Hospitality No.731 Jan-Feb 2017 by The Intermedia Group

NO.731 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2017

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NO.731 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2017

Discovering Oil TERROIR, CUISINES, ACIDITY â&#x20AC;&#x201C; WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT OLIVE OIL

Editorial

riting this column is the hardest part of putting Hospitality together, seriously. Every month, no doubt on the day of our deadline, I sit at my desk searching for inspiration, trying to remember an occasion over the past four weeks that’s been exciting, frustrating or delicious enough to warrant 300 or so words on page 4. Often, I scroll through the most popular stories from our website to see what’s resonating with our readers. It’s worked in the past and it worked again for this first issue of 2017. Sadly, the chosen topic is one I’ve lamented many times before. When scouring the headlines from January I noticed that over a 10 day period in January, we published six separate stories on various foodservice businesses being busted by Fair Work for ripping off staff members – often young and vulnerable. Along with press releases from the Ombudsman, my inbox is also bursting with the inevitable trends stories that flood the internet in the first few months of every year. What flavours will diners crave in 2017? Will fast casual continue to flourish? Veganism, vegetarian or flexitarian? And more seriously, will the government put genuine effort into easing the skills shortage? Staffing is the number one gripe amongst foodservice operators today. They can’t find them and when they do, they can’t hold onto them. Of course it’s often not the fault of the operator, but if I was considering a career tossing pans or managing the floor and I saw a new story every week about how this one guy underpaid his apprentice $20k, or how another is facing court for the second time for flat out refusing to pay his workers, I’d give it a second thought too. Let’s hope this year is a transformative one. Danielle Bowling dbowling@intermedia.com.au

Cover image: Caroline McCredie

Hospitality

January/February 2017

January/February Contents 6

In focus

Openings

10 Flavour of the month

12 Fast casual 14 Best practice 16 Column

18 Drinks

20 Trends 22 Profile 26 Cover story 28 Apps 30 Refrigeration 32 Shelf space 33 Diary 34 5 minutes with ...

18 PUBLISHER Paul Wootton pwootton@intermedia.com.au

PRODUCTION MANAGER Jacqui Cooper jacqui@intermedia.com.au

EDITOR Danielle Bowling T: 02 8586 6226 dbowling@intermedia.com.au

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JOURNALIST Madeline Woolway T: 02 8586 6194 mwoolway@intermedia.com.au ADVERTISING NATIONAL Dan Shipley T: 02 8586 6163 F: 02 9660 4419 dshipley@intermedia.com.au DESIGN Kea Thorburn kthorburn@intermedia.com.au

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in focus

How consumer tastes are changing A new report examining the foodservice industry sheds light on what and how Australians will be eating in 2017.

n such a fickle, constantly evolving market, foodservice operators need to keep up with – or even better, anticipate – how diner preferences are changing. Whether it be the popularity of various cuisines, how diners make their bookings or what they are willing to spend, ensuring you’re on top of what Australians are looking for when they’re eating out has never been more important. Intermedia’s Eating Out in Australia 2017 report examines, amongst other things, how consumers’ tastes are changing. The report is based on a survey of over 1,000 consumers, and a separate survey of over 1,000 venues, looking at all aspects of the eating out experience. A significant factor is found in changing perceptions of different levels of dining. The report found that, generally speaking, prices are not changing significantly. There are still cheap eats and expensive restaurants. But the extremes of the eating out experience are moving towards each other. The low end is moving up-market, while the high end is moving down. Fast food is moving towards fast casual and offering more of a dining experience, while at the same time the upper end of the market – fine dining – is becoming less exclusive. People are expecting more, and the general standard is lifting, but at the same time the higher end of the market is becoming less likely to offer 6

Hospitality

January/February 2017

the crisp white tablecloths and liveried waiters that were once the mark of the high-class establishment. Fast casual – convenience food with a touch of class – is the fastest growing part of the market. But there is a disconnect between what people say they are happy to pay and what venues say is their average charge per head. The median ‘happy to spend’ figure for restaurant dining is $41.42, while the average actual expenditure is $56.90. There is a similar, though smaller, disparity for other venue types. People say they are becoming more conscious of value for money. There is a perception that times are tough, even though average incomes are higher than ever. Eating Out in Australia 2017 is the first time such a comprehensive survey of the industry has been conducted. The findings are broken into 10 key trends, based around issues such as staffing, technology, changes in consumer preferences, and marketing issues. The report is available in two versions: a 40 page State of the Industry summary report for $90 + GST, and a comprehensive 350 page analysis of all responses by user and venue demographics, with extensive cross tabulations, which costs $3,500 + GST and includes an in-house tailored presentation. For more information head to the shop page on hospitalitymagazine. com.au

What people say they will pay vs

what they actually pay Median ‘happy to spend’ in a restaurant:

$41.42

Actual average spend per head in a restaurant: $56.90

Top three consumer trends

Eating healthier

More conscious of value for money

Drinking less alcohol

Four fastest growing food trends

Healthy eating

Seafood

Modern Australian

Asian cuisines

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Openings Some of the latest venues to swing open their doors in Australia’s foodservice scene. 1

4 Pines Public House

Sydney, NSW Craft beer producer, 4 Pines has opened a new venue in Sydney’s Newport, and it’s got a strong barrel-aged beer focus. Twelve of 4 Pines’ core range beers are on tap as well as rotating Keller Door brews and up to 20 barrelaged beers. Head chef Adam Rust leads the kitchen under executive chef Rob de Paulo, and menu items include the Tree Hugger Salad with hefeweizen-soaked quinoa, chickpeas, avocado and Danish feta; and black and white fettuccini with fresh fish, scallops, prawns and asparagus, tossed in a mint and lemon sauce.

Betty’s Burgers

Melbourne, VIC Betty’s Burgers & Concrete Co. has opened its fourth venue, located on Elizabeth Street in Melbourne. It's Betty’s first foray outside Queensland and will serve the brand’s signature range of burgers such as the Betty’s Classic and the more health-conscious Bare Betty, as well as house-made frozen custard ice creams.

1 2

Olio

Sydney, NSW Led by Sicilian-born chef Lino Sauro, Olio occupies the restored Old Rum Store on Chippendale's Kensington Street, and boats a contemporary indoor dining room and rooftop terrace. Italian for ‘olive oil’, Oilo's menu features dishes that reflect a strong connection to Sauro's Sicilian roots, and he sources the olive oil – the base of all of Olio’s dishes – from his family‘s Sicilian farm.

Henry Sugar

Melbourne, VIC Located in Carlton, Henry Sugar is a wine and cocktail bar with a focus on desserts, with dishes including coconut custard, coconut granita, mirin and citrus sorbet; and meringue, sumac, fruit and vermouth. Set in an old Victorian frontage shop, Henry Sugar’s design features a fireplace, exposed brick walls and a large charcoal cement bar top.

8 Hospitality January/February 2017

Gojima

Sydney, NSW Located opposite Momofuku Seiobo at Sydney’s The Star, Chase Kojima’s Gojima burger concept offers nine Japanese rice burgers, sides including Japanese-style southern fried chicken, and desserts, all available for takeaway or dine-in. The menu includes the Gojima cheeseburger, which comprises Angus beef, American cheese, tomato, Japanese pickles, onion, lettuce and Gojima special sauce; as well as a Tasmanian salmon burger, yellowfin tuna, Hiramasa Kingfish, crispy chicken and crispy mushroom katsu.

Hokkaido Baked Cheese Tart 6

Melbourne, VIC With an established presence in Shanghai, Singapore, Indonesia, Brunei and Malaysia, Hokkaido Baked Cheese Tart has now launched in Australia, with sites at Melbourne Central and QV Square. Owned by the ST Group, which also operates PappaRich, Hokkaido Baked Cheese Tart’s namesake is known for its richness and creaminess. The tarts have a crunchy, shortcrust base and fluffy filling and can be eaten at room temperature, chilled or hot from the oven.

M&G Café and Bar

Gold Coast, QLD Forming part of Jupiters Casino’s culinary offering, M&G Café and Bar features a caféstyle menu with a range of light and more substantial options for breakfast, lunch and dinner. M&G Café and Bar is accompanied by another new venue at Jupiters, Mei Wei Dumplings which serves dumplings and noodles for dine in or take-away. The site boasts a 2.6 metre viewing panel into the dumpling assembly area and a menu featuring more than 50 options including Xia Jiao (prawn dumplings), Xiao Long Bao (mini soup buns), and the Shanghai noodle with Taiwanese-style beef.

Queen Chow

Sydney, NSW Located within Merivale’s Queens Hotel in Enmore, the kitchen at Queen Chow is spearheaded by Papi Chulo’s Christopher Hogarth and Patrick Friesen as well as former Mr. Wong dim sum master, Eric Koh. The Cantonese menu comprises traditionally prepared BBQ meats and a range of seafood. Menu items include South Australian pippies with black bean, chilli and Young Henry's Natural Lager; salt and pepper cuttlefish, silken tofu and prawns with chilli bean mayo; and whole roast duck with plum sauce.

8 January/February 2017 Hospitality 9

Nectarines

he origins of this fruit are deeply planted in Asia and more particularly, China. Both yellow and white fleshed fruit of either the Clingstone or Freestone varieties are available; the yellow Clingstone nectarine was considered the prince of fruit as they were always very juicy and messy to eat. Nectarines need a cold winter to flavour the fruit trees, moderate rainfall for juiciness and hot dry summers to colour the fruit both internally and externally.

SOURCING Australian nectarines are grown in all states but the best produce comes from the southern regions of the country. Fruit producing areas include the Hills district in Sydney’s north west, the Hunter Valley, Donnybrook in Western Australia and the Sunshine Coast Hinterland.

FLAVOUR MATCHES Nectarines have two quite distinct flavours during their maturity. As a green, firm fruit they are nutty and even a little grassy. On maturity they develop a stronger perfume with a more honey blossom flavour and aroma.

Hospitality

January/February 2017

Nectarines seem to go nicely with many ingredients, but here are a few matches worth considering: • Blue cheese • Vanilla ice cream • Mascarpone • Prosciutto or bacon • Nuts including almonds and macadamias • Herbs and spices including basil, cloves, cardamom, tarragon and black pepper • Spicy curries

TASTY APPLICATIONS This fruit is an all-rounder. When firm, nectarines are brilliant grated into muesli or even put into sweet spring rolls with vanilla custard. They equally enjoy a little savoury application in salads and rice paper rolls as a substitute for pawpaw or green mango. On the sweet side, enjoy a matured fruit in ice cream smoothies, baked in cheesecakes or just straight into a fruit platter. Nectarines also work well with mature tasty cheese, and they love a good grilling with a touch of raw sugar.

Flavour of the month Perfect eating in late January and into February, nectarines are equally at home in sweet and savoury applications. STORAGE Keep nectarines at room temperature to let them really develop a full flavour, but once they are ripe you need to eat them or place them in the fridge. When buying nectarines, look out for excessive bruising and skin damage. Bruising will cause the fruit to ripen very quickly and spoil easily. Fruit should be bought firm and ripened in the kitchen so you can control the rate at which this process occurs. Julio Azzarello, Gourmand Providore Sydney Markets.

BACK ROW • Jacqui Challinor – Nomad, Sydney • Monty Koludrovic – Icebergs & The Dolphin Hotel, Sydney FRONT ROW • Nicky Riemer – Melbourne • Spencer Patrick – Harrisons & Bistro H, Port Douglas • Nelly Robinson – Nel Restaurant, Sydney

• Troy Rhoades-Brown – Muse Restaurant & Muse Kitchen, Hunter Valley • Melissa Palinkas – Young George, Perth • David Thompson – Long Chim, Singapore, Perth, Sydney & Melbourne. Nahm, Bangkok. • Paul Baker – Botanic Gardens Restaurant, Adelaide

Porcine prophets. Every single one of them. A passion for the pig is certainly not the only thing that unites this group of culinary virtuosos. No sir. The “Oohs”, the “Wows” and the “Oh my gods” of excited diners are really what it’s all about. And through Pork, these stars bring it. Every single service. Be a PorkStar. And get some Pork on your menu.

fast casual

Hail, Caesar! Little Caesars might not yet have the footprint that its key competitors in Australia boast, but according to its director Ernest Koury, it has a value proposition like no other.

Ernest Koury

When ordering pizza, consumers in Australia appreciate customisation, Koury said

rnest Koury knows the Little Caesars same way that we compete with them in the US. business model like the back of his But what makes us very different to them is our hand, and it’s little wonder. Back in the Hot-n-Ready offering,” he said. “What differenti70s, his father operated an outlet in ates us from traditional pizza is that we are truly Company name? Little Caesars Pizza Michigan before taking the concept to the westin the QSR space. Pizza has traditionally not When was the business established? ern United States. The family’s involvement in [operated] there because there’s usually a seven In 1959 in the US, and the first Australian the pizza chain only strengthened over time. to 20 minute – or if you’re getting delivery a 30 to store opened in late 2014. Koury and his brother followed in their father’s 40 minute – proposition. We compete more with Number of locations? Three in footsteps, owning and operating all of the Little McDonald's and Hungry Jack's.” Australia: Casula, Parramatta and Caesars stores in west Texas and southern New When the brand first launched in Australia, Miranda. Leichardt will open in late Mexico before selling their stake in 2009. delivery wasn’t part of the offering – just like it January. But that wasn't the end of Koury's time with isn’t in the US – however Koury quickly realised the brand. An abandoned attempt by his father to that this needed to be reassessed. Australians’ Number of staff? Approximately 40 bring the concept to Australia in the late 80s didn’t love for customisation and gourmet ingredients Best-selling menu item? Our 12” large deter Koury from having a go himself, and the meant the menu had to be tweaked too. Hot-N-Ready pepperoni pizza. wheels were once again put in motion in 2010. “In the US, the majority of consumers are “I called Little Caesars and said ‘How ‘bout solely focused on Hot-n-Ready. That’s where it Biggest challenge facing the business now? How about Australia now?’ It took us a took off. So in Australia, one of the big differin 2017? Finding our next great locations. couple of years to get through all of the logistics ences is that Hot-n-Ready is just not as well Growth plans for the year ahead? We … but we opened store one in October 2014 [in known,” he said. expect to open five new stores in the Sydney’s Casula], and we then spent about a year “More and more consumers are loving the next 12 months. and a half just going through the supply chain – it’s Hot-n-Ready offering; we’re selling more and not easy recreating a brand that’s established half more each month. But one of the biggest differway across the globe,” Koury, now director of ences is the amount of specialty pizzas we sell. Little Caesars Australia, told Hospitality. It’s much greater here. We knew that was going to happen. It just takes Today there are three stores, with Parramatta launching in September time for people to become aware of your products and services.” last year, and Miranda in late December. An outlet in Leichhardt is due Koury isn’t intimidated by the competitive nature of Australia’s pizza to swing open its doors on 23 January. market. He’s adamant that no other business can offer the consumer Koury plans to open five Little Caesars throughout 2017, and beyond the same level of value that Little Caesars can. that the goal is to launch eight to 12 new stores each year. “A lot of people think I’m absolutely crazy selling a $5 pizza in Australia, where sometimes an avocado can cost you $5. But we believe in THE OFFERING our brand and we believe in what makes us successful. The centrepiece of the Little Caesars menu is pizza: thin crust, tra“In Australia, very few businesses try to provide value. A lot of them ditional round and Detroit-style deep dish. In the States, customers just say ‘well, this is what we’ve got to charge.’ I don’t accept that. It’s part love the brand’s Hot-n-Ready concept, where a selection of pizzas and of my mindset to provide value for our consumers, and I hope that our sides are “ready to go the second you walk into the door.” Koury hopes consumers appreciate that. Our pizzas are at least 19 percent bigger than Hot-n-Ready is what will set Little Caesars apart from the brand’s better our competitors’, which is like an extra 1.5 slices, and I’m still charging $5. established competitors here in Australia. “We do it because we want our customers to love us ... we are fighting “There’s no question that we compete with Domino’s and Pizza Hut. The for them every day, to provide them with the best value, day in, day out.” n 12 Hospitality January/February 2017

At a glance

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best practice

New Year's Resolutions for smart operators Want to make 2017 your best year yet? Well, it’s time to embrace technology so you can save time and money, while also making your life a little easier. By Ken Burgin.

he pressure is on, and productivity has never been more important. Smart technology helps you maximise your efficiency – it also positions you with staff members as a modern workplace of choice. Commit to these New Year's Resolutions and you'll never look back.

1. MAKE THE SWITCH TO ONLINE BOOKKEEPING It’s mainstream, and eliminates processing and a whole lot of mystery about weekly performance. Tie it together with the POS, payroll and get it to ‘read’ the paper invoices – you’re in control like never before.

2. MAKE FULL USE OF YOUR POS There’s a battle on between providers, with more features at very competitive prices. Handheld ordering can be done with a staff member’s own phone, loyalty schemes are much easier to run, and reports can be accessed anywhere.

3. LOOK INTO HOME DELIVERY Reliable services are competing for your business, although the 30 percent commission hasn’t changed much. If you’ve got the volume, it may be time to develop your own delivery team or use a specialised courier service.

4. ALLOW CUSTOMERS TO ORDER CATERING ONLINE If you offer a standard catering menu, check one of the online order services – it’s a great 14 Hospitality January/February 2017

way to work your kitchen more intensively. ‘White label’ ordering systems like OrderUp and Foodstorm let you brand the service as your own. Corporate customers don’t want to ring, they just want to order. Make it easy for them.

5. ENCOURAGE CUSTOMERS TO BOOK FROM YOUR WEBSITE Consumers can pay for music, plane tickets and concerts at all hours of the day or night, so why make them wait for the morning before they can book a table? OpenTable, Dimmi and other services are now widely used and understood.

6. UPDATE THE PHONE SYSTEM It may be time to move to a switching system so customers choose the department they need to be directed to (one for the café, two for kitchen, three for the office etc). Phone answering services ensure calls received out of business hours aren’t lost – far more people will speak to a person than a machine. If customers are calling because they can’t find information on your website, fix it.

7. DO YOUR ROSTERING ONLINE That way, staff can be notified by SMS and check their schedule online – imagine the reduction in phone calls and negotiation. At $1 per person per week, the cost of these is almost nothing. The worst job in the world becomes almost enjoyable.

8. GIVE MORE WORK TO YOUR HOME-BASED ‘VIRTUAL ASSISTANT’ They can organise promotions, manage an email newsletter, look after the rosters, rewrite menus and work on food costings. Chefs are too valuable to be bogged down by slow typing – have someone else write up the menu, and allow them to review it and make final corrections.

9. REALISE THAT SMS IS THE NEW FACE OF COMMUNICATION Your staff and customers all have a mobile in their pocket, and web-services allow you to communicate with your database by text or email. If you’ve had a sudden large cancellation, could it be filled with a text offering a free bottle of wine for the first 10 people who book?

10. GET AN IPAD FOR THE CHEF Link it to the secure WiFi system in your cafe, so the chef can sit on the terrace with a laptop and a cool drink. Less stress means more accuracy. Look around your business and identify ways for technology to save you minutes, hours and even whole positions. The upside is that it also eliminates dull, repetitive jobs so staff can concentrate on smiles, service and true hospitality. Ken Burgin is founder of Profitable Hospitality, profitablehospitality.com

column

The trend to turf

In her first column for Hospitality, Elizabeth Meryment lists the one trend that restaurateurs should be sure to dodge in 2017.

few months back, I noticed a social media comment that summed up many of my experiences as a diner over the past year or so. “Bizarre meal at (name of restaurant, which I won’t name here),” it read. “Technically lovely food and views let down by utterly bored indifferent floor staff.” The post intrigued me, and I replied to the commentator that I found much Australian service followed that pattern. His response: “(But) this was at a new level. When we asked what the oysters were in our mixed 12 a guy handed us the chit from the kitchen.” As this public discussion progressed, the owner of this highly regarded Sydney waterfront venue (that specialises in seafood) joined the conversation with the meek observation: “At least they didn’t guess”. I’m not entirely sure that wouldn’t have been better. A check of the menu at this veritable establishment reveals the oysters sell for between $4.20 and $6 a pop, meaning the diner would have been up for at least $50 on the mixed dozen. And while most educated patrons appreciate that good produce handled well does not a cheap meal make, those same diners would have a reasonable expectation that built into such costs are the professionalism of staff. Apparently not always. Of all the dining trends I’ve noticed over the past year, the decline in service standards – even in upmarket venues – is the most profound. Not only is it apparent that many floor staff lack expertise, they are often so young and blithe it’s obvious they have never patronised the sorts of venues in which they work. The crisis in Australian service is, it’s true, not simply a fault of restaurateurs failing to adequately train and retain their staff, but a result of several economic and social forces. A 38,000 nationwide shortfall in the number of hospitality workers required to fuel a booming dining sector is the main problem, but a contributing factor is the attitude that waiting is not a career but a job to have between jobs. This is lamentable, for informed diners increasingly feel brilliant service is the factor that gives any venue the edge over its competitors. Sure, customers visit restaurants for the food. But most Australian chefs at a certain level know how to plate up good food. Rather, it is the experience of dining, with the pleasures of being greeted kindly, seated well, informed about a menu and wine list and served at a pace appropriate for the mood, that encourages you to leave the comfort of home with your credit card loaded. Those pleasures can often be attributed to skilled waiters, people who should be as celebrated as much the chef on the pass. Thankfully, there are some who are finely practiced in the art of hospitality. In Sydney, the Bentley group’s Nick Hildebrandt is a master 16 Hospitality January/February 2017

at running a floor, and I would dine at the Italian classic Lucio’s if only to be served with the grace of owner Lucio Galletto. The team behind the Porteno and Bodega restaurants, meanwhile, take service to the next level. Here you’ll find staff not only beautifully groomed and wonderfully informed but who take genuine pride in their work. They welcome you into their world with an ease that makes you glad you came. Interestingly, the social media pundit who made the observation about the “utterly bored indifferent” service was not affronted by the cost of the oysters, their taste or presentation. Rather it was terrible service that left a bad taste in his mouth. Enough said. n Elizabeth Meryment was a Daily and Sunday Telegraph food critic for eight years.

“Not only is it apparent that many floor staff lack expertise, they are often so young and blithe it’s obvious they have never patronised the sorts of venues in which they work.”

drinks

The DRY spell Rosé isn’t exactly a new addition to Australian wine lists, but more thought is being put into the range and styles on offer. And if the latest ordering habits are anything to go by, what’s left of summer is going to be very dry indeed. By Danielle Bowling.

osé is the fastest growing wine style in Australia. Sales data from the major Australian liquor chains indicates that it has a total value of $31.7 million, representing growth of 27.4 percent year on year (December 2016 vs December 2015). In regards to on-premise consumption, the Wine Business Solutions Wine On-Premise Australia 2016 report says Rosé now accounts for seven percent of total listings, an increase of 42 percent from 2015. Not all Rosés are being consumed with the same fervour, however. Pale, dry varieties are leading the way, and it’s a trend that started making waves back in 2011, when De Bortoli launched the Rosé Revolution campaign. After a trip to the south of France, Leanne De Bortoli and her winemaker husband Steve Webber, who together operate the De Bortoli winery in the Yarra Valley, returned to Australia determined to bring a little piece of Provence Down Under. “The Rosé Revolution was driven by enthusiasm on our part and it was taken up by wine writers, restaurateurs, cafes and wine stores. They all got behind it and so we had a meetup on one particular date of the year, and everyone was drinking pale, dry Rosé on that 18 Hospitality January/February 2017

day. It was very, very successful,” De Bortoli told Hospitality. “The idea wasn’t to promote our wines, it was about promoting pale, dry Rosé in general, and the number of wineries that we found were making that style, I was quite amazed.” The Rosé Revolution ran for three years and the popularity of drier varieties has continued to grow since. Annette Lacey, director of food and beverage at the Lotus group said she’s seen “massive” growth in Rosé sales over the past five years and agrees that, in general, Australians are steering clear of the sweeter styles. “I don't think people like sweet wine. It’s appropriate for certain meals, like if it’s a German Riesling or something that will go with Asian food, but when people are just quaffing wine, most people don’t like a lot of sugar. Commercial wines will have a small amount of sugar, but most people can’t detect it. Some of the Rosés were really quite sweet and just like candy. They’re not as exciting as those dry styles,” she said. “Even colour-wise, there’s a preference from consumers for those pale Rosés. If they get a bit of Rosé that’s got a bit of colour, they say ‘Oh my God, that’s going to be sweet.’ But I

say ‘Actually, it’s not. It’s not a light skinned variety, it’s a Cabernet or a Shiraz, so naturally it’s going to be deeper in colour.’ [But] lots of people are demanding those pale pink colours.”

CATCHING UP WITH PROVENCE? There are four restaurants within the Lotus group, and each promotes Australian Rosés, however Lacey says drops from Provence are still the most popular. “You can sell a Provence Rosé every five minutes if you want to, it’s definitely the category of choice. People are drinking Australian Rosé too; we’ve got some really great Rosés here but Provence is definitely the easiest category [to sell] because people are confident that it’s going to be dry and light. A bit like the New Zealand Sav Blanc phenomenon – you know exactly what you’re getting and you’re not disappointed.” Based in the Clare Valley, Taylors Wines has recently released a Pinot Noir Rosé, part of its new Taylor Made range, and founder Mitchell Taylor said foodservice venues are now more comfortable promoting local Rosés because winemaking techniques – and therefore the quality of the end product – has improved significantly over the years.

drinks

“The Australian Rosés are being well made now, and are being accepted by customers,” he said. “It’s about getting the right varieties from the right regions, like Pinot Noir from the Adelaide Hills. It’s about picking the grapes at a lower baume and making sure that in the fermentation technique there is a fairly quick separation and draining from the skins … I think those factors have helped, plus a focus on light, refreshing styles that work well with the Australian climate.”

WHO’S ORDERING? Taylor said that while Rosé has historically been seen as a feminine drink, more and more Australian males are happy to imbibe. While the tide is shifting, he said about 60 percent of those ordering Rosé are women, and a lot of thought goes into how Taylors Wines can help encourage men to give the variety a go. “We wanted to get male drinkers interested in our products, so we were thinking of making the whole [Rosé] packaging black, but then we decided to drain the colour a bit and make the wine less pink in appearance and have more of that salmon characteristic that we’ve got now. “With the Taylor Made Rosé, we’ve deliberately partnered it with an excellent Clare Valley red, a Malbec which is full bodied, and we’ve also got a Chardonnay from the same region, the Adelaide Hills. It gives the look and feel that this is not just a single product, it’s a product that appeals to both men and women.” Lacey said that while men continue to show preference for fuller bodied reds, they’re becoming more and more partial to lighter wine varieties. She said that – in her opinion – the whole concept of associating beverage styles with gender is quite insulting.

“Those wines that are marketed specifically to women – most women would be offended. Why don’t you just make a great wine? Why is it specifically for women? We do have palates, we’re not seduced by girly labels,” she said. Regardless of who’s doing the ordering, Rosé – particularly the drier, paler variety – is well and truly establishing itself as a valuable inclusion on any wine list. “It’s quite heartening to go to restaurants and see that it’s on a lot of lists now, and they do have quite a few different Rosés on there,” said De Bortoli. “It used to be the case that they’d have one token pale, dry Rosé – whether it be a Provencal or an Aussie one – but that was it. Now it’s a category of its own. “It’s not seen as a pretty wine or a make-believe wine any more… Certainly with all the Rosé that we make, we grow the grapes and it’s made for purpose wine, it’s not an after-thought. The texture, the mouth feel, Rosé is serious wine.” n

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January/February 2017 Hospitality

Lake Entrance octopus and chorizo from Abacus Bar & Kitchen.

Trends Octopus has long played a central role in the mythology and cuisine of many cultures, from Japan and Hawaii to the Mediterranean â&#x20AC;&#x201C; particularly Spain and Greece. Madeline Woolway investigates the kraken-like tentaclesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; growing popularity amongst Australian chefs.

Octopus

Hospitality January/February 2017

lthough octopus is eaten the world over, Australia’s current penchant for the denizens of the deep is heavily influenced by Mediterranean flavours and cooking techniques. If the present trend is anything to go by chefs are intrigued by how the Portuguese, Italian and Greek cuisines handle octopus, and even more so, the Spanish. At Flying Fish in Sydney, head chef Ian Royle eschews plating up tentacles, opting instead to confit baby octopus for inclusion in a Spanish influenced salad. “A lot of people expect to have baby octopus grilled. At Flying Fish we confit ours in olive oil, thyme, rosemary and slow cook it for about three to four hours,” he said. “[Because of] the Spanish influence we serve it with polenta and scallops, just to make it more luxurious. The scallop has a clean white flesh and then the octopus has the deeper seafood flavour, so you can have a break from that stronger octopus flavour with a nice fresh scallop. The polenta lengthens the dish and then we use olives to lighten it up. It’s all about balance. “When marrying ingredients I look at traditional European ways of using them. So, with octopus, which is used a lot by Greeks and the Spanish, I tend towards what is traditional but I break it down to then re-form as my own dish in the context of a modern restaurant.” The dish, which has been on the menu since November last year, isn’t the first example of a successful octopus and scallop pairing at Flying Fish, but in this iteration the addition of salty native Australian greens like karkalla and seablight is proving particularly popular. “It’s very popular; it’s probably the most popular octopus dish I’ve put on,” Royle told Hospitality. At the recently opened Abacus Bar & Kitchen in Melbourne, head chef Chris Connelly has also taken a Spanish approach to the preparation of octopus. “I spent four years living on an island off the coast of Spain. We used to beat the octopus with a rake to tenderise it. These days the fishmongers tenderise it in a machine. Then we boil the tentacles quickly in really salty water for about four minutes, take it out and cook it in a mixture of vinegar, bay leaves, a bit of olive oil and some parsley,” he said. “That’s the octopus in its soft stage, ready to go. Then we get a bit more ‘cheffy’ about it. We keep one tentacle for ‘carpaccio’, which we press while it’s still at about 40–45 degrees. It’s wrapped in cellophane so that the natural gelatin in the octopus tentacles sets. We put the smaller tentacles in a jar and pickle them for a few days, then chargrill them. The ‘carpaccio’ gets sliced wafer thin – it has to go in the freezer for a while to get a good slice on it – then it all gets assembled. “Having that Spanish influence, we serve it

Baby octopus salad from Flying FIsh. Image: Alana Dimou

“You can cook it almost any way. The chargrill is nice because of the meaty texture, but it’s very versatile once you’ve tenderised it.” with chorizo that’s been split open, lime aioli and verde. The verde is really pungent, glossy on the plate and really green, with a lovely texture and the aioli is finished with finger limes. “The dish is designed around the octopus, the centrepiece is the tentacle. I like to char it nicely because I think that’s the best way to serve it and that’s how it’s traditionally served in Spain.” Confit and charring aren’t the only ways to prepare octopus, with both chefs agreeing it’s a versatile ingredient. “You can cook it almost anyway,” said Connolly. “The Greek way and the Spanish way of doing it are completely different in style. The chargrill is nice because of the meaty texture, but it’s very versatile once you’ve tenderised it. “We’ll be including it on our fish pizza, and it could work well in the morning with chargrilled vegetables or heirloom tomatoes, baguette, a nice chunk of goat’s feta then finished with a mellow feta. I haven’t seen it on breakfast

menus, but it’s something I might try in 2017.” And while octopus is currently experiencing a spike in popularity, it’s set to remain a sustainable choice for chefs in the foreseeable future, with Connolly saying there’s lots of the healthy, clean cephalopod around. Conversely, as demand increases, suppliers are picking up the slack. “We get ours from Freemantle. Back in the day you had to beat it, but now there are companies that are processing the octopus, cleaning them right up and selling them as legs,” said Royle. “They look after it really well. We normally like to prep all our raw ingredients form scratch but if there are companies out there really looking after seafood as much as we do then we like to support them as much as we can. “We never have supply issues. They’re abundant – the catch is great. As for the public wanting more and more, I don’t think there’s an issue at the moment.” n January/February 2017 Hospitality 21

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22 Hospitality January/February 2017

profile

Where the WILD THINGS are After a killer 2016, chef and forager Elijah Holland shares his insights about wild ingredients, how they’ve shaped his approach to cooking and the future of foraging. By Madeline Woolway.

lijah Holland is recognised by many as the chef responsible for unearthing the native Australian ingredients showcased at Noma Australia in early 2016. It’s a well-known anecdote that Holland impressed René Redzepi by turning up to their first meeting with more than 300 samples of wild-picked produce, but this number, while mind-blowing, is nothing out of the ordinary for a chef who’s spent his entire life in awe of nature and enamoured with cooking. Although Nature’s Pick – the foraging business he started with mate Bojan Grdanovic in 2014 – has been a success, Holland’s passion is in combining foraging with cooking; he’s more chef turned supplier than the other way around. So, after starting 2016 as chef de partie at Noma Australia, he spent the rest of the year collaborating with other chefs from Sydney and Brisbane to New Zealand and Singapore. Now on the cusp of opening The Locksmith, a multi-level venue in China’s Quangdong province, Holland is continuing his trademark approach of combining his two passions to create menus that show off everything around us that we never noticed.

TRAILBLAZER The son of botanists, Holland’s interest in the study of plants was piqued early before he began his education in earnest during the early years of his apprenticeship. “I learned a lot from my parents and grandparents when I was young,” he told Hospitality. “Then when I was working at Jonah’s [at Whale Beach], we’d go spearfishing or surfing and I would see a lot of produce we were ordering in at the restaurant growing wild on the beach. That sparked even more interest, so over the last few years I’ve done a lot of research. “I’m a chef and I want to know everything about my trade, I just want to know what everything is. Every time I go past different plants, whether it’s bark, or leaves, roots or flowers, I want to know about it. “There are quite a few books around. Some of them might not tell me whether or not something is edible, but they help me find the exact species and the characteristics, then I can go and do further research, either on the internet or by asking my parents and other friends who are botanists. “Once I find out it’s edible, I’ll grab a few different parts of the plant and do a bunch of tests to find out what I can do with it. It might be better raw, it might be better pickled or it could be better cooked. “I made a dish using banana blossoms when I was in Singapore. I knew they were a bit stringent and can have quite an acrid taste, but once I brined and fermented them for a couple of weeks, they broke down a bit and some of the bitterness was removed, then they were really delicious.”

COOKING AND FORAGING Foraging isn’t just a means to an end for Holland, or something he does to stay on trend. The produce he uses, how he gathers it and how he manipulates it, has become an essential component of his menus. “Chefs always want to do something different, something someone else hasn’t already done and I’m the same,” he said. “But if you’re going to forage, you have to learn about it. You can’t start

just because it’s a trend or you think it’s cool. I do it because I genuinely love the environment; I love being out in it and I want to see it prosper. I don’t think anyone should start foraging just for the sake of it.” Foraging grants access to ingredients that – despite being an intrinsic part of Australia’s ecology and indigenous culture – are still considered unconventional when found on a restaurant plate. As the profile of foraged foods rises, Holland wants to see them integrated wholly into Modern Australian cuisine rather than as a decorative afterthought. “Some people think foraging is about going out and picking a free garnish. Everything I use is an actual component of a dish; it’s not there for decoration. I might use rocket flowers for a peppery hit rather than using another spice, but those flavours are purposeful. Everything has a place,” he said. “A lot of our native produce is really unique, and people have been using it, but if more chefs had really tapped into it a lot longer ago we’d have a more distinct food culture; I definitely think that should be a part of our training because, look, we are so multicultural and we have so many cultures showing in our food and that’s amazing, but there’s a lot more to our country than the European food that we started growing in the last couple of centuries.” Nor is it a case of haphazardly picking produce – Holland is as methodical as any chef when it comes to menu design. “When I’m designing a menu or a dish, I know I can go out into the wild and pretty much be looking at my shopping list. I won’t go out there looking for something in particular. I’ll go and assess the whole area, compile a big list of everything that’s there and from there start to plan the menu. “Some things are edible but not palatable. There are loads of things out there that I don’t bother touching because it’s not worth it. I’m not going to put something on the menu for the sake of saying it’s foraged or wild.” While there are plants that require too much work to make them palatable, and some that won’t taste nice no matter what’s done to them, for the most part Holland has managed to find bounties of edible produce wherever he goes. Having foraged around Sydney for several years, Holland applied the same ethos on trips to New Zealand and Singapore, and now stationed in China, he’ll continue to forage for items to put on The Locksmith’s menu. “I’ve been doing a lot of foraging and finding a lot of things, right out in the mountains,” he said. “Some of the stuff you can get here is incredible and really amazing quality. So many people told me I would never find anything in China, but I’ve been finding so much.”

CAN’T SEE THE FOOD FOR THE TREES In Australia, the idea that bush foods are just that, foods found only in remote bushland, is a fallacy. “Because it’s labelled bush foods everyone thinks you have to go right into the middle of the bush. I live on the Northern Beaches and I can just go down the road and there’s stuff everywhere,” said Holland. The relatively common misconception that foraging for food requires travel to far-flung locations is felt across the world. In fact, Holland January/February 2017 Hospitality 23

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Image: Jack Ritchie

managed to pick a list dozens of species long in one of the world’s most urban countries – Singapore. “I did a lot of research before I went to Singapore. I went to about three or four little areas and didn’t even have to venture that far away from the restaurant to find lots of stuff.” While there are plants waiting to be foraged on almost every corner, it’s not a matter of taking them indiscriminately. “If you’re going to do it you really need to be careful and mindful that what you’re doing isn’t damaging the ecosystem in anyway. There are plenty of things that I’ve found, like some seaweeds, that there just isn’t enough of for me to take, so I don’t." Nature’s Pick allowed Holland to increase accessibility to native Australian foods, working as a chef offers an opportunity to see diners appreciate them. For that reason, Holland has taken a step back from the business-side of foraging to head up The Locksmith, where edible gardens will grace each of the three levels and the kitchen team will manage a 100-plus bed garden on the rooftop. In an events space on the top floor, local cooking schools among others will participate in classes, talks, demonstrations and tours. “I realised that, with a lot of the restaurants I was supplying through Nature’s Pick, chefs would ask us what they should do with it or say they just wanted to use it as a garnish. Then these plants were going onto plates and customers were eating native Australian food without realising,” said Holland. “When I started running the full-time foraging business, I ended up supplying a lot of restaurants and I was making a fair amount of money but then I thought, hang on a second, I’m a chef and I love cooking. “I love the theatre of doing service in kitchens and actually cooking restaurant-quality food for people. Going out and explaining the dishes to guests – every part of it, how it was created and why – that’s what I really enjoy doing.” n 24

Hospitality January/February 2017

Images: Charlotte Clements

“I do it because I genuinely love the environment; I love being out in it and I want to see it prosper. I don’t think anyone should start foraging just for the sake of it.”

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Grilled calamari al limone, ginger, fennel and lemon vinaigrette from Olio Image: Lauren Commons

The essential oil Oil is an essential element of many cuisines – it’s an ingredient that brings flavour and facilitates any number of cooking methods – but it also plays an integral role in the story of their development. By Madeline Woolway.

rom the Mediterranean to the Middle East and North Africa, oil is one of the most crucial ingredients in many cuisines. “It’s everything to them,” Roy Ner, executive chef at Sydney’s Nour told Hospitality. “If you want to understand North African and Middle Eastern cuisine, you have to look back to when we didn’t have fridges. In a hot environment like that you had to have oil to preserve.” Olive oil is the namesake of new Sicilian restaurant, Olio, which opened in Sydney’s Kensington Street precinct in January. For chef Lino Sauro, who sources oil from his family’s farm and a neighbouring farm in Sicily, olive oil is a passion. “I couldn’t make anything without olive oil,” he said. “In Sicily olive oil is considered so precious, it’s the base of many dishes. “We normally don’t use it much for cooking, even though I’m not against cooking with olive oil – if you use it properly you can have amazing

26 Hospitality January/February 2017

results – but mostly I use it for seasoning vegetables, salad and pasta, dipping bread, and poaching seafood or meat. It’s an amazing marinade for raw fish or vegetables and for cooking at low temperatures.”

PURE OIL While the stratification of olive oil into extra virgin, virgin and pure or refined classes is a concept well-known to most, there are many variables that impact its attributes. “It depends on the area it’s from. It normally requires a lot of sun and a lot of water, but, for example, oil from a hot climate like North Africa, where they make very good olive oil, is different to the oil from Tuscany, where it’s cooler but still gets a lot of sun,” said Sauro. “It depends whether [the olives] are from a hill or next to the sea… a lot of variables affect the qualities of oil, but it’s not about good or bad, it’s just different. [These variables] can

change the aroma, they can change flavour, they can change the acidity.” Like wine, the qualities of olive oil will change based on terroir and olive variety, but, says Sauro, it’s harder to understand because it’s not given as much attention. “It’s become like it’s just something for seasoning or cooking. In the last few years it’s become a prime ingredient, but it requires a lot of attention and a lot of knowledge to understand whether it’s good or not. That’s why we now have olive tasters and trainers. In Singapore [where Sauro operates restaurant Gattopardo] we do a lot of food pairing with olive oil programs,” he told Hospitality, adding that similar dinners will be implemented at Olio. “Chefs should understand the qualities. It’s not enough to know the price and the colour, it’s good to also know the texture and the acidity and you should know where the olive oil comes from – what farm it was produced on.

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“My father told me when I was young, ‘when you take a spoon of olive oil, if you cough a couple of times it means it’s very good. If you get just the normal fat sensation then maybe it is not. The acidity must make you cough. This is the power of olive oil.’” This knowledge is important not just because of the diversity of olive oil, but also because fake products are pervasive. “Unfortunately it’s a good market, it’s big business – that’s why you need the knowledge, to really recognise what you’re using,” said Sauro.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF OIL When creating Nour’s charcoal octopus dish, Ner and his team wanted to tell a story that combined Yemeni and North African flavours. Just as oil played an historic role in the development of cuisines from North Africa to the Middle East, it has an integral part in each element of the dish that combines Yemeni bread, pencil fennel, olives and harissa oil. “Every cuisine harnessed the produce around them to make oil and through that process they adapted their cooking methods to the oil they had,” said Ner. “The Yemenite are champions of dough-making. Basically, hundreds of years ago they started making their version of puff pastry, but they didn’t have butter – they had oil. So they make the dough by over-whipping corn oil and folding it. “The harissa oil in the dish is made using house-made harissa paste that has been thinned down with extra virgin olive oil and lemon juice to soften it, because otherwise it’s quite strong for the Australian palate. The whole idea is to give an idea of the flavour and the heat without overpowering anything. It has to be a complete dish. “In that particular dish oil isn’t just part of the story, it’s the binding, the thing that brings the whole dish together.” n

“The acidity must make you cough. This is the power of olive oil.” Ravioli, king prawns, black truffle and burrata sauce from Olio Image: Lauren Commons

Charred octopus, Yemeni bread, pencil fennel and olives from Nour

Infused with flavour While olive oil has complexity enough to stand on its own, chefs around Australia are infusing some oils with innovative flavours. “For our new menu we’re working on a number of new dishes. One from the vegetarian section will use smoked herb oil as the dressing,” said Ner. “Coriander roots, dill roots, turmeric root, confit garlic and bay leaf are all infused into olive oil and then cold smoked for three hours. “For me this is about taking elements from around the Middle East and binding them together for the dish. I think vegetarians have been neglected and I want to spoil them with those flavours.” At Harvest Newrybar in Byron Bay, executive chef Bret Campbell has experimented with a variety of oils including a number made with different Eucalyptus leaves, like strawberry gum, cumin eucalyptus and peppermint gum. The current menu features charred kelp oil. “We make it in-house,” Campbell told Hospitality. “We collect fresh kelp from the beach, wash it well, char it in our woodfire oven, [and then] to finish we blend with the oil till fine and strain it. “We were playing with ideas for kelp and charred some for vinegar, and I thought it would go well in oil too, so we did it and it worked. Everyone loves the colour and is intrigued with the flavour. It’s almost black because of the charring, and it has caramel, ocean and seaweed notes on the nose. There are subtle ocean and salty seaweed flavours with caramelised notes. “The dish also has the charred kelp vinegar, which it pairs really well with to round out the dish. It’s about enhancing or carrying the other ingredients.”

January/February 2017 Hospitality 27

apps

What’s app-ening? Chefs and restaurateurs have a plethora of apps at their fingertips, all promising to make their businesses more productive. But which ones are really worth a go?

GLENN FLOOD, FOOD SUPPORT MANAGER AT ALH GROUP 1. As part of your day to day work, which app do you use most? There are two main ones I use: Google Plus and Instagram. 2. How does it work? Google Plus is a social media platform. I have set up a page just for my chefs, and we have around 550 members. I use this as a communication tool to send out updates, share trends, recipes, relevant articles and links to upcoming events. It’s also a brilliant way for my chefs to share ideas and dishes they are serving, plus we use it to celebrate competition wins, business wins and anything else staff find assists with their daily workload. Setting up a community is free and easy to do. Instagram is a great visual way to keep in touch with the greater international industry. I love images, so scanning through a platform like this give me constant ideas and inspiration. 3. Why do you ﬁnd it valuable? In regards to Google Plus, we have a brigade of around 1,100 chefs and I find it's a great way to give the team a voice, open communication and collaborate, irrespective of their location. As it’s an app, they can access it and post at any time; it’s convenient. Plus it creates a digital timeline that flows through the seasons. Instagram is quick and easy to use and I believe ‘a picture says a thousand words’. 4. What impact has it had on your business? Google Plus has allowed us to communicate more easily with some of the team who have been unable to collaborate in the past. Being part of a large organisation, it’s easy to forget there are dozens of others out there facing the same challenges. After all, we are all chasing the same customer base. Instagram is a double edged sword – sometimes it propels me to achieve 28

Hospitality January/February 2017

more and lift standards. At other times the information is saturating and leads to inactivity. It’s about knowing when to engage and when to trust your instinct. Having lots of followers does not always mean there is a commercial business activity behind it. Some of the best operators I know are extremely quiet on social media. 5. How much is it? They’re both free.

JOE VARGETTO, OWNER OF MISTER BIANCO AND MASSI, MELBOURNE 1. As part of your day to day work, which app do you use most? I use a few great apps – they give me that little extra help I require sometimes. The ones I find most useful are the apps for levelling tables so they don’t wobble; the weather app so you know which specials to put on the next day; and even just the simple food cost app. My favourite is the table leveller app, called Spirit Level. 2. How does it work? You lay your iPhone down on the table and you can level and straighten tables to perfection. 3. Why do you ﬁnd it valuable? Diners hate being seated at a wobbly table, it annoys the hell out of them. It’s little things like this that are so important in the day to day operations of a restaurant. 4. What impact has it had on your business? The app is easy to use and helps the front of house staff get the tables exactly right, and it decreases frustrations amongst diners. 5. How much is it? Free.

ALEXEI BONDAR, OWNER OF THIRSTY WOLF, SYDNEY 1. As part of your day to day work, which app do you use most? We use Spotify Premium the most.

2. How does it work? It is a paid subscription music service that streams an unlimited amount of music from all around the world straight to your speakers. We use it for creating playlists for the venue for day to day use. 3. Why do you ﬁnd it valuable? It is convenient, easy to use, reliable and has an incredible amount of music available. It can be controlled across multiple devices – I can change the music in the whole venue from my smartphone anywhere, anytime. 4. What impact has it had on your business? It made our lives a lot easier by giving us one less thing to worry about. 5. How much is it? It is $11.99 a month. There is a free version of the app available, but it runs ads after every song.

PAUL TYAS, HEAD CHEF AT GROSVENOR HOTEL, ST KILDA EAST 1. As part of your day to day work, which app do you use most? Dropbox. 2. How does it work? Essentially it’s cloud-based storage that allows my team and I to access documents at any time from any location. 3. Why do you ﬁnd it valuable? I have all my standardised recipes on there to share with the team. It also allows me to edit documents and images at home which is helpful, especially considering the file size with raw imagery. 4. What impact has it had on your business? It saves my team having to scribble recipes down and allows them to catalogue each one on their smartphones. It also allows us to achieve consistency because everyone has the same recipes. 5. How much is it? Free. There is a bit of time involved in setting it up, but it’s well worth it. n

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refrigeration

Rethinking refrigeration Refrigeration technology has gone through a significant transformation in recent history, and with consumers and business owners alike eager to see the arrival of more efficient systems, it’s likely the best is yet to come. By Malcolm Richardson.

s I sat in an airport lounge recently, I couldn’t help but admire the enormous new display case they had behind the bar. Eight shining clear glass doors, frost-free and self closing, all keeping a myriad of tasty brews icy cold and waiting for my order. A beautiful display and something anyone would be proud to house in their bar. In all the restaurants and bars I visit or work in, the range, shapes and sizes of refrigeration vary dramatically. The one thing they all have in common, however, is the way they work. The basics of the technology haven’t changed in a long time and the principles of refrigeration still remain the same: gas, compression, condensation and transmission. A complex but simple twist of pipes and wires that all lead to a box of stainless or aluminium, and a door to seal it all in. That’s the way it’s been and for the foreseeable future it’s the way it will stay. However while the fundamentals of refrigeration seem here to stay, the smallest of changes are making massive waves in operational costs, construction techniques and end results. Over the years, leaders in the industry have refined the materials and equipment that go into refrigeration systems and have made huge leaps forward. The most notable of all the developments is the more energy efficient compression units and along with them the advances in gases and lubricants. In the earliest years of refrigeration, companies used large compressors and gases that took up space, were very noisy and contained ozone depleting gases that of course in today’s climate conscious world are no longer acceptable. The need to advance the technology led to the development of safer and more efficient gases. Compressors became cheaper to run and were able to run larger and more complex systems, and the gases that were developed were not only safer for the environment but much more efficient and versatile in their applications. These developments have spread to many industries, not just foodservice. Of course air conditioning is a big player in refrigeration technology, given that our air conditioned home spaces are technically one big fridge. A major test platform for foodservice refrigeration is the automotive industry. The need to fit smaller and more efficient equipment 30

Hospitality January/February 2017

into more unforgiving machines has given our industry huge amounts of help. With cars becoming smaller and manufacturers stretching the boundaries of power and efficiency, we have seen the benefits of their research cross over into our world. History shows that we have and will continue to make advancements in our industry and the technology we use. Our need to save money, build bigger displays and create more packaged food products will drive us to develop better equipment. Our partnerships with other industries will see ours move forward with great speed and strength.

WHY IS IT MORE IMPORTANT THAN EVER TO PUSH FURTHER? With our industry constantly growing, a major factor has come into the picture over the last decade that will continue to see kitchen equipment evolve, and in fact it’s one of the most talked about problems in the refrigeration industry right now. Global warming. Global warming doesn’t just come from the power stations we use to run our equipment, it has been discovered that leakage of gases doesn’t only deplete the ozone, but also impacts global warming. Currently there is a lot of talk about the global warming potential (GWP) rates of refrigerants. Over the past two decades, R404A has been replaced because of high GWP rates and R134 is being used as a replacement. The GWP of refrigerants is a long term concern of manufacturers but is also a highly controversial subject with many saying that more research needs to be done. With food processing being one of the biggest users of refrigeration systems, any hold-ups in technological advancements will have a knock on effect that could cause irreparable damage. The food manufacturing industry is moving towards fresh processed produce with a longer shelf life. With companies developing foods that can survive for weeks in cold storage and remain fresh the entire time, our need for suitable storage units is growing. We see supermarkets and processing facilities growing to extraordinary sizes, more refrigerant being required for cabinets and systems, and the consumer’s growing appetite for more packaged foods. If the technology doesn’t evolve with the growing market, we will see a restriction in supply and possible shortages.

LIVI® BOOSTS WASHROOM HYGIENE SPACE

“Our need to save money, build bigger displays and create more packaged food products will drive us to develop better equipment.” SO WHERE ARE WE GOING? Well, forward of course. As our industry has demanded better systems, there have been refrigeration breakthroughs that will help push us forward. In Santa Clara in the USA last year Whole Foods Markets, a major market player, built the most advanced refrigeration system of its kind – the first hydrocarbon/CO2 cascade system installed in the US. In an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and remove HFC (hydroflurocarbons) from all refrigeration systems, the US government has in recent times banned the use of many refrigerants. In doing so, developments have been made that see systems, particularly ones that use CO2 and propane as an alternative refrigerant, having a near zero greenhouse gas emission rate. Considering that our standalone supermarket industry (not within a centre or complex) contributed 17.9Mt of CO2 emissions in 2009 and estimates see it rising to 21.8Mt by 2020*, this new technology is sure to be a winner, and represents a turning point in the development of more efficient and cleaner systems. This type of refrigerant is already making waves in commercial and domestic industries not only in the US but all through Europe and has even reached our shores with several big players working to have systems approved for Australian use later this year. Many similar styles of cascade systems are already in use in Australia with a variety of refrigerant gases, but the use of the new combination method of CO2 and propane as a primary refrigerant material still requires some government approval. No doubt the development and benefits being seen in the US are being closely followed here. Further developments in the ground floor basics of refrigeration are also in the works and the way the industry uses a variety of systems – centralised DX systems, secondary loop systems and others – is being studied and developed. Refinement and retrofitting of older systems is helping with controlling greenhouse emissions, but ultimately we need to see an industry-wide change in the methods and materials used. When you consider that the average standalone supermarket uses the same amount of power and produces the same carbon emissions in one year as 1500 homes, there is a very obvious need for rapid change. With a lot of hard work we will get there. In the past 100 years we have gone from having meat safes hanging in trees to drivethrough refrigerated warehouses that can house football fields of goods and handle B-double trailers turning circles inside. With that sort of a history behind us, there is no doubt we can continue to move forward and build better systems. Who knows, perhaps in a few years we will see a system that cools our food using reclaimed carbon emissions. Anything is possible. n Malcolm Richardson is an independent food safety consultant and BDM. malcolm@thecommonchef.com.au *Pitt & Sherry - Baseline Energy Consumption and Greenhouse Gas Emissions November 2012

Soap and air freshener systems now available Livi®, industry leading manufacturer of commercial tissue and paper products have expanded further into the washroom hygiene space. Their new air freshener and soap and sanitiser systems mean customers can now procure all the essential washroom products from the one trusted and consistent provider. The air freshener, soap and sanitiser systems each have their own durable dispensers and easy-to-load refills. The systems are designed to be workforce-friendly, reliable and aesthetically neutral, and to deliver product that is of high quality and efficacy. The Livi® Soap, Sanitiser and Lotion system provides your business with the economic advantage to drive down costs and waste with its controlled and interchangeable delivery solution. The durable, attractive dispenser is designed to accept all six different Livi® Handcare pods for duty-specific versatility and each 1000ml foam refill dispenses up to 2,000 hand washes. Designed to encourage reduced water consumption, the instant foaming formulation makes hand-washing cleaner and more seamless all round. Livi’s alcohol-free sanitiser foam kills 99.99% of common germs and air-dries under 20 seconds without residual stickiness. The Livi® Handcare range features a gentle enriched Lotion soap, Hair & Body Care Foam Soap, Perfumed Foam Soap in addition to the Activ™ Antimicrobial range which includes an all purpose Foam Hand Soap, Food-Safe Foam Hand Soap and an instant Foam Hand Sanitiser. New Livi® Oxy-gen air freshener system harnesses pure oxygen to deliver continuous odour neutralisation, while infusing the air with fresh and pleasing fragrances. Each refill contains 30ml of pure fragrance and the 7 different refills have been carefully performance-matched by intensity to suit recommended locations including healthcare and office environments. Simple to install and load, with each refill lasting 60 days, Oxy-gen uses no solvents or propellants and boasts zero harmful emissions. With low VOCs, it is also ideal for green buildings and LEED certification compliance. The system delivers superior functionality, performance and acceptance. Livi’s CEO, Terry Hughes is enthusiastic about the new additions to the company’s offering, saying they are the result of customer feedback. “Our products are critical to best hygiene practice and there is simply no room for error. We are dedicated to providing the hygiene and cleaning industry with practical, customer-driven solutions they can count on to meet their core business needs.”

www.livitissue.com.au Ph: 02 8863 2512 October 2016 Hospitality

shelf space

Mango magic

Edlyn has added mango to its range of flavoured toppings, available in 3L bottles. Suitable for use in milkshakes, smoothies, ice creams and desserts, the topping is gluten-free and is accompanied by a number of other flavours in the range including chocolate, strawberry, vanilla, caramel, banana, coffee, lime, spearmint, raspberry, pineapple and blue heaven. edlyn.com.au