AGM: Our future in food

This week's blog is by Creative Director, David James.

Inspiration in innovation

One of my key roles at bartlett mitchell is to create a foodie culture; an environment where people know that we love food more. I don’t know about you but I think it's important to have moments when you question what you’ve achieved. Sometimes it's best to stop, take stock and look at what you’re doing and at bartlett mitchell we think this is extremely important so have an Annual General Meeting (AGM) where all our chefs, managers and other team members are united under one roof. Our recent gathering  at our 2012 AGM was a fantastic opportunity to share success stories and food innovation ideas.

Bringing everyone together

Our operations team make it all happen, they set an agenda and run a great afternoon of information and learning - it’s a bit like speed dating! The managers and chefs gather in groups of 10 or so and move from one stand to another, listening to the latest news on the business and our strategy for the coming year. At the end of the day we have a massive food presentation and we look at the latest concepts and ideas that we believe our customers are looking for. To see one of our restaurants packed with all our teams looking at, experiencing and being motivated by the food presentations was a real buzz for me. In the week since the meeting, as I go around to our contracts, the managers and chefs are telling me the things they are implementing and the things they enjoyed most. 

These are moments that I get to stand back and say that my job is to create a culture where food is always at the top of the agenda, where teams talk about food, where they care about what they cook and how its served and that they are so pleased with that they’ve done that they want to talk to you about it. This is how I know I’m doing my job. In all my years working at other food companies I don’t think I ever once spoke to any director about food, at bartlett mitchell our chefs and managers have the opportunity to talk to us all. 

Sharing our story

I’ve included a few photos from the event to give you a glimpse of what lies at the heart of bartlett mitchell. We also made a short film about our event, have a watch and let us know what you think! 

Our team with their 'Long Service' Awards.