Australia, if it is not already there is fast approaching kitchen work place over load. You constantly hear the cry from industry that we have a critical shortage of talented chefs, and I mean talented not the imported two day paper qualified dudes with no experience but a fist full of credentials. With the recently proposed country of origin labeling madness that has hopefully been put to rest, then all the compliance issues, OHS, recruitment and general paper work, when on earth does the chef get time to do what they where specifically employed to do:
“Create menus to meet market requirements and produce them at a budgeted cost?”
It seems that our primary task of food creation is falling to the side lines and we are constantly being pushed to ensure that we are compliant with state and federal requirements. Now don’t get me wrong here, I have no issue with chefs keeping kitchens clean and producing food to modern standards but the compliance paperwork is to the point that the food is becoming the secondary focus.
If you think I am wrong go and ask your average head chef when was the last time they were able to attend a master class or go to the markets to source products, perhaps take a trip into a regional area to see what is being produced. The last time I was able to visit a trade show, the exhibitors biggest complaint was, no chefs. I can tell you over the past 18 months the chefs are at overload.
I understand that we do not just need another person pointing out the bloody obvious so here is my suggestion, it is a fairly simple one, get the chef some help! I can hear the comments from employers now going “yeah, yeah more labor costs”, but consider this. Chefs, if given the time and training, can make amazing dishes that can be produced at very low food cost. This does not mean substitute quality; it means s give them the time, tools and training to achieve the results required. You are far better off putting pressure on food cost than trying to turn chefs into administrators. Believe me when I say, this will never happen it will only create grief and hardship for you and ultimately more dollars because you will end up driving away good trades people for the sake of compliance.
Option B is really a pipe dream, lobby your local member to see if he or she will get off their butts and try and do something for hospitality. Again just a pipe dream. I also understand that there will be a group out there that think I just do not want to conform, and, you know what? You’re right. I still say that after the 30 odd years I have been in the industry, it has only been the marginal operators that have compromised our industry and it is still the same marginal operators that are creating the problems of today. If they want to run a dirty dodgy kitchen, no amount of paper work will make them conform because at the end of the day who is monitoring all this? No one. The local EHO officers will continue to visit the main players because in their eyes they are the ones that can do the most damage at one sitting if the kitchen is not operating to the set standards. The fact of the matter is they are the ones behaving and always have regardless of the compliance paperwork, it the shadowy operators that need to be taken to task but that to date is still not happening
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