Tag: food and drink

STUC warns hospitality employers not to pass the burden onto workers as businesses reopen

Edinburgh pub worker calls on hospitality staff to join a union

Commenting on the re-opening of indoors hospitality, Roz Foyer, General Secretary of the STUC has reminded employers that workers are preparing to resist detrimental changes to contracts and conditions associated with the safe return to work.

Roz Foyer said: “Indoor hospitality re-opening safely depends on changes to working conditions. But these must not be allowed to come at a cost to workers.

“Workers are the heart of hospitality, but for too long employers have been able to pass the unstable condition of the industry onto their staff.

“We will not forget the businesses who refused to furlough their staff during this pandemic, and who have treated workers callously with attempts to make them sign away their terms and conditions in order to ringfence profit or prevent unexpected costs.

“From cafes like Coias in Dennistoun to cinema chains like Cineworld, workers have come together to win their demands in the return to work period.

“If you are asked to work differently or to sign a new contract, don’t accept, delay, and work out with your colleagues whether you are happy with the proposal. Then join a union and take action.”

Matthew Waddell, 19, who returned to work at the Diggers pub yesterday, urged workers to be prepared to resist the prospect of changes to work and conditions.

He said: “The incoming economic crisis should be a call to all workers to join unions, unionise their workplaces and make sure those unions are active.

“The precarious nature of hospitality work and the effect a COVID recession will have on it makes unionisation all the more urgent.

“The Better Than Zero campaign against precarious work is on hand to give guidance and support for hospitality workers and any other workers who do not have unions.”

Morrisons introduces Food Parcels for customers to donate to food banks

  • Customers can purchase pre-packed bags of groceries designed around the needs of local food banks
  • Move follows £10m initial donation from the supermarket at the start of the pandemic –

Morrisons is making it easier for its customers to feed people in need by launching food parcels that can be bought and then donated at the checkout.

Food banks are often overwhelmed by products such as rice and pasta and short of other items that people actually need.

The supermarket’s new ‘Pick Up Packs’ cost between £1 and £3 and contain a mix of food products that have been requested by the local food bank based on their local needs.

The packs are the brainchild of Morrisons colleague Michelle Leary from Basingstoke, who noticed that customers struggled with what to donate to food banks.

The pre-packed parcels mean that customers don’t need to spend time browsing the shelves for items to donate. After a successful trial, they are now being rolled out nationally.

Customers can easily pick one up at the start of their shop and pay for it at the till with the rest of their shopping. The pack is then put aside and collected by volunteers working for the food bank.

Rebecca Singleton, Community Director at Morrisons, said: “The UK’s food banks are a lifeline for the most vulnerable in our communities and these parcels are an easy way to donate to them. At Morrisons, we want to play our full part in feeding the nation and ensure nobody gets left behind.”

The ‘Pick Up Pack’ initiative is part of Morrisons drive to restock Britain’s food banks and continue feeding the nation, particularly those who are vulnerable and struggling with the economic fallout of COVID-19.

Additionally, Morrisons, in partnership with the Trussell Trust, has also become the first UK supermarket to trial an online donation mechanism that goes straight into the pockets of local food banks.

Customers can purchase £10 vouchers on the Morrisons Food Boxes website (http://www.morrisons.com/food-boxes) which gets sent directly to a local food bank of their choice.  The online scheme was initially piloted with 5 local food banks and has now been rolled out to 50 nationally.

For more information, visit www.morrisons.co.uk.

#ItsMoreThanOurJob

Heart Research UK Healthy Tip: Healthy picnics

Heart Research UK Healthy Heart Tip, written by Dr Helen Flaherty, Head of Health Promotion at Heart Research UK

Healthy picnics

July is National Picnic month and this is a good time to get outdoors to celebrate the warm weather and enjoy some tasty food with friends and family. An outdoor picnic can provide the perfect setting for some fun activities to get your heart pumping.

Make your picnic a healthy one by following our healthy tips:  

Choose a location for your picnic

Plan your picnic in a relaxing spot where you can include a brisk walk or some fun activities, such as a game of frisbee or rounders. Getting plenty of physical activity can help to keep your heart healthy.

Avoid too much fat, salt and sugar

A diet that includes too much salt, fat and sugar is associated with an increased risk of heart disease. Instead of taking crisps, salted nuts, sausage rolls, cakes, chocolate and sugary drinks on your picnic, choose healthier options, such as unsalted nuts, lean meat (e.g. chicken breast), fresh fruit and veg, low-fat and low-sugar yoghurts and sugar-free drinks or water. 

Switch to wholegrain

Wholegrain foods are a good source of nutrients, including fibre, which is good for your heart. Try switching from white bread to wholemeal bread for your sandwiches or wholemeal pita or wraps. Salads can include wholemeal pasta or brown rice to
increase your fibre intake.

Pack in the fruit and veg

Pack raw veg sticks, such as carrots celery, peppers, cucumber and sugar snap peas to have with healthy dips, such as low-fat hummus or tzatziki. For a healthy dessert, you could try making a fresh fruit salad or fruit skewers served with low-fat and low-sugar yoghurt.

Find healthy and delicious recipes for your picnic

There are plenty of healthy picnic recipes available online, such as the BBC Good Food Healthy Picnic Recipes:

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/collection/healthy-picnic

Henderson’s to close

We have some extremely sad news: it is with a very heavy heart that the Henderson family took the decision earlier this month to close the doors of Hendersons of Holyrood & Hendersons of Hanover after 58 years in trading.

As a family-run business since the beginning, the shop/deli first opened in 1962, driven by Janet Henderson who 30 years earlier had discovered during her travels in Europe about the benefits of an organic and vegetarian diet. She and her husband Mac then brought this to life on their farm with an organic market garden in East Lothian. Mac Henderson lived to the ripe old age of 101.

As Covid 19 took hold in February/March 2020, this had a very detrimental effect on the business in terms of both footfall and revenue. Covid 19 hit us at a hard time, as we were just coming out of the quieter winter months, looking forward to Easter, summer trading and Edinburgh Festival.

The Government’s resistance to close hospitality businesses until late March meant that by this time our restaurant & deli business closed, we had haemorrhaged a serious amount of money leaving us in a very weak position.

The furlough scheme was a life-line with some hope but still came at a cost with 40 employees, plus we still had essential fixed operating costs, insurance, rent, utilities – with very high monthly outgoing costs and no income coming in – the current situation was unsustainable.

We opened the shop/deli for a month, providing a food/vegetable box delivery and click & collect service. Unfortunately, the city centre is bereft of footfall as virtually no passers-by, tourists or office workers, thus it was impossible to continue operating at a loss.

If our location was in a neighbourhood area it might have been a different story and if we had more of a strong online presence or wholesale trade, perhaps we could have pushed through and come out the other side.

Due to the uncertainty of the future of hospitality, lack of guidance from the Government and ongoing restrictions, there was no realistic prospect of us returning to any kind of normality in the foreseeable future.

As a family, this has not been an easy decision and we are absolutely devastated to be in this situation, outwith our control. The three restaurants and deli will not re-open.

Our family has been privileged to play our part in Janet and Mac Henderson’s great adventure that has been so well supported over the years.

It has been a very difficult decision for us and the Henderson family would like to thank our loyal customers, brilliant suppliers and lovely staff over the past 58 years and we will miss being part of what was Edinburgh’s bustling restaurant scene, which we hope will return in the not too distant future.

Local businesses urged to sign up to ‘Eat Out to Help Out’

Edinburgh and Lothians restaurants, pubs, cafes and other establishments that sell food for consumption on-premises are being urged to sign up to the UK Government’s ‘Eat Out to Help Out’ scheme.

Businesses who use the scheme will offer a 50% reduction, up to a maximum of £10 per person, to all diners who eat or drink-in throughout August.

The scheme is open to businesses across the UK and can be used all day, Monday to Wednesday in August.

Customers do not need a voucher as participating establishments will just remove the discount from their bill. Businesses simply reclaim the discounted amount through an online service, supported by HMRC.

The scheme is aimed at protecting jobs in the hospitality industry and is in addition to the reduction in VAT from 20% to 5% for tourism and hospitality businesses.

Businesses who sign up to the scheme will receive a window sticker and will be able to use promotional items such as posters and logos for social media.

Lothian MSP, Miles Briggs, said: “During lockdown the hospitality industry has been one of the hardest industries due to necessary closures.

“This scheme can give the industry a real boost during August to help businesses get back on their feet again.

“The hospitality and catering industry supports a huge number of jobs in Edinburgh and the Lothians which rely on the sector doing well.

“I encourage businesses across Edinburgh and the Lothians sign up to this scheme to attract more custom at the beginning of the week throughout August.”

Struggling pubs need freedom to stock local products to survive post lockdown

CAMRA’s Cheers for Choice campaign calls on pub companies to allow landlords to sell local beers from small and independent breweries.

Every pub across Scotland should be allowed to stock and sell beer and cider from small, local and independent brewers and cider producers, to help them recover post lockdown.

That’s the message from CAMRA, the Campaign for Real Ale, as they launch their new ‘Cheers for Choice’ campaign this week. 

As pubs prepare for reopening next month, CAMRA’s members across Scotland are signing petitions to pub company bosses urging them to allow all landlords to stock local brews. 

Current beer ties mean that most pub tenants are restricted in what they can sell in their pubs and are often banned from putting on the products they know their customers want to drink. 

The campaign wants pub companies’ beer tie arrangements to be relaxed as pubs reopen following the coronavirus lockdown, so that all parts of the industry can pull together and support each other. 

A recent survey of 21,000 beer drinkers and pub goers across the UK carried out by CAMRA found that 68% of people are less likely to go to a pub if it isn’t selling local and independent beer and cider. 

MSPs are also being urged to support the Tied Pubs Bill being put forward in the Scottish Parliament by Labour MSP Neil Bibby. The legislation would give tied pub tenants protections in law, including a right to be able to sell guest beers in their pubs. 

Commenting, CAMRA Director for Scotland Sarah Crawford said:  “Relaxing restrictions for tied pub tenants is the right thing to do – making sure all parts of the industry, no matter how small, are supported in the recovery from COVID-19 and are able to thrive in the weeks and months ahead. 

“Allowing small and independent brewers and cider producers are able to sell into all pubs will also improve consumer choice and allow pub goers to support local brewing businesses. 

“It also makes business sense, with 68% of pub-goers saying they would be less likely to go back to a pub if it doesn’t have a range of brews from small and independent producers. 

“That’s why we are encouraging pub companies to relax restrictions on what beers can be sold when pubs reopen, as well as urging all MSPs to vote in favour of the Tied Pubs Bill later in the year so all landlords can have a legal right to serve guest beers from local and independent breweries.” 

Labour MSP for the West of Scotland Neil Bibby MSP said: “I agree with CAMRA that restrictions on tied pubs should be relaxed to help brewers into the sector and allow more consumer choice for pub-goers.  

“This is a critical time for pubs and brewers in Scotland. They need all the help they can get. One way the Scottish Parliament can help is through tied pub reform. It’s time to stop the big PubCos extracting profits from Scotland and support Scottish publicans who want to invest in their businesses and provide more choice to customers.”

Brand new brasserie back from the brink

AN AMBITIOUS new restaurant that launched just weeks before lockdown has come back from the brink – after its owner was told it was too new to qualify for grants and the furlough scheme.

Pier Brasserie, the £100K transformation of the former Prezzo site, within Newhaven’s prime former Fishmarket building, launched with much excitement and anticipation in February.

Within weeks it became clear that the spread of Covid-19 was set to devastate the sector along with the dreams of owner Mark Patonyi, one of city’s most esteemed restaurant managers, previously front of house at Martin Wishart’s The Honours, Manager of Martin Wishart at Loch Lomond and general manager of Steak Restaurant at Picardy Place.

Now, Mark, 36, alongside head chef and friend Vladimir Garcik and a team of two, has opened a take away offering, enabling foodies to sample high-quality bistro dishes while taking in the views of Newhaven lighthouse and the bridges, from the harbour.

The father of one, who moved to the UK from Hungary in 2007, said: “It may sound cliché, but 2020 has been an unbelievable rollercoaster of emotions.

“From the highs of our amazing opening – and those initial few weeks which saw us packed out – everything came crashing down.

“It looked like we would never be able to recover – and it has been heart-breaking that we can’t even offer our team the small comfort of furlough, as we’re so new we didn’t receive our PAYE reference number until after the 19 March cut-off date.

“We’re still doing everything we can to appeal that, as it just feels so unfair. As a new business we’ve not had any chance of building up cash reserves.

“Up until a few weeks ago it didn’t seem feasible that we could launch a take-away offering, but it got to the point I couldn’t sit around and wait for my fate any longer.”

He has subsequently launched a carefully selected menu utilising the best local and Scottish produce, including seafood landed in the harbour and meat from Donald Russell butchers. Included in the menu will be ciabattas, fish and chips, burgers, salads and desserts – as well as few options available each day for children.

Mark added: “The menu is an honest reflection of the food we were serving in the restaurant prior to lockdown – and easily enjoyed outside or at home.

“We’ve put in place all safety precautions too and had the team practice everything rigorously to ensure we can do this in the safest possible way. It gives us a chance to safely gear up to a potential part-opening in weeks, depending on how guidelines change.

“I also want to give a huge thanks to those that have offered kind messages during lockdown, knowing the situation we’re in.”

Ahead of the February launch Mark had been at the heart of the £100,000+ transformation of the site, project managing each process to ensure they meet his exceptionally high standards – as well as hand-picking a 15-strong team.

For more information about Pier Brasserie or to get first sight of the new menu when it launches, visit: https://www.pierbrasserie.com/ or follow us on Facebook @pierbrasserie and Instagram @pierbrasserie

Over 200 young people take part in FDF Scotland’s Lockdown Food Challenge

To help keep pupils engaged with food education during lockdown, Food and Drink Federation (FDF) Scotland challenged young people across Scotland to design an innovative street food dish that they and their families would love.

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