Archive for February, 2012

Fair Trade Fortnight will take place between May 5- 20, 2012

Friday, February 24th, 2012

This article is straight out of HospoNews:  Plans are well underway for Fairtrade ANZ’s annual high profile awareness raising campaign. Fair Trade Fortnight will take place between May 5- 20 kicking off with a breakfast launch event in Auckland on May 4.

The theme this year is clear and to the point with the call to action: Choose Fair.  The tag line in campaign messaging is “every choice matters” with the simple concept of encouraging more Fairtrade sales. In turn more farmers and workers in 63 developing countries will benefit from the fair and stable Fairtrade price and additional Fairtrade Premium.

Thanks to rising sales of Fairtrade Certified™ products in New Zealand and around the world currently more than 1.2 million small-scale farmers and workers reap these benefits through 905 Fairtrade Certified cooperative associations. Members decide democratically on how to invest the cash Premium, typically in projects such as building clinics and schools, investing in training in sustainable farming techniques and building roads to get products to market.

As one of the fastest growing markets globally for Fairtrade, New Zealand is expected to buy in to the cause in an even bigger way during Fair Trade Fortnight. Supermarkets will profile Fairtrade Certified™ products such as coffee, tea, chocolate and bananas and there’s plenty of scope for cafes and other hospo businesses to get involved.

Kokako FairTrade Coffee Cup

Kiwis like Fairtrade. A GlobeScan survey late last year confirmed that 76 per cent of New Zealand consumers believe independent, third-party certification is the best way to verify a product’s social and environmental claims. The poll also showed that a large percentage of us have high expectations of companies dealing with farmers and workers in poor countries, with 91 per cent believing companies should pay them fairly – compared to the global average of 85 per cent.

Fairtrade ANZ has planned a nationwide TV ad campaign to get the message out to as many people as possible just before and during the Fortnight. A major push on social media will precede the ads and supporter groups and Fairtrade licensees will organise events and promotions across the country. Posters, stickers, table talkers in cafes and shelf wobblers and special stands in store should create a high visibility for the event.

Special ‘Choose Fair’ re-useable Ideal Cups have been made for the event and you can go into the draw to grab 4 pairs for free at HospoNews. Just send your name, address and a contact phone number to the editor of HospoNews: Cynthia Daly to go in the draw to win. Winners will be announced in April.

The website www.fairtrade.org.nz next month will highlight the Fair Trade Fortnight campaign and how to get involved.

So why not sign-up to become a Fair Trade Workplace in time for Fortnight –  it’s easy, you simply have to serve Fairtrade Certified™ coffee and tea to staff and visitors, promote Fair Trade by displaying a poster and having a morning tea type event.

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The Piccolo debacle: “Food flies when diner angers Ramsay-esque chef”

Monday, February 13th, 2012

Regarding the Piccolo Ristorante Italiano fiasco that’s been followed loudly in the NZ Herald over the weekend, there are always two sides to a story!  (Read articles: Side 1; Side 2)

My main concern is that I hope a story like this doesn’t deter other diners around the country from complaining face-to-face to restaurant management if they ever have a problem with their meal.

This Piccolo incident is the most extreme set of reactions I’ve ever seen described on MenuMania in the 6 years since its inception.
We love reviews and we value the dining community’s viewpoint – MenuMania has provided a space for that, and we welcome all fair and genuine comment about an eating-out experience.

The MenuMania team is also wildly passionate about NZ eating establishments, and we always want to see them thrive and deliver fantastic food & service to New Zealand’s food-loving populace.
So we also agree with the ‘Restaurant Association of NZ’, and ‘Hospitality New Zealand’ that diners should tell the restaurant immediately, face to face, if they have any issues.
Then the staff & management have the all-important chance to fix a problem.

But people do seem to love a juicy story about a dining experience gone wrong, don’t they.
Thank goodness the majority of MenuMania’s reviews are positive, and I find that where there’s a negative review relating to the service, it almost always comes down to mis-communication (the customer thought the waiter meant something he didn’t, etc…)

Sometimes us kiwi-types get all hot-under-the-collar if we misinterpret the way someone has asked us a perfectly practical question. It can make us a bit defensive. I see the odd reviewer who writes something like “I’m a regular at this establishment, I’ve loved it for years, I’ve never written a review before, but due to their terrible effort last time, I’m writing about how bad this restaurant is now.” But they haven’t taken the time to speak directly to the restaurant management about it at all. And I also see the opposite, where diners who have taken the risk to speak-up, then get severely knocked back by an over-defensive staff member.

Is it a deep-seated lack of self-esteem that causes people on both sides of the counter to react so emotionally to what should be a professional situation?

Bad service experiences almost always come down to mis-communication.

Communicate people, communicate! TELL the manager right there and then! Don’t be shy, and don’t be too sensitive either! Most restaurant owner-operators are busting a gut to get a 5% profit out of their business if they’re lucky… trying to keep all those people employed… trying to live out their passion for good food… But no one’s perfect … And if you don’t tell them face to face that something’s amiss, how will they ever fix it? Kiwis, show a little mercy. But by the same token, Restauranteurs, don’t be too defensive! Take it all with a big grain of salt. Opinion is just opinion.

So, with this Piccolo incident, it concerns me terribly that a diner was brave enough to say they weren’t happy about something face to face, and whilst sure, they perhaps have done something to inflame the situation, that customer never deserved to receive the foul-language and stand-over tactics in the first place.

Some Kiwis are notorious for not communicating about their dissatisfaction face-to-face… notorious for saying everything’s ‘fine’, when it’s not… so I just hope that other restaurants don’t suffer if diners get even more fearful of speaking up on the spot if there’s a problem.

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