Well done everyone who has taken part in The Matrix Maze this month – it is great to see so many people finding their way around he knowledge base and it is also a great motivator for the H-Team and other contributors to now get the content and look/feel in line with how our operators want the information.

I have watched, and participated in, a lot of marketing and recipe/menu ideas that have been batted backwards and forwards between our community – it is a real buzz to see it starting to be used so frequently – everyone can do it and it doesn’t bite!! It actually gives you some good ideas which you can then pass on to your customers!

One of my focus areas this month has been on the Funtastic Food gang – Kit, Kat, Mat, Nat and Jet and how we will be developing the Prep School age group’s healthy eating awareness whilst they are eating their day to day fresh food from Host!

Dean Collins and Dan Baldock from The Beacon and Feltonfleet have been helping me and the scheme is looking really good! Now we are entering the consultation stage with our clients and further managers so you will see the whole Funtastic thing coming up for comment fairly soon on the Matrix – please do make comment even if you are not running a Prep School – your experience may well help us create a better scheme!

My next comment to everyone is about sales; we are now in a very nasty recession around the world with this credit squeeze that everyone is talking about, and coupled with the very high increases in food costs, this makes us vulnerable if we do a poor job of controlling our own catering costs, but also it provides us with some very real opportunities due to our net pricing policy! We have now developed our own sales dbase (it’s called Oscar), and it is now much easier to monitor and report on sales leads via our effective detective operation. For new people who have joined (and there are many recently, so welcome!!), we have a simple system; if you find an opportunity where Host could cater, send it in to halcyon.day@hostmgt.com, or ed@hostmgt.com, and we will see if we have that site on Oscar. If we have, and it is live, we say thanks, but we already know about it. If we have it but it is not live, we will call and if we get an appointment your name goes against that lead and you receive £25 in M&S Vouchers! If that lead then goes on to a proposal and presentation, you will get £250 of Vouchers! If the lead then makes it to a full contract for the business we top the £275 you have already had with a payment to you of £725 in your pay packet - you will get taxed on this last payment, but not bad money for being vigilant and letting us know about what is happening in your local community!

Finally, and sadly back to that recession we are in – this is now the time that we all really do need to pull on the combined strength of the Host community for the good of our business and our clients.

Please will everyone hold continuous improvement meetings around the country and ‘challenge the recipe…’ of what we do?

Remember the three principles of CI;

1. There is always room for improvement
2. Teams work better than individuals, and
3. Those at the sharp end know best how to improve things…

Try to come up with good, practical ideas as a team on how you can reduce the costs to your clients and customers and how you can protect our business. This may be in how we reduce our food costs or how we increase our sales with some proactive marketing. It may be by holding a Food Nation council meeting with some of your customers to find out how they feel about what you do and whether you are meeting their needs, or it might just include communicating on the Matrix public marketing forum to tell everyone your good ideas so they can also improve what they do.

The power of the people is always what pulls companies through recessions, and global leading companies all share their knowledge, so this is what we at Host can do; combine our knowledge and our people power and in so doing create a better service for our customers and clients, helping them power through this recession as well as identifying new opportunities for Host as we will benefit from this recession if we are all on the ball!

I will leave you to enjoy the rest of your P&P and also think about how you can play your part in the community.

Regards

News update from Chris Wheeler

Firstly thank you to all who have entered the Foodies so far! For those of you that have not entered yet we have extended the entry date to the end of May for current Host units and the end of June for any new contracts recently gained. This is because we want to make sure that our second year really does cover the country and also because the Foodies this year will run independent of the Company Conference which Jerry has discussed on his blog in the Matrix. The big rumour at present is that we will be holding the final in London at the world famous Westminster Catering College in Vincent Square, which means a big night out for the finalists (!) but also just a great venue for the event. Jerry will be confirming this later in May.

The news so far is that we have over 100 entries spread across all the categories with some entrants entering up to three dishes – good stuff!

This year all entrants at the judging ‘roadshow’ stage (at your local units) will start with 100 points and the Judges will knock off points as they see fit for issues to do with taste, colour texture etc… So, for instance if your dish is over or under seasoned you would lose points. A blandly coloured dish, or lack of recipe and ingredients listing will likewise lose you points, so get yourselves organised. We will be setting out a detailed judging sheet to show you in advance what we will be looking for and scoring against, and this will be issued by the end of May for when the judging starts, which will be from the beginning of June.

Anyone who scores more than 75 points will automatically receive a certificate of merit at unit level for their achievements and any contestant who scores 85 points or above will be put forward to the Judges table which is where the Judges then decide which four entrants from each category go onto the Finals to compete for those Foodie trophies and the chance to compete for the Grand Master Foodie Award for 2008.

We will let you know who the main judge will be in the final as soon as we know!

Keep up to date with the Foodies news by logging in regularly to the Matrix as I will be updating the site with Judging comments as they go around the country collating results and watch out for the BIG announcement for the Final date and arrangements.

Keep mixing it!!

Chris Wheeler – Contract Manager (Wales & West Country)

April has seen the first full month of working with the new accounting system Access Dimensions, and although we have had some teething issues, the team are getting to grips with it and we are now seeing the improvements it will bring to the company in the coming months, so well done to all.

Testing of the new system will continue in the following weeks, especially on Management reports and client accounting, and we will continue to keep you updated on our progress, we have some very exciting times ahead...!

The new structure in the Finance team is working well, and despite being a team member down, the invoicing team managed to send out 95% of the client invoices on time. Purchase ledger are also one member down as Helen Carter left during the month, but they are on course to close on time, a replacement is currently being sourced and I will update you on the progress in the next P&P.

I would like to welcome Paul Saunders to the Finance team, being the replacement for Joe Bushfield who left earlier this month, he has joined Luke’s team in the invoicing department.

In the last P&P, the new expenses procedure was issued and this took effect this month, on the whole it has worked very well. However, I cannot stress enough the importance of the new instructions and that any late forms will not get paid until the following month, there are no exceptions. If you still do not have the up to date list of expense due dates then please visit The Matrix.

We are still seeing errors with free issues in Caternet this month, again, please can we take greater care when inputting and making sure we do not mix up free issue costs and income, if you are unsure, please contact the H team before entering, they are more than happy to help.

May I also remind everyone the importance of reporting accurate information for payroll so as to make sure everyone gets paid correctly and on time; EPF forms must be checked by the employee so as to make sure bank details are correct, overtime is recorded correctly along with sickness and holiday on the time sheets. May I also ask that if monies are to be withheld from an employee for any reason, then that request must come from the Operational Manager only. If you have any issues with payroll then please contact Hayley Bulbeck in Payroll.

If anyone has any issues or questions in relation to the Finance team, then please either contact myself or any member of my team, we are here to help you.

Neil Casson – Finance Manager

We are now well underway on the management inductions and it has been fantastic that on my visits to your units I can see good habits now forming.

We still need plenty of your try me I’m new ideas, as Gavin our executive chef is working tirelessly to help publish these ideas for sharing.

I would like you all to concentrate on Customer relations management and customer service this month, complete service and marketing plans, and talk through the RAG report with your clients.

Now is the time to have a look at the chef’s corner, this is now filled with recipes and great advice from Gavin, Gavin has also been working on menu’s for Theatre cooking, and this will be published this month, why not drop him a line on his blog.

I will be out and about in the North this month and look forward to meeting with you all and sharing all your good ideas.

Douglas Wood - Commercial Director

• Israeli new season mid potatoes have replaced home-grown product - more expensive.
• Banana price starting to ease back.
• Lemon supply is still very limited.
• Spanish onions have been replaced by new season Chilean onions - these will be more expensive.
• UK leeks have all but finished to be replaced by French product.
  UK Bramley apples in short supply and will remain so for the next few months.
• Spanish salads season is coming to an end - tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and all types of lettuce. During May I expect suppliers will move to supplies from the UK and Holland.
• Peppers prices have risen sharply as they move to Dutch product.
• UK crops approx 2 weeks behind schedule due to cold weather. This will effect the availability and prices of cauliflower, cabbage, lettuce, soft fruit etc.
• New season southern hemisphere apples have replaced the French / UK product.
• Jacket potato prices have increased as packers pay more for samples of large potatoes.
• UK carrot season will come to an end in the next 2 weeks - to be replaced by Israeli, Spanish, Italian product.
• Prepared carrot and onion prices will increase as they move to new season product. KEEP STOCK LEVELS TO A MINIMUM - as it will have reduced shelf life.
• June should see the emergence of the majority of home-grown salad and vegetable lines.
  This should help ease back prices on certain lines.

Matrix Maze has been the big talking point this month with people all over the business looking around the Matrix marketing pages in search of clues to be in with a shout of winning the £100 Marks and Spencer Vouchers.

We are delighted to announce that the winner of the Matrix Maze and shortly to receive her vouchers is Lindsey Goodall. Congratulations Lindsey and thanks to everyone who entered. Hopefully you’re finding your way around the Matrix more easily now.

Make the Most of the Marketing resources through May with Marvellous new promotion Magic May. Designed to entice new customers to your counter, Magic May is an engaging and flexible promotion so throughout the month, when your customers leave their business cards or a slip of paper with their contact details in your Magic May hat, they could be drawn the next day and win their lunch for FREE!

Head over to Caternet to download your posters and start creating some magic!

This follows hot on the heels of April’s Global Gourmet promotion which is likely to go down as one of the most popular and well used promotions we have done across the business. With flexibility based around a consistent theme, Global Gourmet gave units ideas and scope to develop their own menus and reflected exactly what the Matrix is there for... sharing those ideas with everyone.

Neil Wilkins - Viper Marketing & Communications Group

From Carbon to Gold...
Gold Food Hygiene Award...
for the Host Team at Kent College.

Congratulations must sing out to the team at Kent College who in Nov 2007 suffered a devastating fire in their kitchen leading them to working out of temporary facility over Christmas up until a few weeks ago. When Kent college came under the Host wing as new contract at the end of January they clearly needed some support to help them through the tough times they were having… and what a turn around. Now a completely refurbished kitchen that looks like an operating theatre with new space age combination ovens, new tabling, refrigerators... which are being put to great use in producing some fine, delicious and healthy meals for the pupils and staff, served from the new Host Food Fair counters.

So I am not surprised when the EHO paid them a visit he to was impressed with what he saw in the new kitchen but more importantly that all the HACCP food safety controls were up and running with plenty of documented evidence. They had ensured that the HACCP system was site specific (see element 2 of our HACCP system) and had updated all their HACCP plans accordingly. The EHO loved all of this!!!

So well done to Sarah stone the Host catering manager and her team for what they have achieved. This is a great example of team work facing up to a difficult challenge together and getting over all the hurdles to ensure the pupils and staff continued to get healthy and SAFE food...


Food allergies... just a quick reminder... its just not “NUTS”

If a customer asks you the question “Does this food contain Gluten” Or “Does this food contain Lupin”. Would you stare at them blankly and think I haven’t a clue??? Hopefully not!! These are just a couple of the food allergens that for some of our customers can be life threatening.

It is of critical importance that our catering teams understand and know exactly what ingredients are used in the food we serve daily to our customers so they can pass on accurate information to them. There are 14 major food allergens which as food producers we need to know if they are being used as ingredients in our dishes. Can you list them?? They are...

Soya, celery, crustaceans (prawns, crabs etc), molluscs (snails, whelks, squid, octopus etc), mustard, lupin flour (made from lupin seeds), peanuts (ground nuts), tree nuts (hazel, walnuts etc), fish, sulphites/so2 (preservative), milk/dairy, eggs, gluten (from wheat) and sesame seeds... ALL of which can cause “anaphylactic” shock in customers who suffer from specific food allergies... WOW!!

What can I do as a catering /chef manager or chef?

You can...

1. Know your recipes and ingredients thoroughly.
2. Manage ingredients information and keep it available on request.
3. Ask suppliers to notify you of any changes to ingredients especially bakery products.
4. Check that items delivered match exactly those ordered.
5. Store key allergens separately where practical and ensure that they are kept covered and clearly labelled.
6. Ensure that all staff are alert to food allergy risks and have up to date training/coaching appropriate to their activities.
7. Test their allergy knowledge etc regularly.
8. Show staff how to wash up and clean effectively and alert them to allergy cross contamination risks and how to control then ( See the HACCP system).
9. Ensure that menus and signs have allergy messages to encourage allergic customers to ask about the foods on sale... CHECK OUT the Matrix and download and display where appropriate the most recent “Food Allergy Customer Point of Service notice” within the Food Allergy and Intolerance section (https://matrix.caternet.co.uk/product/fs/faai).

What can I do as Food Service Assistant at Host??

You can...

1. Know the ingredients in the dishes/ foods you are serving and recognise allergens such as nuts, peanuts, seeds etc.
2. Invite discussion with your customers and be ready to provide them with accurate information about the ingredients in the food you are serving them.
3. TELL THE TRUTH ABOUT FOOD... NEVER GUESS!!! If in doubt about the presence of allergens in the food them tell you are unsure and seek help.
4. Control allergen cross contamination especially by not using contaminated utensils and surfaces etc.

Mike Chubb - Technical Services Director

---

Firstly I would like to thank all our managers who have so far contributed to the now rapidly growing Host community on the Matrix. We now have ideas flying in from all corners of the country being discussed and shared like nature intended and it is amazing to see the difference already!

So that we can all get up to speed on these new developments here is a list of some of the more exciting features that are ready for you to use now!

Gavin Roche’s Blog – Our new executive chef has joined the list of bloggers and is waiting to hear your thoughts and ideas for the Try Me I`m New concept and Hosts new recipe library.

Purchasing Price Lists – Access to these lists has been restricted due to security concerns. If you wish to view the pricing lists please contact the H team who can supply you with temporary access to the documents you need. Please be aware that these price lists are highly confidential and should not be distributed outside of Host.

Foodies News Page – Although this section looks a bit thin at the moment Chris Wheeler will be updating the most up to date information straight from the competition floor in this news page.

Chef’s Corner Is Back! – Some may remember that in the old days Host had a forum for managers to discuss…. Anything and the latest on this is that it is back and already has some hints and tips which could be relevant to you! If you cannot find the answer to a question that you have here already then why not start a new post? Please note these forums are moderated so your post will not be displayed instantly.

Unit Home Pages In Beta Testing – As some may already know the next stage of the Matrix’s development involves a Facebook like homepage for each unit. Here you will be able to show off your latest events and inventions as well as discuss weekly reports and operational tasks (e.g. if you are unsure about completing audits/risk assessments why not ask your line managers online rather than throwing 50 different emails at people you have never met?!). Please watch this space in the coming month for this exciting new feature and if you would like to be involved in testing this facility please get in contact with Giles.Court@hostmgt.com. Please note we only want people who are useless at using computers because if we can get it to work for you we can be hopeful that everyone else will be ok!

New features are coming soon to Caternet! And you will be glad to hear that it isn’t a new spin on any current systems, instead it comes in the form of help notes, demonstrations and quick start guides. Kim and Michelle have been busy creating these aids to help unit managers, who need a little extra guidance or just a fresh reminder of how to do certain processes, get the support they need at a click of a button.

Look out for the new help buttons which will be appearing soon around Caternet!

Regards, The Help Team - Michelle, Kim and Giles
H-Team, open Monday to Friday 8-6 | Tel: 01730 897 099 | email: help@hostmgt.com 

Gartner Hospitality

Gartner in Egham has now had Lisa Smith as a Manager for 3 months. We held a fantastic Hospitality launch on April 2nd with a new online brochure and ordering system and a CD Rom for the external clients who do not use the Gartner intranet. Lisa and her team worked extremely hard for this. The event was a great success, good customer relationships were developed and Hospitality has increased!

---

Tanya at Astex Theraputicals

As a unit manager Tanya has shown immense promise and management turning a rocky fluctuating G.P unit to a stable well run Unit showing impressive records of improvement.

When Tanya was first introduced to me I was met by by a unconfident unsure Unit Manager. From then to now we have worked closely together and it has been brilliant watching Tanya's ability, confidence and most importantly unit results steady and improve.

• The G.P. is now a consistently on budget or above;
• The sales are showing a steady increase;
• The customer satisfaction is ever improving;
• And an effective site focused marketing plan is being executed.

Dave Hill - Project Manager

A warm welcome to Host new staff members who have joined this past month:

A Adlam G Biggs C Clark V Coltraro L Coombs A Coquet H Craven J Dalting-Golding S Doyle J Fairley H Hahn J Iddles J Klinck A Maloney

S Maloney M McAlary J McWhirter A Miller S Mitten M Ogden P Pearce G Peart T Penthor M Rackley C Rawlings T Roberts S Ross C Scutt

T Stevens H Suligowski P Suligowski S Taylor E Tibratt J Umar R Walsh A Wheeler J Wilson  Welcome to all!

Many happy returns go to the following:

Scott Armston Kelly Dewhurst Melissa Mikosz Stacey Cressey Jennifer Pidcock Fiona Mayfield Holly Brett James East Himala Lewington Michelle Roberts Michael Ogden

Paul Cooke Betty Ribane John Price Sarah Weston Joanne Tucker Mary-Jane Skingley Kerry Hanson Scott Bolingbroke Robert Clark Louise Morris Andrina McAdams Michelle Crane Maxine Edgar Mandy Dooley Darren Flanagan Robert Preedy Deborah Kenchington Jackie Millan Mary Sidwell Sarah Thomas

Lorraine White Vanessa Humphrey Jasmine Willis Barbara Robertson Jeremy Brand Susan Stark June Wells June Makemson Gwyneth Mason Barbara Asquith Margaret Christison Nicholas Stockwell Ken Howard Joan Howard Mary Anderson Richard Gale Joan Knowles Joseph Headley

 

PLEASE SEND IN YOUR IDEAS AND ANY SUGGESTIONS HERE - WE WILL ENDEAVOUR TO ANSWER ALL YOUR QUERIES/QUESTIONS!