menu from the world's cable food networks.
It's a show increasingly seasoned with culinary paranoia and, besides, who cares what the French think? www.culinary-olympics.com.
Belgian Beer cafe to open in Balmain
The world renowned beer culture of Europe is set to be shared with the residents of the inner west when the Belgian Beer Café opens in Balmain, Sydney later this month.
Overseeing the Balmain Belgian Beer Café is Belgian, Olivier Massart, who established the Epoque and Heritage Belgian Beer Cafes.
The opening of the Balmain Café will signal a diversification of the pub culture existing in Balmain which currently has the most pubs per capita of anywhere in Australia.
Specially-trained bartenders will pull the famous Belgian beers following the 9 step pouring process which is an art in itself, with customised glasses for each brew and the customary two fingers of foam at the top.
As the best selling Belgian beer in the world, Stella Artois is one of the premium beers which will feature on the menu and is brewed using only natural ingredients.
Hoegaarden, known as white beer and brewed using mineral water, malted barley, hops and spiced with coriander and orange peel and Leffe which is the authentic monastic beer with rich taste, full body and is still brewed according to the Leffe Abbey Fathers’ ancient recipe will also feature on the extensive beer menu.
The menu at the Balmain Belgian Beer Café features traditional cuisine including steamed mussels served in traditional pots, cheese croquette, Flemish beef stew and steak et frites.
The dessert menu uses the finest Belgian Callebaut chocolate with offerings including Dame Blanche, chocolate mousse and Belgian waffles.
With its opening only weeks away, the Balmain Belgian Beer Café will immerse guests in Belgian food prepared with French finesse, served with German generosity and accompanied with Belgian beer.
Overseeing the Balmain Belgian Beer Café is Belgian, Olivier Massart, who established the Epoque and Heritage Belgian Beer Cafes.
The opening of the Balmain Café will signal a diversification of the pub culture existing in Balmain which currently has the most pubs per capita of anywhere in Australia.
Specially-trained bartenders will pull the famous Belgian beers following the 9 step pouring process which is an art in itself, with customised glasses for each brew and the customary two fingers of foam at the top.
As the best selling Belgian beer in the world, Stella Artois is one of the premium beers which will feature on the menu and is brewed using only natural ingredients.
Hoegaarden, known as white beer and brewed using mineral water, malted barley, hops and spiced with coriander and orange peel and Leffe which is the authentic monastic beer with rich taste, full body and is still brewed according to the Leffe Abbey Fathers’ ancient recipe will also feature on the extensive beer menu.
The menu at the Balmain Belgian Beer Café features traditional cuisine including steamed mussels served in traditional pots, cheese croquette, Flemish beef stew and steak et frites.
The dessert menu uses the finest Belgian Callebaut chocolate with offerings including Dame Blanche, chocolate mousse and Belgian waffles.
With its opening only weeks away, the Balmain Belgian Beer Café will immerse guests in Belgian food prepared with French finesse, served with German generosity and accompanied with Belgian beer.
Annual International Barista Competition
On the 13th and 14th November, Vanuatu, a tropical island in the South Pacific, is holding its annual International Barista Competition. Barista Coffee is the professional excellence in the artistry of making a great coffee.
Coffee experts and amateur coffee makers from all over the world will confer on how to make the best expresso coffee. International Barista judge, Rob Forsyth from Sydney Australia, will oversee the event and judge the entries.
The competition will be held in the grounds of the newly refurbished Le Lagon Resort overlooking the Pacific Ocean, with many special accommodation deals being offered to visitors to Vanuatu. Vanuatu grows its own world famous organic coffee, Tanna Coffee, on the tropical island of Tanna.
“We held our first competition last year, which was such a success that the Barista Vanuatu is now an annual event on the Vanuatu calendar,” said hotel owner and Barista organizer, Joanne Wade of Poppys on the Lagoon. “The atmosphere around Port Vila during the competition time and the prizes alone, including air fares, are enough to draw numerous entrants. It is an unbeatable location for this international event.”
Coffee growing and appreciation of good coffee makers has grown dramatically worldwide, in the past few years. Organically grown coffee beans now feature on supermarket shelves and making café latte has become café art.
Major sponsors of the 2008 Barista Vanuatu include the ANZ bank, Air Vanuatu, Poppys on the Lagoon, Le Lagon Resort, Friendly Bungalows on Tanna, Tanna Coffee
Entries can be made on the Barista Vanuatu official web site www.baristavanuatu.com
Coffee experts and amateur coffee makers from all over the world will confer on how to make the best expresso coffee. International Barista judge, Rob Forsyth from Sydney Australia, will oversee the event and judge the entries.
The competition will be held in the grounds of the newly refurbished Le Lagon Resort overlooking the Pacific Ocean, with many special accommodation deals being offered to visitors to Vanuatu. Vanuatu grows its own world famous organic coffee, Tanna Coffee, on the tropical island of Tanna.
“We held our first competition last year, which was such a success that the Barista Vanuatu is now an annual event on the Vanuatu calendar,” said hotel owner and Barista organizer, Joanne Wade of Poppys on the Lagoon. “The atmosphere around Port Vila during the competition time and the prizes alone, including air fares, are enough to draw numerous entrants. It is an unbeatable location for this international event.”
Coffee growing and appreciation of good coffee makers has grown dramatically worldwide, in the past few years. Organically grown coffee beans now feature on supermarket shelves and making café latte has become café art.
Major sponsors of the 2008 Barista Vanuatu include the ANZ bank, Air Vanuatu, Poppys on the Lagoon, Le Lagon Resort, Friendly Bungalows on Tanna, Tanna Coffee
Entries can be made on the Barista Vanuatu official web site www.baristavanuatu.com
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
A $100,000 mistake - Can your restaurant afford it?
http://www.informations2u.info
by Malcolm J. Richmond
When people walk into your restaurant to eat, they are putting their trust in you. They blindly have faith that you will serve them food that is fresh and safe to eat.
There are several restaurants in Australia right now that are paying out hundreds of thousands of dollars in penalties and settlements because they served contaminated food to patrons who became seriously ill and, in one particular case, died.
How can you be sure that the food which comes out of your kitchen is safe to eat?
Even one mistake which leads to customer illness can seriously and permanently damage the reputation of your business.
In most cases, these are mistakes which could be easily avoided.
Salmonella is one of the most common food borne illnesses; it causes diarrhoea, cramping, dehydration and vomiting in those affected. Salmonella is most commonly a result of poor food sanitation and cooking food at insufficient temperatures.
In 2004, food from the Sofia Pizza restaurant sickened at least 33 patrons.
In 2003, 135 people who had become ill as a result of the food served at Thanh Phu in Footscray filed a class action suit.
You can’t assume that this could never happen to your business; be sure to protect your restaurant.
Food safety should be a primary concern for anyone who owns a restaurant or catering business.
There are strict regulations in place in Victoria, Australia regarding the requirements food served to the public must meet.
There are different authorities with whom you must register, depending on what sort of food your business serves. Standards for the import and export of foodstuffs also exist.
The Food Safety Program (or FSP) lists the requirements which are necessary to keep your kitchen clean and the food you serve safe for your customers to eat.
All measuring devices have to be calibrated at least once a year and tested halfway through each year.
Kitchens must keep a log detailing when foods have been thawed so it is known by what time these foods must be used.
Delivery trucks and package temperatures must also be logged, as must the time when foods are to be discarded if not used.
The FSP stipulates that fines be levied if the regulations are not adhered to. The regulations apply not just to restaurants, but also to food stores and even stands which serve food.
by Malcolm J. Richmond
When people walk into your restaurant to eat, they are putting their trust in you. They blindly have faith that you will serve them food that is fresh and safe to eat.
There are several restaurants in Australia right now that are paying out hundreds of thousands of dollars in penalties and settlements because they served contaminated food to patrons who became seriously ill and, in one particular case, died.
How can you be sure that the food which comes out of your kitchen is safe to eat?
Even one mistake which leads to customer illness can seriously and permanently damage the reputation of your business.
In most cases, these are mistakes which could be easily avoided.
Salmonella is one of the most common food borne illnesses; it causes diarrhoea, cramping, dehydration and vomiting in those affected. Salmonella is most commonly a result of poor food sanitation and cooking food at insufficient temperatures.
In 2004, food from the Sofia Pizza restaurant sickened at least 33 patrons.
In 2003, 135 people who had become ill as a result of the food served at Thanh Phu in Footscray filed a class action suit.
You can’t assume that this could never happen to your business; be sure to protect your restaurant.
Food safety should be a primary concern for anyone who owns a restaurant or catering business.
There are strict regulations in place in Victoria, Australia regarding the requirements food served to the public must meet.
There are different authorities with whom you must register, depending on what sort of food your business serves. Standards for the import and export of foodstuffs also exist.
The Food Safety Program (or FSP) lists the requirements which are necessary to keep your kitchen clean and the food you serve safe for your customers to eat.
All measuring devices have to be calibrated at least once a year and tested halfway through each year.
Kitchens must keep a log detailing when foods have been thawed so it is known by what time these foods must be used.
Delivery trucks and package temperatures must also be logged, as must the time when foods are to be discarded if not used.
The FSP stipulates that fines be levied if the regulations are not adhered to. The regulations apply not just to restaurants, but also to food stores and even stands which serve food.
Retail is on the brink - so let's act
http://smallbusiness.smh.com.au
Michael Baker
Year-over-year sales of food service establishments - that is, cafes, restaurants and fast food outlets have imploded, from a growth rate of almost 10% last year to -1.0% in the past couple of months.
Food service in Australia is dominated by small businesses.
According to Restaurant and Catering Australia, a trade association representing the food service industry, 91% of the industry is comprised of companies with less than 20 employees and 94% have an annual turnover of less than $1 million.
The result of a protracted downturn will be a shakeout of small players and the rationalisation of real estate portfolios among larger ones.
The impact will not be restricted to the food retailers themselves but will flow on to their landlords as well.
For example, food service establishments in regional shopping centres pay out a hefty 17% of their sales in occupancy costs (rent plus a share of operating expenses).
They are extremely valuable contributors to shopping centre operating income.Other retail sectors are headed for trouble as well. Home goods of all kinds are under pressure and a recession would raise the distinct possibility of the bankruptcy of a major department store chain.
What's to be done?
First, retailers need to do the right thing by their customers.
Of course they need to contain inventories and cut costs where it makes sense but they must not cave in to the temptation to decapitate every little expense in the hope that extreme parsimony will somehow keep them alive. This is the way to lose not just your customers but your best employees as well.
Second, there's the government.
Retailers don't need a handout but they do need a strong counter-cyclical fiscal policy.
Canberra should be prepared to do even more in the months ahead on top of the $10.4 billion program already committed.
Practicing fiscal restraint when the global economy is in dire straits and the government has a budget surplus is a throwback to Herbert Hoover in 1928. Look where that got us.
Third, the RBA needs to stay its current course.
With the CPI at 5% and the Australian dollar under siege there is a case for increasing interest rates and not lowering them. But it can't go back now.
It has started down the road of supporting growth and it needs to stick to that policy unequivocally.
Fourth, small independent retailers might need a hand from their landlords on rent.
Except in the very strongest shopping centres and retail strips, this will come to be in the landlords' best interests.
The alternative is to churn tenants and in this economic environment churning is a poor property management policy.
These four things will help small retailers.
As the pragmatic Monsieur Delcour says, we can't escape being in the economy. But we can certainly make it more comfortable for ourselves.
Michael Baker is a global retail and property analyst and consultant. He can be contacted at: Michael_Baker@earthlink.net
Michael Baker
Year-over-year sales of food service establishments - that is, cafes, restaurants and fast food outlets have imploded, from a growth rate of almost 10% last year to -1.0% in the past couple of months.
Food service in Australia is dominated by small businesses.
According to Restaurant and Catering Australia, a trade association representing the food service industry, 91% of the industry is comprised of companies with less than 20 employees and 94% have an annual turnover of less than $1 million.
The result of a protracted downturn will be a shakeout of small players and the rationalisation of real estate portfolios among larger ones.
The impact will not be restricted to the food retailers themselves but will flow on to their landlords as well.
For example, food service establishments in regional shopping centres pay out a hefty 17% of their sales in occupancy costs (rent plus a share of operating expenses).
They are extremely valuable contributors to shopping centre operating income.Other retail sectors are headed for trouble as well. Home goods of all kinds are under pressure and a recession would raise the distinct possibility of the bankruptcy of a major department store chain.
What's to be done?
First, retailers need to do the right thing by their customers.
Of course they need to contain inventories and cut costs where it makes sense but they must not cave in to the temptation to decapitate every little expense in the hope that extreme parsimony will somehow keep them alive. This is the way to lose not just your customers but your best employees as well.
Second, there's the government.
Retailers don't need a handout but they do need a strong counter-cyclical fiscal policy.
Canberra should be prepared to do even more in the months ahead on top of the $10.4 billion program already committed.
Practicing fiscal restraint when the global economy is in dire straits and the government has a budget surplus is a throwback to Herbert Hoover in 1928. Look where that got us.
Third, the RBA needs to stay its current course.
With the CPI at 5% and the Australian dollar under siege there is a case for increasing interest rates and not lowering them. But it can't go back now.
It has started down the road of supporting growth and it needs to stick to that policy unequivocally.
Fourth, small independent retailers might need a hand from their landlords on rent.
Except in the very strongest shopping centres and retail strips, this will come to be in the landlords' best interests.
The alternative is to churn tenants and in this economic environment churning is a poor property management policy.
These four things will help small retailers.
As the pragmatic Monsieur Delcour says, we can't escape being in the economy. But we can certainly make it more comfortable for ourselves.
Michael Baker is a global retail and property analyst and consultant. He can be contacted at: Michael_Baker@earthlink.net
Brewing up a storm
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au
Cameron Cooper October 31, 2008
THE popularity of craft beers promises to consign to history the last vestiges of Australia's tribal drinking history.In days past, it was a brave Queenslander or West Australian who drank anything but Fourex or Swan, for example, while drinkers in other states largely stuck with home brands such as Victoria Bitter and Tooheys.
With micro-brewery numbers trebling to more than 150 in the past five years, beer drinkers' palates are becoming far more sophisticated.
One label of craft, or boutique, beers that has a strong following is Little Creatures, a Fremantle brewery in Western Australia whose pale ale received gongs such as Beer of the Year in the BBC's Good Food magazine a few years ago.
Howard Cearns, a co-founder and director of Little Creatures Brewing Co, says beer drinkers are following the lead of other beverage lovers in "trading up''.
"People have looked for better tasting coffee and better tasting wine, and beer is not unlike that,'' he says.
A significant shareholder in Little Creatures is international brewing giant Lion Nathan.
The investment demonstrates the growing clout of smaller brewers. Foster's bought another boutique beer leader, Matilda Bay Brewing Co, in the early 1990s, while Coca-Cola Amatil last year bought the Hunter region's Bluetongue, a popular NSW label.
Cearns admits micro-breweries will never be able to compete with the marketing budgets of the brewing giants, so ``the product is your advantage''. He urges patience, too, noting that the Little Creatures business model is gaining momentum after 10 years' experience in the industry.
"It's not something that happens overnight.''
Nevertheless, business research group IBISWorld is forecasting 10 per cent annual growth in the micro-brewery sector to 2013. In a national beer sector that generates about $8 billion a year in sales, the boutique brands still account for less than 10 per cent of total industry revenue.
Audrey Riddell, an IBISWorld analyst, says the most popular new brews are coming from imported beers and micro-breweries.
"This indicates that there's a strong desire for variety and a willingness to pay for it,'' she says.
While some industry mergers have occurred, Riddell says many micro-brewers are "fiercely independent'' and want to operate separately from the big brewing companies.
She notes that regional areas are popular for micro-breweries because of lower rental rates and an ability to combine brew pubs with local tourism attractions.
The unknown factor is how the present economic turmoil will affect demand for craft beers, which are often more expensive than mainstream counterparts. Riddell suggests immediate demand could slow, although she expects sector growth over the next five years.
"With decreased consumer confidence, we are expecting to see it possibly go back towards larger brewers and those micro-breweries that have gained sufficient scale to compete on a cost basis.''
One pub that has become a hangout for craft beer devotees is the Grand Central Hotel in Brisbane, which serves novel beers such as Yippy IPA, Juniper Pale Ale and Brutal Bitter.
So serious about boutique beer is the hotel that it has launched its own "brand'', the Rubber Stamp, which acts as a tick of approval for a brew. If it has the Rubber Stamp, drinkers know it has passed the test of a panel of staff and independent brewers.
Boutique brews with the Rubber Stamp certification will be distributed through a network of hotels and bottle shops, giving craft brewers greater exposure.
"Straight away there's a channel for them to push their product,'' says Matt Coorey, the hotel's general manager and one of the brains behind Rubber Stamp."
Consumers are becoming more sophisticated and Australians are very much looking for different things and I think beer is just following on from that.''
Fiona Reddaway, a partner of Bright Brewery in Victoria, is confident the fast growth of micro-breweries will continue.
"I feel like the beer industry is where the wine industry was in the early 1980s,'' she says. "Can you remember when the wine choice was just white or red?''
She adds that it is becoming less acceptable for people to drink to excess.
"So it's turned from a quantity to a quality topic.''
Bright Brewery produces a range of brews, including its raspberry lambic (rose-coloured with a creamy pink head), a hellfire amber ale (aromatic and moderately bitter) and a blowhard pale ale (an American-style beer with a citrus aroma).
Reddaway says the key to craft beers is the quality of ingredients.
"You've got to use terrific ingredients with no compromise,'' she says. "You're never going to get fabulous flavour out of ordinary ingredients.''
To facilitate ongoing growth, the sector is lobbying to bring federal excise rules on small breweries into line with small wineries, which effectively get a tax break to help them combat the industry giants.
Cearns believes Australia will follow the US craft beer market, which has been strong for at least three decades."So that gives us confidence.''
Underlining its self-assurance, Little Creatures has just commissioned another brewery for Western Australia and has plans to set up another in the Yarra Valley in Victoria. At all times, the focus will be on maintaining a consistent quality of beer and protecting the brand.
"You don't want to disappoint your drinkers,'' Cearns says. "Brand for us is everything.''
Cameron Cooper October 31, 2008
THE popularity of craft beers promises to consign to history the last vestiges of Australia's tribal drinking history.In days past, it was a brave Queenslander or West Australian who drank anything but Fourex or Swan, for example, while drinkers in other states largely stuck with home brands such as Victoria Bitter and Tooheys.
With micro-brewery numbers trebling to more than 150 in the past five years, beer drinkers' palates are becoming far more sophisticated.
One label of craft, or boutique, beers that has a strong following is Little Creatures, a Fremantle brewery in Western Australia whose pale ale received gongs such as Beer of the Year in the BBC's Good Food magazine a few years ago.
Howard Cearns, a co-founder and director of Little Creatures Brewing Co, says beer drinkers are following the lead of other beverage lovers in "trading up''.
"People have looked for better tasting coffee and better tasting wine, and beer is not unlike that,'' he says.
A significant shareholder in Little Creatures is international brewing giant Lion Nathan.
The investment demonstrates the growing clout of smaller brewers. Foster's bought another boutique beer leader, Matilda Bay Brewing Co, in the early 1990s, while Coca-Cola Amatil last year bought the Hunter region's Bluetongue, a popular NSW label.
Cearns admits micro-breweries will never be able to compete with the marketing budgets of the brewing giants, so ``the product is your advantage''. He urges patience, too, noting that the Little Creatures business model is gaining momentum after 10 years' experience in the industry.
"It's not something that happens overnight.''
Nevertheless, business research group IBISWorld is forecasting 10 per cent annual growth in the micro-brewery sector to 2013. In a national beer sector that generates about $8 billion a year in sales, the boutique brands still account for less than 10 per cent of total industry revenue.
Audrey Riddell, an IBISWorld analyst, says the most popular new brews are coming from imported beers and micro-breweries.
"This indicates that there's a strong desire for variety and a willingness to pay for it,'' she says.
While some industry mergers have occurred, Riddell says many micro-brewers are "fiercely independent'' and want to operate separately from the big brewing companies.
She notes that regional areas are popular for micro-breweries because of lower rental rates and an ability to combine brew pubs with local tourism attractions.
The unknown factor is how the present economic turmoil will affect demand for craft beers, which are often more expensive than mainstream counterparts. Riddell suggests immediate demand could slow, although she expects sector growth over the next five years.
"With decreased consumer confidence, we are expecting to see it possibly go back towards larger brewers and those micro-breweries that have gained sufficient scale to compete on a cost basis.''
One pub that has become a hangout for craft beer devotees is the Grand Central Hotel in Brisbane, which serves novel beers such as Yippy IPA, Juniper Pale Ale and Brutal Bitter.
So serious about boutique beer is the hotel that it has launched its own "brand'', the Rubber Stamp, which acts as a tick of approval for a brew. If it has the Rubber Stamp, drinkers know it has passed the test of a panel of staff and independent brewers.
Boutique brews with the Rubber Stamp certification will be distributed through a network of hotels and bottle shops, giving craft brewers greater exposure.
"Straight away there's a channel for them to push their product,'' says Matt Coorey, the hotel's general manager and one of the brains behind Rubber Stamp."
Consumers are becoming more sophisticated and Australians are very much looking for different things and I think beer is just following on from that.''
Fiona Reddaway, a partner of Bright Brewery in Victoria, is confident the fast growth of micro-breweries will continue.
"I feel like the beer industry is where the wine industry was in the early 1980s,'' she says. "Can you remember when the wine choice was just white or red?''
She adds that it is becoming less acceptable for people to drink to excess.
"So it's turned from a quantity to a quality topic.''
Bright Brewery produces a range of brews, including its raspberry lambic (rose-coloured with a creamy pink head), a hellfire amber ale (aromatic and moderately bitter) and a blowhard pale ale (an American-style beer with a citrus aroma).
Reddaway says the key to craft beers is the quality of ingredients.
"You've got to use terrific ingredients with no compromise,'' she says. "You're never going to get fabulous flavour out of ordinary ingredients.''
To facilitate ongoing growth, the sector is lobbying to bring federal excise rules on small breweries into line with small wineries, which effectively get a tax break to help them combat the industry giants.
Cearns believes Australia will follow the US craft beer market, which has been strong for at least three decades."So that gives us confidence.''
Underlining its self-assurance, Little Creatures has just commissioned another brewery for Western Australia and has plans to set up another in the Yarra Valley in Victoria. At all times, the focus will be on maintaining a consistent quality of beer and protecting the brand.
"You don't want to disappoint your drinkers,'' Cearns says. "Brand for us is everything.''
Restaurant & Catering Australia Awards for Excellence
NSW restaurants, cafes and caterers took the lion's share of awards at Monday night's Savour Australia Restaurant&Catering Australia Awards for Excellence.
And again it was Sydney's Quay restaurant that received top honours. The Circular Quay-based restaurant was named fine dining restaurant of the year, following similar awards from The Sydney Morning Herald and Gourmet Traveller earlier in the year. Says executive chef Peter Gilmore: "The Restaurant & Catering industry award tops off what has been a phenomenal year for us. We are thrilled and very humbled to have been recognised."
Meanwhile, Oscillate Wildly, in Sydney's Newtown, took the gong for best informal dining. The judging panel voted Pilu at Freshwater, near Sydney's Manly Beach, as the country's best Italian restaurant, while the award for best new restaurant also went to a Sydney establishment: Pendolino in the city centre's Strand Arcade.
Other states did get a look-in: Victoria's Lake House in Daylesford took out the best tourism restaurant award; best Indian went to Adelaide's Jasmin Indian Restaurant and best Chinese was awarded to Me Wah Restaurant in Hobart's Sandy Bay. Perth got a gong for best coffee shop-tea room for milkd, in North Perth.
The awards night also featured the launch of the industry's Green Table Australia initiative, aimed at encouraging the nation's more than 37,000 restaurants and caterers to cut their carbon emissions. www.savouraustralia.com.au; www.greentable.com.au.
And again it was Sydney's Quay restaurant that received top honours. The Circular Quay-based restaurant was named fine dining restaurant of the year, following similar awards from The Sydney Morning Herald and Gourmet Traveller earlier in the year. Says executive chef Peter Gilmore: "The Restaurant & Catering industry award tops off what has been a phenomenal year for us. We are thrilled and very humbled to have been recognised."
Meanwhile, Oscillate Wildly, in Sydney's Newtown, took the gong for best informal dining. The judging panel voted Pilu at Freshwater, near Sydney's Manly Beach, as the country's best Italian restaurant, while the award for best new restaurant also went to a Sydney establishment: Pendolino in the city centre's Strand Arcade.
Other states did get a look-in: Victoria's Lake House in Daylesford took out the best tourism restaurant award; best Indian went to Adelaide's Jasmin Indian Restaurant and best Chinese was awarded to Me Wah Restaurant in Hobart's Sandy Bay. Perth got a gong for best coffee shop-tea room for milkd, in North Perth.
The awards night also featured the launch of the industry's Green Table Australia initiative, aimed at encouraging the nation's more than 37,000 restaurants and caterers to cut their carbon emissions. www.savouraustralia.com.au; www.greentable.com.au.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Toxic dangers from the deep
www.smh.com.au - by Caroline Marcus
Australians are eating imported fish that have not been tested for harmful toxins, consumer advocate Choice warns.
Authorities test only 5 per cent of fish arriving from abroad.
In a report released today, Choice calls for Australians to have similar protection as in the US, where national regulator the Food and Drug Administration tests all shipments of certain farmed fish species from China. It says the US repeatedly finds banned chemicals, including fungicides and antibiotics, in imported fish.
"Fish found by our authorities to be contaminated are rejected, however 95 per cent of imports are not routinely tested nor is domestically produced seafood," Choice spokesman Christopher Zinn said. "We feel Australians deserve better."
Food Standards Australia New Zealand found 16 per cent of domestically farmed fish and 17 per cent of imported farmed fish contain the fungicide malachite green, a chemical used in a farming to prevent disease and parasites.
Large fish such as swordfish, marlin and shark can contain mercury at levels that harm small children and pregnant women, not to mention being harvested unsustainably, the report found.
Mr Zinn said consumers were getting mixed messages, being told by government and health authorities to eat more fish because of its health benefits.
Yet aside from the health risks, about two-thirds of fish species are overfished by Australian fisheries, a report by the Australian Government Bureau of Rural Sciences found.
Choice has called for the next revision of the Australian Dietary Guidelines to consider the impact of fishing practices, saying labels should be more clearly detailed in terms of where seafood came from and how it was caught.
To help consumers make better choices about buying fish, the Australian Marine Conservation Society has released a guide with a colour-coded table. Fish marked red means "say no", orange is "think twice" and green is "better choice".
Greg Doyle, from Pier at Rose Bay, said his restaurant used only Australian fish because he believed imported seafood was usually "substandard".
"I don't quite understand why there is a lot of overseas, imported, frozen product on supermarket shelves and that sort of thing, when people can go and buy local, fresh-caught product, which is far superior and would be more supportive of local industry."
The chef of Balmoral's Bottom Of The Harbour Seafoods Cafe and Bistro, James Fairall, said 90 per cent of the fish he used were Australian.
"I am a little bit wary about seafood from China," he said.
"If it was mandatory that everything got tested then it would stop people trying to send us whatever they don't want - the fish that the rest of the world rejects.
"I am a chef and I am quite ignorant of any harmful nature of imported seafood, so what chance does the consumer have?"
National Aquaculture Council chief executive Simon Bennison questioned Choice's right to speak out on the industry.
"When did Choice become experts in the issue of sustainable fisheries?" he said. "They need to be awfully careful because Australian fisheries are well managed."
Food Standards Australia New Zealand spokeswoman Lydia Buchtmann said a number of imported seafoods on the high-risk list would be tested more regularly.
"Consumers should be confident that seafood is safe in Australia," Ms Buchtmann said.
"If something is picked up by the enforcement agencies then of course action is taken but that is rare."
Australians are eating imported fish that have not been tested for harmful toxins, consumer advocate Choice warns.
Authorities test only 5 per cent of fish arriving from abroad.
In a report released today, Choice calls for Australians to have similar protection as in the US, where national regulator the Food and Drug Administration tests all shipments of certain farmed fish species from China. It says the US repeatedly finds banned chemicals, including fungicides and antibiotics, in imported fish.
"Fish found by our authorities to be contaminated are rejected, however 95 per cent of imports are not routinely tested nor is domestically produced seafood," Choice spokesman Christopher Zinn said. "We feel Australians deserve better."
Food Standards Australia New Zealand found 16 per cent of domestically farmed fish and 17 per cent of imported farmed fish contain the fungicide malachite green, a chemical used in a farming to prevent disease and parasites.
Large fish such as swordfish, marlin and shark can contain mercury at levels that harm small children and pregnant women, not to mention being harvested unsustainably, the report found.
Mr Zinn said consumers were getting mixed messages, being told by government and health authorities to eat more fish because of its health benefits.
Yet aside from the health risks, about two-thirds of fish species are overfished by Australian fisheries, a report by the Australian Government Bureau of Rural Sciences found.
Choice has called for the next revision of the Australian Dietary Guidelines to consider the impact of fishing practices, saying labels should be more clearly detailed in terms of where seafood came from and how it was caught.
To help consumers make better choices about buying fish, the Australian Marine Conservation Society has released a guide with a colour-coded table. Fish marked red means "say no", orange is "think twice" and green is "better choice".
Greg Doyle, from Pier at Rose Bay, said his restaurant used only Australian fish because he believed imported seafood was usually "substandard".
"I don't quite understand why there is a lot of overseas, imported, frozen product on supermarket shelves and that sort of thing, when people can go and buy local, fresh-caught product, which is far superior and would be more supportive of local industry."
The chef of Balmoral's Bottom Of The Harbour Seafoods Cafe and Bistro, James Fairall, said 90 per cent of the fish he used were Australian.
"I am a little bit wary about seafood from China," he said.
"If it was mandatory that everything got tested then it would stop people trying to send us whatever they don't want - the fish that the rest of the world rejects.
"I am a chef and I am quite ignorant of any harmful nature of imported seafood, so what chance does the consumer have?"
National Aquaculture Council chief executive Simon Bennison questioned Choice's right to speak out on the industry.
"When did Choice become experts in the issue of sustainable fisheries?" he said. "They need to be awfully careful because Australian fisheries are well managed."
Food Standards Australia New Zealand spokeswoman Lydia Buchtmann said a number of imported seafoods on the high-risk list would be tested more regularly.
"Consumers should be confident that seafood is safe in Australia," Ms Buchtmann said.
"If something is picked up by the enforcement agencies then of course action is taken but that is rare."
McDonalds Australia to rollout free wifi
http://www.couriermail.com.au/
Jennifer Dudley-Nicholson
McDonald's has announced it will roll out the largest network of free wireless internet in Australia, in partnership with Telstra.
It will offer free wi-fi in 720 restaurants across Australia by March next year, with Queensland internet hotspots launching from late December onwards.
Wireless internet hotspots had previously been available in many McDonald's restaurants for a fee, and McDonald's chief information officer Henry Shiner said regular visitors who log on for an hour a week could save up to $728 per year with the free service.
"Many of our customers are looking to access the internet on the move," he said, and the service would allow them to connect their wireless-enabled laptop computers, mobile phones, games consoles or personal digital assistants for free.
The hotspots will use Telstra's Next IP network, launched last year. The company's rollout to Queensland restaurants is expected to be completed by late January.
Jennifer Dudley-Nicholson
McDonald's has announced it will roll out the largest network of free wireless internet in Australia, in partnership with Telstra.
It will offer free wi-fi in 720 restaurants across Australia by March next year, with Queensland internet hotspots launching from late December onwards.
Wireless internet hotspots had previously been available in many McDonald's restaurants for a fee, and McDonald's chief information officer Henry Shiner said regular visitors who log on for an hour a week could save up to $728 per year with the free service.
"Many of our customers are looking to access the internet on the move," he said, and the service would allow them to connect their wireless-enabled laptop computers, mobile phones, games consoles or personal digital assistants for free.
The hotspots will use Telstra's Next IP network, launched last year. The company's rollout to Queensland restaurants is expected to be completed by late January.
Food safety and hygiene guide now available
http://www.foodweek.com.au
The updated Restaurant & Catering Australia's Guide to Food Safety & Hygiene 2008/09 edition has been issued to all Restaurant & Catering members throughout Australia.
Compiled in consultation with Restaurant & Catering Australia, the guide discusses several areas in the industry that require workers to follow strict health and safety guidelines; including temperature control, food storage and stock rotation, emergency procedures, fire safety and electrical safety.
John Hart, CEO of Restaurant & Catering Australia, said the organisation hoped the guide would assist employees in the restaurant and catering industry.
"It highlights the importance of proper storage and both fire and electrical hazards of which staff need to be aware. Restaurant & Catering Australia encourages all businesses in the industry to display the wall chart in a prominent location so that employees will be aware of good hygiene and safety practices,” Hart said.
He said the information was conveyed using bullet points, simple English and an eye-catching design - ideal for inductions, training, and as a daily point of reference for the correct policies and procedures. By displaying the chart in a common area, employers could ensure that each and every staff member was aware of potential dangers and how to avoid them.
More than 6,000 charts have been made available free of charge thanks to sponsorship funding. Additional copies of the charts available upon request. Contact Pro-Visual Publishing on (02) 8272 2611 or email enquiries@provisual.com.au or visit www.provisual.com.au
Currency Downturn has Major Implications for the Industry
Aussie’s devaluation will hurt everybody
The financial turmoil gripping world markets is already adversely affecting Australian food-service equipment markets with reduced discretionary spending and the credit squeeze reigning in the plans of many developers.However, the biggest immediate affect arises from the rapid devaluation of the Aussie dollar against all major trading currencies. This devaluation has been more than almost any currency in the world in the same period.
As the food-service industry is dominated by fully imported products the effects on the market are widespread. Even manufactured products by Stoddart are not immune because so much of the raw material and componentry is imported; from stainless steel bought in US$ to thermostats in Euro.
The most common trading currency, the US dollar, has fallen from a brief peak of 0.98c in July to a recent low of 0.61c. This devaluation of almost 38% in 3 months is unprecedented and places a huge burden on importers and resellers. Most importers have responded by adding a surcharge on products purchased in this currency.
The Euro’s fall of 21% from a high of 0.62c to 0.49c has not been quite so dramatic, however, the more stable historical exchange rates between the Euro and Aussie have meant this devaluation is equally damaging and even more unexpected. Again most importers have added a surcharge to cover this.
Unfortunately, nobody was able to predict the timing or the gravity of these events and therefore it is difficult to know whether forecasts now carry much weight. Latest forecasts from the NAB for the Aussie-USD rate have been significantly downgraded. They suggest no regular recovery of the USD over 70c until September 2009 at which stage they are forecasting a 0.73c rate. This compares to their previous forecast of 0.81c at the same time.
If this bears out to be true, most importers may have to add further surcharges, because current surcharge percentages do not nearly cover the full extent of the dollar’s decline.
This has all happened despite the strong fundamentals within the Australian economy. However, the rapid reduction in resource commodity prices, the sudden action by the RBA to drop interest rates and the general unease in the market, have seen investors rapidly pulling out of Aussie dollars. This panic selling would have appeared unlikely to be repeated up until a few days ago.
However, another sudden drop has just occurred, putting even greater uncertainty into proceedings. It is difficult to see a big increase in the short term, but hopefully we also won’t see any further devaluation down to levels in the earlier years of the decade where the Aussie went under 50c.
For dealers this will mean an increase in purchase prices for the short-medium term that will have to be passed on to end-user customers. Like importers, dealers may have to brace themselves for harder times.
The availability of credit is also drying up which will have an effect on all areas of the market, from Wholesalers down to end-users. Those that manage their credit effectively in this period will have a huge advantage not just from a stability perspective, but also currying favor with suppliers.
The analogy of a theme-park rollercoaster is often used at such times, however, the current market situation lacks any real aspect of fun. However, I would suggest you fasten your seat-belts and don’t expect to get off any time soon.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
WA organic industry continues to thrive
http://www.ausfoodnews.com.au/2008/10/16/wa-organic-industry-continues-to-thrive.html
West Australian Agriculture and Food Minister Terry Redman has praised the extraordinary recent growth of the organic industry in Western Australia.
“Farm gate sales of certified organic produce have increased by more than 80 per cent in the past three years in Australia and the WA organic industry is experiencing a similar rise in demand from consumers,” Mr Redman told members of the Organic Growers Association of Western Australia (OGAWA) at a function in Perth last night to celebrate National Organic Week.
The retail value of organic sales in WA is now estimated to be between $40million and $50million a year, growing by up to 30 per cent per annum.
“WA has about 200 certified organic operators across all agricultural sectors, ranging from small mixed farm businesses to large scale investment driven businesses,” the Minister added. “The State produces a wide range of organic products including many fruits and vegetables, meats, grains, dairy products, award winning organic wines and olive products and an increasing range of grocery products like tofu, juice and children’s fruit purees.”
Farmers’ markets, which have been growing in popularity amongst shoppers, have been a great source for organic products. The Minister noted that organic has also become more mainstream as demand has strengthened.
“Farmers’ markets have become a popular place for buying organic products and provide a great opportunity to buy fresh product directly from the organic producer,” he said. “Specialty retail shops and supermarkets are also increasing their range of organic products. The wonderful flavour of organic foods is also making its way into restaurants and cafes.”
Mr Redman also launched a discount scheme for members of OGAWA for organic produce from participating businesses.
“The member discount scheme will seek to stimulate local demand for organic food, providing incentives to consumers to support WA businesses,” he claimed. “A total of 25 businesses have already registered with the scheme and I’m sure more will join as the demand for certified organic produce in WA continues to rise.”
West Australian Agriculture and Food Minister Terry Redman has praised the extraordinary recent growth of the organic industry in Western Australia.
“Farm gate sales of certified organic produce have increased by more than 80 per cent in the past three years in Australia and the WA organic industry is experiencing a similar rise in demand from consumers,” Mr Redman told members of the Organic Growers Association of Western Australia (OGAWA) at a function in Perth last night to celebrate National Organic Week.
The retail value of organic sales in WA is now estimated to be between $40million and $50million a year, growing by up to 30 per cent per annum.
“WA has about 200 certified organic operators across all agricultural sectors, ranging from small mixed farm businesses to large scale investment driven businesses,” the Minister added. “The State produces a wide range of organic products including many fruits and vegetables, meats, grains, dairy products, award winning organic wines and olive products and an increasing range of grocery products like tofu, juice and children’s fruit purees.”
Farmers’ markets, which have been growing in popularity amongst shoppers, have been a great source for organic products. The Minister noted that organic has also become more mainstream as demand has strengthened.
“Farmers’ markets have become a popular place for buying organic products and provide a great opportunity to buy fresh product directly from the organic producer,” he said. “Specialty retail shops and supermarkets are also increasing their range of organic products. The wonderful flavour of organic foods is also making its way into restaurants and cafes.”
Mr Redman also launched a discount scheme for members of OGAWA for organic produce from participating businesses.
“The member discount scheme will seek to stimulate local demand for organic food, providing incentives to consumers to support WA businesses,” he claimed. “A total of 25 businesses have already registered with the scheme and I’m sure more will join as the demand for certified organic produce in WA continues to rise.”
Tourism e-kit
http://tourismvc.wordpress.com/2008/10/20/tourism-e-kit-australian-tourism-data-warehouse/
Australian Tourism Data Warehouse
Recently, I came across a blog article - “Finally - Online Marketing Guide and help for our tourism operators” by Fabienne Rabbiosi, who writes a Blog called Online Marketing Tips for Tourism Businesses. The Tourism e-kit is produced by Australian Tourism Data warehouse (ATDW) and is an initiative of the National Online Strategy Committee and is funded by Australian state & Territory Tourism Offices.
The tourism e-kit is a document of 37 tutorials that take about 25 minutes or less to read each one. You can download it free from the Austrlian Tourism Data Warehouse website in a pdf format - the whole document is 6.62 meg. or you can download each section individually. Lots of great topics and easy to read and follow. This kit is less than a month old and features alot of great new content including PPC (pay per click), blogging, social media, search engine optimization, customer reviews and so much more. All useful tools to help you plan and implement your e-marketing strategy and getting business on-line.
Todd Lucier, Tourism Keys, recently interviewed Fabienne Rabbiosi, Online Marketing Marketing Services for the Tourism Industry in an audio podcast. It is about 10 minutes long but well worth listening and hearing the Canuck and Aussie talked about the new tourism e-kit and tourism e-marketing.
Australian Tourism Data Warehouse
Recently, I came across a blog article - “Finally - Online Marketing Guide and help for our tourism operators” by Fabienne Rabbiosi, who writes a Blog called Online Marketing Tips for Tourism Businesses. The Tourism e-kit is produced by Australian Tourism Data warehouse (ATDW) and is an initiative of the National Online Strategy Committee and is funded by Australian state & Territory Tourism Offices.
The tourism e-kit is a document of 37 tutorials that take about 25 minutes or less to read each one. You can download it free from the Austrlian Tourism Data Warehouse website in a pdf format - the whole document is 6.62 meg. or you can download each section individually. Lots of great topics and easy to read and follow. This kit is less than a month old and features alot of great new content including PPC (pay per click), blogging, social media, search engine optimization, customer reviews and so much more. All useful tools to help you plan and implement your e-marketing strategy and getting business on-line.
Todd Lucier, Tourism Keys, recently interviewed Fabienne Rabbiosi, Online Marketing Marketing Services for the Tourism Industry in an audio podcast. It is about 10 minutes long but well worth listening and hearing the Canuck and Aussie talked about the new tourism e-kit and tourism e-marketing.
2008 Business Swap Award Winners
2008 Business Swap Award Winners
11 October 2008
Last night the Business Swap International Awards were held at Opal Cove Resort, in Coffs Harbour, NSW. The Awards are designed to celebrate and showcase the many achievements of our members, with over 120 people in attendence the evening was a huge success, the champagne was flowing in celebration of our Award Winners' success and achievements.
Congratulations to the following members:
Business Awards
Employee of the Year - sponsored by Redback Solutions
Jessica Evans of Catering by Design; Northern Beaches Business Swap
Jess has an exceptionally thorough understanding of the company she works for. It's goals, how it operates, and how her role in the company affects its operations. She is dedicated and passionate about Catering By Design, and has been described as a vital part of the company and a true asset. She has brilliant organisational alibility which has been an integral element that has enabled the company to grow exponentially in the past 2 years.
--------------------------------
New Business of the Year - sponsored by Red Day Coaching
I Hate My PC - David Moore; Northern Beaches Business Swap
Over the past 2 years, David has carved out a niche in the highly competitive IT industry. Over the past 12 months the company has achieved a 140% growth year on year, which has been a direct a result of the positive word of mouth he received from exceptionally happy customers who describe the service provided by David as "professional, efficient, value for money, goes the extra mile, reliable and innovative."
--------------------------------
Business of the Year (sole trader) - sponsored by NRMA Business Insurance
Fibercon - Mark Combe; Brisbane Business Swap
As a sole-trader in a very specialised industry, Fibercon stands out within it's industry as being able to meet the demands of big business with the flexibility that a sole trader is able to provide. With a business turnover in excess of $1 million, Mark has been able to expand the business specifically by increasing their product range and exporting overseas.
--------------------------------
Business of the Year (5 employees or less) - sponsored by Sticky Tickets Pty Ltd
Sydney Commercial Kitchens - Neil Willis; Northern Beaches Business Swap
Neil has created a business many would aspire to. With good solid systems in place that allows him the freedom to work on the business - not in the business, clientele that keep coming back year after year, suppliers who will bend backwards to help his team meet their clients needs, and staff members who feel empowered to run the business as if it were their own. Sydney Commercial Kitchens has established itself as the market leader in their industry, creating a multi-million dollar business - all online.
--------------------------------
Business of the Year (6 or more employees) - sponsored by Allen Carr's Easy Way
Sunshine Coast Pet Resort - Jo Hassan; Brisbane Business Swap & Sam Brown; Sunshine Coast Business Swap
Sunshine Coast Pet Resort stands out from their competitors by providing a service that is completely focused on their clients needs - the pets (andtheir owners). The business is unique, has strong branding and has created a 24/7 service that provides their customers the convenience and flexibility that they need. Jo and Sam both understand the value of creating effective operations and have a fully documented system in place for all areas of the business. More impressive is that they have actually sold their operation manuals to other companies throughout the world.
--------------------------------
Club Awards
Member of the Year - sponsored by Imagine Art Pty Ltd
Trina Panormo, Perth Business Swap in recognition for outstanding contribution to the organisation.
--------------------------------
The John Nevin President's Award - sponsored by Speakers Coach
Jock Wallace, Northern Beaches Business Swap in recognition for outstanding leadership and performance during his term as Club President.
--------------------------------
Club of the Year - sponsored by Business Publications Australia
Northern Beaches Business Swap
The members of Northern Beaches pride themselves on the team effort that has created the results of having a vibrant, enthusisatic and supportive club. 22 new members have joined the Northern Beaches club in the last 12 months.
--------------------------------
Sponsor of the Year
Russell Reardon, Gold Coast Business Swap in recognition for introducing the most new members in the past 12 months.
--------------------------------
Margaret London Award
Linda Ward, Coffs Harbour Business Swap in recognition for outstanding contribution within the first 12 months of membership.
--------------------------------
Life Membership
Noelene Dawes, City Business Swap
in recognition of her contribution to the organisation over the past 10 years.
--------------------------------
Fellowship honours
Wendy Close; Central Coast Business Swap
Marlene Rattigan; Perth Business Swap
CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL THE 2008 BUSINESS SWAP AWARD WINNERS
Award Winners shared in a prize pool valued at almost $50,000
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
A menu for the tough times
New Zealand Herald, New Zealand - 10 Oct 2008
4:00AM Saturday Oct 11, 2008
By Paul Thomas
Great cooking, they say, is all in the timing. English TV chef Rick Stein mightn't miss a beat in the kitchen but his claim in last weekend's Canvas that New Zealand restaurants are too cheap was as untimely as a cold snap in lambing season.
Stein argues that restaurants here and in Australia aren't profitable enough but one assumes that survival rather than maximising returns will be the primary focus in the buyer's market ushered in by this week's economic train wreck.
You'd think the last thing on restaurateurs' minds, as they contemplate the bleak commercial landscape, would be jacking up their prices.
Restaurants come and, more often than not, go. That's the nature of the beast.
Some of Sydney's most celebrated establishments - the likes of Tetsuya's, Claude's and Buon Ricordo - are into their third decade.
Others, whose openings generated giddy excitement in foodie circles and many column inches of free advertising, have flourished briefly and then disappeared, the gastronomic equivalents of passing fads or one-hit wonders.
The comparison is apt because the restaurant business increasingly seems a branch of fashion and entertainment, notably in the celebrity status given certain chefs whose culinary skills are more than matched by their talent for self-marketing.
Then there's the increasing prominence given to restaurant reviews which used to languish back with gardening columns and amateur dramatics. I'd like to think I played a small part in this development by hiring Renaissance man Hamish Keith to review restaurants for a short-lived and long-forgotten Auckland newspaper.
There were no advance expenses for contributors in those days, so Keith had to carry the cost of his weekly outings for as long as it took the paper to reimburse him, which was generally far too long. I fear my inability to extract money from the accounts department was a constant source of exasperation.
Elsewhere, the grandees of the genre are spared such indignities. Even after almost four decades, the expenses of the late R.W. "Johnny" Apple could still generate shock and awe among his colleagues at the New York Times.
By his admission, Apple was a gourmand as opposed to a gourmet; rather than dither over a menu he simplified what could be a terribly difficult choice by telling them to bring everything.
American restaurant reviewing tends to be respectfully earnest, with a disconcerting tendency to approach what's on the plate with the probing inquisitiveness of a forensic pathologist.
British practitioners generally take a breezier, more personal tack, to the point that some reviews read like an extract from an autobiography.
The big dog of the British pack is the Sunday Times' A.A. Gill.
He was once booted out of one of Gordon Ramsay's restaurants for having described him as "a wonderful chef but second-rate human being".
This seems precious and perverse of someone who built a brand on reducing underlings to tears.
Some years ago, Vanity Fair unleashed Gill on New York's hottest restaurant, a nouveau Chinese monument to pretension, 66.
He produced a vituperative tour de force which, in addition to making the food sound repulsive, caught the snobbery and bogusness that so often surrounds supposedly cutting-edge projects.
"Tell me," he wrote, "what two attributes should hot and sour soup have? Take your time. It was neither ... the memory of the rest has been elided into one long, bland, watery compost that could barely incite flatulence."
Vanity Fair didn't get where it is by mercilessly taking the p*** out of Manhattan's smart set, which is essentially what Gill did.
Who, after all, had made 66 New York's hottest restaurant? So it's not surprising he wasn't given a regular gig.
I'm sure all concerned are more comfortable with the piece in a recent issue which ends thus: "I am comforted by the idea of a place more beautiful than Earth, where the anxieties of worldly life vanish and all you feel is bliss. Does such a heaven exist? If not - or until we reach it - there is La Grenouille."
Last week, a friend and I conducted a whirlwind sampling of restaurants in the Wellington region.
Most passed the value for money test which I still find the single best measure.
Some - the French Bistro in Martinborough, Bella Italia in Petone, Simply Paris in Cuba Street - passed with flying colours.
The big disappointment was the much-touted fish and chips at the Lake Ferry hotel on the South Wairarapa coast.
They were half as good as those on offer a stone's throw from the Beehive and, at $10 a pop, twice as expensive.
4:00AM Saturday Oct 11, 2008
By Paul Thomas
Great cooking, they say, is all in the timing. English TV chef Rick Stein mightn't miss a beat in the kitchen but his claim in last weekend's Canvas that New Zealand restaurants are too cheap was as untimely as a cold snap in lambing season.
Stein argues that restaurants here and in Australia aren't profitable enough but one assumes that survival rather than maximising returns will be the primary focus in the buyer's market ushered in by this week's economic train wreck.
You'd think the last thing on restaurateurs' minds, as they contemplate the bleak commercial landscape, would be jacking up their prices.
Restaurants come and, more often than not, go. That's the nature of the beast.
Some of Sydney's most celebrated establishments - the likes of Tetsuya's, Claude's and Buon Ricordo - are into their third decade.
Others, whose openings generated giddy excitement in foodie circles and many column inches of free advertising, have flourished briefly and then disappeared, the gastronomic equivalents of passing fads or one-hit wonders.
The comparison is apt because the restaurant business increasingly seems a branch of fashion and entertainment, notably in the celebrity status given certain chefs whose culinary skills are more than matched by their talent for self-marketing.
Then there's the increasing prominence given to restaurant reviews which used to languish back with gardening columns and amateur dramatics. I'd like to think I played a small part in this development by hiring Renaissance man Hamish Keith to review restaurants for a short-lived and long-forgotten Auckland newspaper.
There were no advance expenses for contributors in those days, so Keith had to carry the cost of his weekly outings for as long as it took the paper to reimburse him, which was generally far too long. I fear my inability to extract money from the accounts department was a constant source of exasperation.
Elsewhere, the grandees of the genre are spared such indignities. Even after almost four decades, the expenses of the late R.W. "Johnny" Apple could still generate shock and awe among his colleagues at the New York Times.
By his admission, Apple was a gourmand as opposed to a gourmet; rather than dither over a menu he simplified what could be a terribly difficult choice by telling them to bring everything.
American restaurant reviewing tends to be respectfully earnest, with a disconcerting tendency to approach what's on the plate with the probing inquisitiveness of a forensic pathologist.
British practitioners generally take a breezier, more personal tack, to the point that some reviews read like an extract from an autobiography.
The big dog of the British pack is the Sunday Times' A.A. Gill.
He was once booted out of one of Gordon Ramsay's restaurants for having described him as "a wonderful chef but second-rate human being".
This seems precious and perverse of someone who built a brand on reducing underlings to tears.
Some years ago, Vanity Fair unleashed Gill on New York's hottest restaurant, a nouveau Chinese monument to pretension, 66.
He produced a vituperative tour de force which, in addition to making the food sound repulsive, caught the snobbery and bogusness that so often surrounds supposedly cutting-edge projects.
"Tell me," he wrote, "what two attributes should hot and sour soup have? Take your time. It was neither ... the memory of the rest has been elided into one long, bland, watery compost that could barely incite flatulence."
Vanity Fair didn't get where it is by mercilessly taking the p*** out of Manhattan's smart set, which is essentially what Gill did.
Who, after all, had made 66 New York's hottest restaurant? So it's not surprising he wasn't given a regular gig.
I'm sure all concerned are more comfortable with the piece in a recent issue which ends thus: "I am comforted by the idea of a place more beautiful than Earth, where the anxieties of worldly life vanish and all you feel is bliss. Does such a heaven exist? If not - or until we reach it - there is La Grenouille."
Last week, a friend and I conducted a whirlwind sampling of restaurants in the Wellington region.
Most passed the value for money test which I still find the single best measure.
Some - the French Bistro in Martinborough, Bella Italia in Petone, Simply Paris in Cuba Street - passed with flying colours.
The big disappointment was the much-touted fish and chips at the Lake Ferry hotel on the South Wairarapa coast.
They were half as good as those on offer a stone's throw from the Beehive and, at $10 a pop, twice as expensive.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Attention All Cafe & Restaurant Owners
Hi
I just wanted to let you know about a fantastic event that is taking place soon for anyone who owns a restaurant, cafe or food service business and wants to boost their income and profits – and who wouldn’t want that.
My good friend Howard Tinker of Australian Restaurant Marketing Systems has been helping restaurant and cafe owners to boost their incomes for many years and has had some great successes with many of his members up 30% even during the recession! One even did an 83% increase in business over the Father’s Day weekend using some of his strategies.
Howard has just told me that he is running a Business Success Conference in a few weeks where he is going to show restaurant and cafe owners exactly what to do to boost their incomes. He has assembled a team of restaurant business experts who will join him in training you to boost your income too.
I know this guy, he is the real deal, he works with restaurant owners across Australia and in New Zealand. This is going to be so good there are some Kiwi’s already coming over to attend. Places are limited (it’s not a massive venue he is using) but you can book in right now.
So if you are interested in learning what these other owners are doing click the link below to read more about it. http://www.restaurantprofitsplus.net/boot_camp/
Best regards,
Neil Willis
Sydney Commercial Kitchens
I just wanted to let you know about a fantastic event that is taking place soon for anyone who owns a restaurant, cafe or food service business and wants to boost their income and profits – and who wouldn’t want that.
My good friend Howard Tinker of Australian Restaurant Marketing Systems has been helping restaurant and cafe owners to boost their incomes for many years and has had some great successes with many of his members up 30% even during the recession! One even did an 83% increase in business over the Father’s Day weekend using some of his strategies.
Howard has just told me that he is running a Business Success Conference in a few weeks where he is going to show restaurant and cafe owners exactly what to do to boost their incomes. He has assembled a team of restaurant business experts who will join him in training you to boost your income too.
I know this guy, he is the real deal, he works with restaurant owners across Australia and in New Zealand. This is going to be so good there are some Kiwi’s already coming over to attend. Places are limited (it’s not a massive venue he is using) but you can book in right now.
So if you are interested in learning what these other owners are doing click the link below to read more about it. http://www.restaurantprofitsplus.net/boot_camp/
Best regards,
Neil Willis
Sydney Commercial Kitchens
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Fine numbers for Fine Food
Find Food Australia has record pre-registrations for the Melbourne trade event at Melbourne Exhibition Centre, from Monday September 22nd until Thursday 25th.
Established as the largest food and hospitality industry event staged in Australia, Fine Food has more than 1,000 exhibitors including 200 from 31 countries showcasing the latest food, alcoholic beverages for trade buyers.
Organisers had processed pre-registrations for more than 20,270 trade visitors a week prior to the event, 995 more than at the same time for the last show in Melbourne, 2006.
Entry to Fine Food is restricted to professional people working in the retail, foodservice, liquor or hospitality industries and people.
The exhibitions will be officially opened by Jacinta Allan, Minister for Regional and Rural Development and Minister for Skills and Workforce Participation in the Victorian Government.
Further information is available on the website http://www.finefood.com.au
Established as the largest food and hospitality industry event staged in Australia, Fine Food has more than 1,000 exhibitors including 200 from 31 countries showcasing the latest food, alcoholic beverages for trade buyers.
Organisers had processed pre-registrations for more than 20,270 trade visitors a week prior to the event, 995 more than at the same time for the last show in Melbourne, 2006.
Entry to Fine Food is restricted to professional people working in the retail, foodservice, liquor or hospitality industries and people.
The exhibitions will be officially opened by Jacinta Allan, Minister for Regional and Rural Development and Minister for Skills and Workforce Participation in the Victorian Government.
Further information is available on the website http://www.finefood.com.au
The hat’s back on for Jonah’s
THE northern beaches can once again lay claim to having two hatted* restaurants now that Jonah’s at Whale Beach has managed to regain its prized chef’s hat status after a 12 month hiatus from the foodie limelight.
Jonah’s is now in good company, with Pilu at Freshwater retaining its hats for a third year.
Now that the famous Whale Beach landmark has found favour with the Good Food Guide judges, executive chef George Francisco says he is determined to hold onto the oft-elusive prize.
“Losing the hat was a major surprise and a huge shake-up for the restaurant,” he said.
Francisco said his new strategy to upgrade his restaurant’s offering included focusing on consistency.
“I took everything off the menu bar the pannacotta and pomegranate dessert, and started from square one.
“We have some great young chefs here and I think that freshened things up a bit.”
*The 2009 Good Food Guide awards were announced on Monday night. Restaurants are reviewed anonymously and given a chef’s hat rating, with three being regarded as world class.
Jonah’s is now in good company, with Pilu at Freshwater retaining its hats for a third year.
Now that the famous Whale Beach landmark has found favour with the Good Food Guide judges, executive chef George Francisco says he is determined to hold onto the oft-elusive prize.
“Losing the hat was a major surprise and a huge shake-up for the restaurant,” he said.
Francisco said his new strategy to upgrade his restaurant’s offering included focusing on consistency.
“I took everything off the menu bar the pannacotta and pomegranate dessert, and started from square one.
“We have some great young chefs here and I think that freshened things up a bit.”
*The 2009 Good Food Guide awards were announced on Monday night. Restaurants are reviewed anonymously and given a chef’s hat rating, with three being regarded as world class.
05 Sep 08 @ 06:38pm
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