Julie’s Cakes- Case Study
11th December 2020
Julie’s cakes, bakes & buffets, serves food with that home baked taste. Cakes & bakes are made to order. Buffets for small occasions. (Afternoon teas, party food, funeral teas). The business has two team members. The challenge to the business has been developing products and ensuring allergen information for each is available. Gaining a good reputation for good quality products. More recently, remaining open and adapting during the Covid pandemic has also been a challenge. Both members of the team wanted to update their skills and knowledge for food hygiene, allergens and Safe Food Better Business.
How has ESF been used to support your business and what impact has this had?
I heard about the provision on social media and thought it would help to refresh previous qualifications and have up to date knowledge. It would support the business when designing new menus and products. Principles of Hospitality is a bespoke non regulated course designed for companies and businesses. It looks at topics such as, Allergens and Safe Food Better Business as well as Customer service. The course was delivered in a classroom environment at East Riding College. This suited the two of us, with an extremely knowledgeable tutor and it would be more interactive rather than reading information online. Thus suiting our way of learning to enhance the business and staff needs. The training was to update and upskill employees. Also to help when taking on new staff to the business. The course offered flexibility as it was one day a week over 3 weeks. This made it manageable for the business and staff.
Outcome and impact
Two people have benefited from SSW funding and courses. Julie progressed on to the Level 3 Award in Food Safety Supervision in Catering. This allowed the business to identify to its customers the level of commitment to providing food in a safe and hygienic environment. Thus helping the business to go from strength to strength, retaining its focus on a variety of food and identifying how to cater for customers with allergies or specific needs.
“We found the courses very informative and were delivered in a relaxed but structured way. Giving time for interaction with the tutor and between candidates. Making learning easier. Refreshing knowledge and gaining qualifications enables the business to show the level of commitment to providing food in a safe and hygienic environment to existing and potential customers.”