Collaboration Behind The Food Industry: Our Experiences Working in Food Places

Nothing says team like you and your co-workers being rushed off your feet trying to serve hungry customers in a busy restaurant. If you’ve ever worked a manic shift like this you’ll know that there is a great sense of camaraderie amongst team members by the end. Our contributors have reflected on their time at work in the food industry

“Do you like chocolate?” is probably the last interview question you’d expect to receive. Although, I would suspect your expectations would be slightly different if you were applying to work in a chocolate factory! Unlike many others, who generally aim for a job waitressing or in retail as their first taste of the working world, I went with something completely different. I had my touristic hometown to my advantage where there was several paid roles to make chocolate all day long. My very first position in a job was quite literally “Chocolatier” – how cool is that?

Don’t get me wrong, we still had standard duties like sweeping the floors, clearing tables, and fetching stock back and forth. But we used to have lots of fun on our shifts and I was always looked after as the youngest of the group. We got to take any “faulty” chocolate home – it didn’t look as pretty as the chocolate we served but tasted just as good! It was very exciting getting to make Christmas Truffles in October and seeing the magical designs months in advance. On our breaks, we’d mix random flavours of hot chocolate (we melted our own flavour buttons together in store) and see what flavours were actually sellable to customers. I think strawberry and orange white chocolate was by far the strangest mix we had! Not only were customers fascinated by the factory process, but so were my family members. I will never forget the moment when I told my little cousins that I worked with Willy Wonka! They were also pretty convinced when I said the factory was full of Oompa Loompas, some of which were my very good friends, where we made new flavours of chocolate together quite regularly. To their knowledge, I had the best job in the world. I didn’t think it was too far off myself!

Words by Megan Shinner

After long days of working towards deadlines in the library and battling YOLO hangovers, the last thing you want to do is put on your hospitality uniform and wave goodbye to your housemates. Yet during my experience of working at Principality Stadium for the Six Nations and Internationals I have realised that having a part-time student job amongst everything else really hasn’t been that bad.

In the heart of Welsh Rugby, you always know when it’s a game day judging by the sea of red swarming through Queen Street. I dash past running late, standing out a mile in my all-black uniform and shiny work shoes. I sigh a sense of relief when I arrive in my usual box with my fellow hospitality team-mates, laughing that we came back despite always saying half-jokingly “never again”.

It’s the calm before the storm before the guests arrive. We make sure we look the part with our clip-on ties and aprons, predicting how the day will pan out and whether we can compete with the previous shift’s tips. Although the shift is a hard slog, we really can’t complain. Hearing the almighty roar of the national anthems and catching glimpses of world-class rugby through the floor to ceiling windows, whilst serving guests is always a pinch-me moment.

But don’t be fooled… it’s not all glamours. Nothing says hospitality quite like crouching behind the bar and eating a sorry-looking packed lunch whilst the guests tuck into their five-course gourmet meal. When they’re not looking, we eat the scraps like stray dogs, fighting for the last dauphinoise if we’re lucky. It’s the best food I eat all week if I’ve been shopping at Lidl with my student budget. With student hospitality jobs, highs and lows are always to be expected, but hold onto those highs and the lows might just be worth it after all.

Words by Olivia Dolman

Spilled wine and hugs.

An experience I’m sure other hospitality employees can relate to is the largely dreaded, anxiety-inducing, ‘just gotta get through it’ busy Saturday shift.

I had only worked a few proper shifts and they had been slow Monday lunches and sparse Wednesday dinners. As I headed into work at 11 am on a Saturday, I was smiling, blissfully unaware of the chaos that would ensue.

It was the England vs Wales rugby game and we were expecting a lot of guests. Within the first hour, almost every table was packed, and the bar area was spilling over with people, cheering, laughing, guzzling beers. Frantically, I was attending to 8 tables at once including a table of 15, keeping track of orders, bringing the food out and apologising to waiting disgruntled guests. I had never even waitressed before this or had a busy shift, let alone attended to so many tables at once. So of course, I put the wrong salad through, broke a glass, and forgot to put a bottle of wine through; all on a day when everyone’s patience was wearing thin. I remember thinking “please don’t make another mistake” when I spilled red wine (more so on myself) on a customer at the big table. As the glass shattered, and the dread of disappointing the guests yet again sunk in, I felt myself shake. It may seem like something small, but in that moment, amidst the noise, cramped space, and beckoning of other tables, I was simply overwhelmed. After taking two minutes outside to let out some frustration (and tears) I came back expecting to be yelled at, laughed at, fired even. But instead, I was greeted with a big hug. In that moment, I felt relief like I hadn’t before. My friend was there, reassuring me that it was all going to be okay and that when I punched out at 10 pm, I wouldn’t even remember. I now know that even though sometimes you might encounter someone that complains about the drop of oil on their kale salad, you also meet people that laugh about the wine stain or offer you a fry off their plate. Most importantly, you meet people who can laugh and cry about the same things; people that hug you because they know you need it and remind you to nip to the kitchen for a glass of water. Even on a manic busy shift now, I’m at peace with the thought of knowing that someone will have my back as I will have theirs.

Words by Gargi Shetty