
THE PARLIAMENTARY REVIEW
Highlighting best practice
THE PARLIAMENTARY REVIEW
Highlighting best practice
30 | CHEF’S DELIGHT
Knowing what we do best
In addition to supplying fresh fruit and
vegetables, my company also supplies
– albeit on a lesser scale – prepared
food, frozen food, dry goods and dairy
products. Our clientele are typically
hotels and restaurants, and for them
we provide something like a one-stop-
shop solution. This is because our
supply chain is flexible; depending on
the needs of the situation, we’ll source
internationally, nationally or locally. By
having these three options at hand,
we can make sure we have the best-
quality produce all year round.
In terms of our geographical spread,
we deliver below the M4. This includes
a lot of the big towns and cities, like
Winchester, Salisbury, Basingstoke and
Bristol – in other words, a good cross-
section of south England.
One of the truly distinctive features of
Chef’s Delight is that although we’re
a small family business with a personal
touch, we also have the high-end
expertise of a large firm as a result of
my vast experience working for one of
the top companies in the sector. Our
customers therefore receive levels of
service that are almost second to none.
Indeed, the majority of our customer
base has been with us since the earliest
days of our business. Roughly 40 per
cent of our business, at the time of
writing this article, has been with us
for over eight years. This repeat custom
reflects the level of satisfaction that
our customers have with our service.
Brexit: a tough time for the
industry
One of the problems we face in the
industry at present is that the country
as a whole isn’t performing well, and
that is especially true within our sector.
I speak here of pubs and restaurants,
many of which are struggling to
make ends meet – many, indeed,
are going out of business. From my
conversations with people, I’ve learnt
that there’s very little support across
the board. This problem is worse for
small independent businesses than it
is for large chains. Because we are so
aligned with each other, their success
is our success, and their failure is our
failure too.
One of the reasons for this downturn
is, it seems, the 2016 referendum.
Since that time, the entire industry has
Left: Bunched heritage
carrots
Right: Malcolm’s wife and
fellow director, Kinga
Our customers
therefore
receive levels
of service that
are almost
second to
none
“
“
31CHEF’S DELIGHT |
FOOD & DRINK
slowed down. Fewer and fewer people
are making advanced bookings, as
many people are sitting on their money
until they find out what happens with
respect to Brexit.
Another issue concerning Brexit is
staffing: the EU provided the UK with
a vast pool of talent to draw from.
Nowadays, however, the industry is
struggling to find chefs, kitchen porters
and staff in similar roles. We now find,
therefore, that chefs are performing
tasks that they normally wouldn’t,
because there simply aren’t enough
people to staff kitchens. This, it’s
worth repeating, is because EU citizens
are deciding the UK is no longer an
attractive option in terms of work.
There is no easy fix for this, but one
of the problems we face as a country
is that our young people are unwilling
to do certain types of jobs. Early starts,
occasionally unsociable hours, hard
work – this can all sometimes be too
much for young people. The job centre
leaves a lot to be desired with regard
to this issue.
It’s also worth mentioning a difficulty
relating to the payment side of things.
Ever since the government enacted a
bill that allowed debts to go unpaid
(under the condition that the borrower
cannot borrow for five years), there
have been businesses that start up,
make money and then fold without
paying suppliers. We were a victim
of this last year with a pub start-up,
which carried out a fraud of just this
kind and then, without paying us,
disappeared and went on holiday. This
is more common than people think.
The long-term view
Looking to the future, I remain
optimistic. As a company, we are
fortunate in that we are a small,
agile company with relatively low
overheads. In these times, I would not
like to be a large player in the industry.
Indeed, I anticipate more and more
hotels and restaurants failing over the
comingmonths.
Here at Chef’s Delight, it’s important
that we continue to uphold our
professionalism and high standards.
This, ultimately, is what goes
rewarded in this industry, and it will
be the reason for our success as we
moveforward.
EU citizens are
deciding the
UK is no
longer an
attractive
option in terms
of work
“
“
Left: Edible flowers
Centre: San Marzano
tomatoes
Right: Wild asparagus