Flair Magazine - Issue 1 | 2020

EDITION 1, 2020

PROSECCO APPEAL SUMMER SETTINGS CUTTING EDGE PIZZA PERFECTION

Dining with Altitude

ROBERT SMITHSON OF DNATA CATERING SHARES THE SECRET TO CREATING RESTAURANT-QUALITY MEALS AT 30,000 FEET

PLUS... Waste reducing tips and sustainable brands embracing the circular economy

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s the hospitality industry takes a deep breath after the October to December peak, it’s time to reflect on the Australian Summer.

In this edition we focus on making the most of heat with smoking masterclasses (page 4), authentic pizzas (page 20), lazy summer settings (page 12) and the perfect knife (page 16).

We gain fascinating insight into providing restaurant-quality meals at 30,000 feet with Robert Smithson of dnata catering (page 23), and take an informed look at the growth of prosecco in Australia (page 8).

There’s more information about sustainable product alternatives, this time cups (page 5) and controlling food waste (page 6) – a major contributor to climate change – plus the Geneva Green guest amenities range (page 7) that facilitates a circular economy by utilising plastic waste.

Finally we talk to Andrew Hill from Bunzl Ballina (page 22), our full-time catering specialist and volunteer firefighter. As Station Commander with Fire and Rescue NSW, he has been on the front line during the bushfire crisis.

We are also proud that Bunzl is extending support in a number of areas to the bushfire relief efforts, including product, donations and significantly extended trading terms to our impacted customers.

I really hope you enjoy the read.

Mark Phelan

General Manager, Hospitality, Bunzl Australia & New Zealand

BUNZL ANZ flair@bunzl.com.au

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“Let us celebrate the occassion with wine and sweet words.”

Plautus

Contents 4 5 6 7

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Centre Stage: Smoke’n’Stir Spotlight: A Fair Exchange The Process: Be Wise on Waste Check Out: Truly Deeply Green Prosecco Appeal

We raise a glass to the prosecco trend... and mix in a few cocktails, too.

Summer Settings

Casual dining meets artisinal-style tableware this summer.

Cutting Edge 16 Discover Khabin’s new range of kitchen knives, a cut above the competition.

Perfection 20 Pizza

Bring authenticity to your pizza offerings with Moffat’s Italian-made equipment.

Quick-fire Q&A: 22 Restaurant Solution

Bunzl’s Andrew Hill talks restaurant fit-outs and firefighting.

Talk With...

23 Toque Robert Smithson

The seasoned chef talks about his role at the helm of Australia’s largest in-flight catering company.

@bunzlANZhospitality @bunzlANZhospitality Bunzl ANZ Hospitality Bunzl Australia & New Zealand

www.forte.bunzl.com.au/flair

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CENTRE STAGE

Smoke’n’Stir At our Sydney Innovation Centre, Moffat’s smoking ovens and Überbartools™ were the focus of a great industry event.

The versatility of smoking food and the importance of using the right bar tools were both highlighted at an industry event at our Sydney Innovation Centre recently.

Moffat’s Convotherm C4 combi oven with smoker and MerryChef e2s finishing oven were the stars of “Smoked! Culture Kitchen”, creating a delectable range of dishes that redefined the limits of which foods can be smoked.

The company’s chefs smoked meat, nuts, cheese, dips and even chocolate to create a menu that included sliders, chicken wings, sausages, salmon, hummus and a smoked chocolate mousse tart.

They described how, using the easyTouch control panel on each oven, it’s easy to automatically multi-step cook with a smoke profile, while the Advanced Closed System ensures all the smoke stays within the oven, meaning a safe, smoke-free kitchen – and dining room.

Chefs can control both the strength and flavour of the smoke with these ovens, and traditional smoking flavours like hickory and maple have been expanded to include beer, cassia bark, coffee beans and cinnamon sticks, adding another level of versatility.

Meanwhile, innovative wholesaler Überbartools™ was demonstrating just how important it is to use the right bar tools to ensure consistency and quality in your drink offerings.

The Überbartools™ range includes decadent bar tools in gold and copper, including eye-catching shakers, mugs, cups, strainers, tweezers, swizzle sticks, stirrers and elegant bitters bottles.

For mixologists on the move, there’s also a fabulous selection of roll-up kits that include a comprehensive set of bar tools. The LuxRoll comes in soft leatherette with shoulder straps – and can be individualised with initials.

The night was an opportunity for both Moffat and Überbartools™ to demonstrate their cutting-edge products to the industry – and our Innovation Centre was the perfect location to do just that.

To request your own event at the Sydney Innovation Centre, contact Ryan Parker: Ryan.Parker@bunzl.com.au

ts Convo therm presen

SMOKED !

EN ULTU RE KITCH

If we told you there is a simpler and cleaner way to bring smoked food to your menu...

would you be intereste d?

Join us at the Convotherm Culture Kitchen to learn and create a series of mouth watering smoked dishes.

Discover how to provide hot and cold smoked food using a combi oven. Using the advantages of the Convotherm combi oven, we show any chefs how to integrate smoking in one easy process to other cooking functions like steaming and baking - all in one platform!

You will experiment with different ingredients that you might not usually come in contact with smoke - to building up various infused smoked flavours for various types of food.

SESSION DETAILS: DATE: Tuesday 29th October 2019 TIME: 5.00pm - 7.00pm VENUE: Bunzl Innovation Centre 40-42 O'Riordan St, Alexandria,

NSW, 2015

RSVP by 22nd Oct 2019 Spots are limited.

Scan QR code to register

Sponsored by

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Above Lizzie Jay and Michael Silvers from Uberbartools™. Left An invite to the “Smoked! Kitchen Culture” event at our Sydney Innovation Centre.

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SPOTLIGHT

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A Fair Exchange Introducing a new “swap” initiative by acclaimed Australian sustainable coffee cup brand Huskee.

Australians love coffee – we consumed an average of 1.92kg per person in 2017, and the national coffee market is worth some $8.1 billion.

The downside of that love affair is that we use about 2.7 million disposable coffee cups every day, and none of them can be recycled.

It’s little wonder, then, that sustainable coffee cups are having their moment, including Huskee, a range featuring coffee husk as a raw material – organic waste produced during the milling process.

The range is not only fully sustainable and totally non-toxic but beautifully designed: the external “fins” provide both a distinctive design feature and protect a user’s hands from heat. Now the award-winning Australian brand has introduced HuskeeSwap, an ingenious “swapping” system for coffee drinkers.

Businesses register with the program, purchase a “float” of cups and, when a registered customer comes in with their used HuskeeCup and lid, the barista makes them a coffee in a new “swapped” cup.

Dishwasher-safe and BPA free, the reusable cups are a durable alternative to single-use coffee cups, helping to reduce the number of takeaways that end up as landfill. www.shop.bunzl.com.au/huskee

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1. HSKHCOSN48A Huskee saucer universal natural.

2. HSKHCOSC48A Huskee saucer universal charcoal.

3. HSKHCO6N48A Huskee cup natural 6oz.

4. HSKHCO6C48A Huskee cup charcoal 6oz.

5. HSKHCO8N48A Huskee cup natural 8oz 6. HSKHCO8C48A Huskee cup charcoal 8oz.

7. HSKHC12N48A Huskee cup natural 12oz.

8. HSKHC12C48A Huskee cup charcoal 12oz.

3,5,7. HSKHCOLN48A Huskee cup lid universal natural.

4,6,8. HSKHCOLC48A Huskee cup lid universal charcoal.

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www.forte.bunzl.com.au/flair

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THE PROCESS

Be Wise on Waste These five simple strategies can help your business reduce food waste - which is great news for your budget and the environment.

Food wastage is a significant issue across the globe. In Australia, we discard more than five million tonnes of food every year. And as that food degrades in landfill, it produces enormous amounts of methane (a greenhouse gas some 25 times more potent – and therefore damaging – than carbon dioxide), making it a huge contributor to global warming.

So, how can businesses lessen their wastage?

Fildes Food Safety, a leader in food safety and wastage minimisation for more than three decades, recommends these five simple actions.

1. Use food safety labels Food safety labels inform kitchen staff of what a product is and when it should be used by. They help reduce over-ordering and assist in stock rotation.

2. Follow the FIFO rule

“First In First Out” refers to how food needs to be dated and organised in commercial kitchens to help control wastage and run profitably.

3. Work on accurate ordering

Recording food requirements throughout the year means the figures can be used to predict future consumption during the same period.

4. Stay on top of maintenance

In addition to being huge consumers of energy, poorly running fridges and freezers can often be the cause of mass spoilage.

5. Prevent cross-contamination

Contaminated foods need to be discarded, so using colour-coded kitchen utensils and chopping boards not only reduces the risk of cross-contamination for customer safety, it also lessens potential wastage. www.shop.bunzl.com.au/fildes

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Above FD10800 Fildes Day of the week rmvbl circ19mm kit.

CHECK OUT

Truly Deeply Green The Geneva Green guest amenities range employs a unique “circular economy” process to make it highly sustainable.

It’s hard not to be impressed by a guest amenities range that is not only great to look at and lovely to use but has sustainability at its core.

The Geneva Green range, by GFL, is created through a process known as the “circular economy” – every aspect of its manufacture is sustainable.

Its larger 360ml bottles, smaller 30ml bottles and caps are made from 100 per cent post-consumer recycled plastic. In essence, when recyclable plastic products are processed at specialised facilities, they are broken down into reusable flakes known as post-consumer recycled plastic.

These flakes, when handled properly, can be re-formed and reused infinitely. This is the circular economy: it closes the loop of having to ever use new plastic, which is incredibly good news for the environment.

It’s why Geneva Green’s bottles aren’t all exactly the same – the variation in colour and appearance

is a side-effect of using post-consumer recycled plastic.

The range, which includes a shampoo, conditioner, body wash and body lotion, also features smaller labels. This has a bi-fold benefit: it aids in the sorting phase of the recycling process and uses less materials to create.

Geneva Green is also 100 per cent vegan, contains no alcohol, EDTA or petrolatum and has nickel concentrations of less than 0.0001 per cent. www.shop.bunzl.com.au/gfl

1. RGP30SGR Geneva Green Shampoo.

2. RGP30CGR Geneva Green Conditioner.

3. RGP30BGR Geneva Green Body Wash.

4. RGP30BLGR Geneva Green Body Lotion.

5. RGB0830GR Geneva Green Vegetable Soap 30g. 6. RGB0915GR Geneva Green Vegetable Soap 15g.

7. RGCYR360ILMGR Geneva Green Liquid Hand Soap 360ml.

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“The circular economy closes the loop of ever having to use new plastic, which is incredibly good news for the environment.”

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Prosecco Appeal PROSECCO IS GROWING MORE POPULAR IN AUSTRALIA, IN NO SMALL PART BECAUSE OF INCREASINGLY GOOD LOCAL OFFERINGS. AND, WITH THE RIGHT GLASSWARE, IT WILL STAR AT ANY PARTY.

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1. ARCN6380 Arc Macaron Fascination stem glass 400ml.

2. ARCN8214 Arc C&S champagne and cocktail bowl 350ml.

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glass of fizz: the choice drop for a summer of celebrations, ceremonies and soirees. While traditionally that’s meant a flute or two of Champagne, in recent years there’s been a new bubbly on the block – prosecco.

In Australia, prosecco is booming, with a 53 per cent increase in consumption over the past year. It’s a pattern that’s reflected worldwide, with the new-generation wine having now overtaken Champagne as the most popular fizz on the market.

Aside from being a key component of every summer reveller’s favourite refresher, the Aperol spritz, prosecco’s ascendancy is also due to the quality of the wine that’s being produced in Australia. Local winemakers are beginning to rival those from the north-eastern Italian region of Veneto, home of prosecco.

It’s a sharp rise for a grape that hadn’t even been established in Australia as little as 20 years ago, before Italian-born Otto Dal Zotto planted prosecco grapes – also commonly known as glera – at his vineyard in 2000.

His family’s label, Dal Zotto, is one of several based in Victoria’s lush King Valley to be lauded for the quality of its sparkling wines; nearby Pizzini is another.

But while a multitude of factors go into developing prosecco, when serving this brilliant bubbly, it’s all about presentation.

Arc offers a range of glassware that will put the fizz into any occasion, with flutes that help to preserve the bubbles for longer and deliver the aroma straight to the nose, thanks to their sleek build.

These glasses will prove ideal whether you’re catering for a large wedding or hosting a small shindig, with a selection of different shapes and sizes available.

Anyone for a top-up?

www.shop.bunzl.com.au/arcoroc

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Maximise productivity and improve hygiene practices with new and improved SCOTT® Hard Roll and Slimroll BLUE hand towels

NEW improved wet strength

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NOW HACCP® FZS certified for touching food contact surfaces

NEW pattern on our SCOTT® Hard Roll and Slimroll towels

Helps to minimise cross contamination

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® / ™ Trademarks Kimberly-Clark Worldwide, Inc or its affiliates. © KCWW .

NOW contains 70% recycled fibre

Shaken, Stirred and Sparkling Prosecco makes the perfect base for a range of sophisticated party cocktails.

Flair asked a top mixologist for their favourite recipes.

MIMOSA

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This popular brunch cocktail is believed to have been invented circa 1925 in the Ritz Hotel, Paris.

• 75ml (one part) prosecco • 75ml (one part) orange juice Ensure both ingredients are well chilled, then mix into the glass. Serve cold.

OLD CUBAN

Similar to a Mojito, the Old Cuban was invented

by Audrey Saunders, proprietor of the Pegu Club in New York.

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• 20ml fresh lime juice • 30ml sugar syrup • 40ml rum • 6 fresh mint leaves • 2 dashes of Angostura bitters • 60ml prosecco Add lime juice, syrup and rum into a cocktail shaker.

Lightly bruise mint leaves and add to mixture with bitters. Shake vigorously then sieve into a glass.

Top up with prosecco.

FRENCH 75

Created in 1915 at the New York Bar in Paris, this cocktail was said to have such a kick that it took its name from the French 75mm field gun.

• 30ml gin • 2 dashes sugar syrup • 15ml lemon juice • 60ml prosecco Combine gin, syrup and lemon juice in a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake vigorously and strain into an iced champagne glass.

Top up with prosecco.

Stir gently.

BELLINI

An Italian classic, the Bellini’s original recipe was invented by the founder of Venice’s Harry’s Bar in the 1930s.

• 100ml (2 parts) prosecco • 50ml (1 part) fresh peach puree Pour peach puree into chilled flute and slowly add prosecco. Stir gently.

1. ARC48024 Arc C&S cabernet champagne flute 160ml. 2. ARC37652 Arc Elegance champagne coupe 160ml.

www.forte.bunzl.com.au/flair

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Summer Settings WITH THE HOT WEATHER HERE AND GROWING NUMBERS OF PEOPLE EATING OUT, IT’S TIME TO PICK TABLEWARE THAT SPEAKS TO THE TREND FOR CASUAL DINING.

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O 1. TKRV647495 gourmet plate.

2. TKRV644387 pouring jug 0.50l. 3. TKRV644836 pouring jug 0.75l.

4. TKRV644386 pouring jug 0.25l. 5. TKRV646398 bowl. 6. TKRV649096 salad bowl. 7. KRV647322 bowl xxs.

n average, Australians dine out between two and three times a week. And with eateries often quieter across the nation during winter, it’s easy to see that summer is doing most of the heavy lifting.

Eating out is an intrinsic part of our lifestyle, especially in summer, with cafes packed on weekends for brunch service, and restaurants and bars welcoming those making the most of the warmer evenings.

There are myriad reasons why our culinary culture is booming, but key factors include the breadth of cuisines now available and the movement towards top-

level dining in a less formal setting. On the whole, gone are the days when our best food was matched with the kind of stuffy service that didn’t sit well with our relaxed approach to life.

Now, the trend is for waitstaff to be friendly, service to be swift and interiors to be laid-back, even when the dishes are on the right side of gourmet. Details count for everything and one way to really highlight this more informal approach is in your tableware. In other words, it’s time to ditch the classically styled silverware and formal china for the kind of artisanal-style cutlery and crockery you might find in a trendy friend’s home. ➜

www.forte.bunzl.com.au/flair

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MAKE THE MOVE TO PAPER ALL NEW PAPER TWIST HANDLE CARRY BAG RANGE

“Now’s the perfect time to reset the table with something that fits the laid-back foodie lifestyle Australians have adopted en masse.”

Indeed, what you use to serve your food is a vital part of the overall aesthetic and, in an age where Instagram is as much a judge of your dishes as any taste test, can make a genuine difference to the popularity of your pub, bar or restaurant.

The ideal answer can be found in the many shapes of the Revol dinnerware range. Formed in hardwearing materials, this crockery marries practical application with distinctive, on-trend styles, in a variety of sharp shapes and pared-back shades.

Whether you’re plating up breakfasts, lunches, dinners or desserts, there are plates, dishes and bowls to suit every kind of service.

So, with summer in full swing and dining numbers peaking, now’s the perfect time to reset the table with something that fits the laid-back foodie lifestyle Australians have adopted en masse.

www.shop.bunzl.com.au/tomkin

Cutting Edge IN THE SHAPE OF KHABIN’S NEW RANGES FOR BUTCHERS AND CHEFS, THE EVOLUTION OF THE KNIFE HAS REACHED A NEW PEAK.

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t’s not too much of a stretch to say that without knives, we wouldn’t be where we are today.

Since the earliest human history, our survival has depended heavily on the development of hand-tools. The first of these – a piece of flint with a blade-like edge – appeared some 2.58 million years ago and proved to be one of the most important.

With this proto-knife, early humans were able to easily chop into the food they had hunted or fished, to cut away inedible parts and to share out the bounty among tribal members.

Over time, more sophisticated blades were developed through heating and manipulating rock, giving these early humans a tool they could use to more skilfully cut food, but also to help build shelters and defend themselves from attack.

The result? Humans now had better diets and improved security – and more free time for further hunting, the development of agriculture and, just as importantly, socialising.

In other words, without a tool as simple as a knife, the paths that eventually led to civilised societies may not have been laid – and there may never have been an ‘us’.

Of course, the knife has drastically evolved, its design jumping way ➜

www.forte.bunzl.com.au/flair

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DON’T LET THE DIRT ESCAPE! The T 10/1 ADV Tub Vacuum is a versatile whisper quiet dry vacuum cleaner designed for convenient and economical daily cleaning in the hospitality market.

ENT DUST ELL RE XC

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Sanitising Wash ‘n Walk kills 99.9% of pathogens**

Degrease and protect today for faster cleaning tomorrow.

Sustainable, No-Rinse

Floor & Drain Cleaning Technology WATER

No-rinse formula saves average kitchen 20,820 litres of water per year

ENERGY

Cold water application saves energy

SAFETY

Better coefficient of friction reduces slipping

AIR

Sanitising feature helps eliminate odour-causing bacteria in drains and controls malodours

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PEST

Reduces feeding and breeding grounds for fruit flies when used as a drain and floor cleaner and sanitiser

www.shop.bunzl.com.au/ecolab www.forte.bunzl.com.au/flair **Including E. Coli, Listeria, Salmonella and Staphylococcus.

With 5 minute contact time on non-food contact areas.

Scotch-Brite™ Kitchen Cleaner & Degreaser Wipes with Scotchgard™ Protector

The wipes leave a protective Scotchgard™ layer that can cut degreasing time by 45% after one use.

Now available at www.shop.bunzl.com.au/3M 3M, Scotch-Brite and Scotchgard are trademarks of 3M. © 3M 2019. All rights reserved.

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“Expertly honed, German, high-carbon, stainless-steel blades make any job easy, from slicing and dicing to butchery.”

ahead after the advent of single-edged metal knives about 4000 years ago.

Down through the ages, the knife has lost none of its importance, being used throughout the world by billions of people every day, as well as by professionals such as chefs and butchers.

That evolution has led to the development of today’s lightweight, efficient and accurate kitchen knives.

Khabin Knives are a perfect example, benefiting from expertly honed, German, high-carbon, stainless-steel blades that make any job easy, from slicing and dicing in a fast-paced kitchen to the more precise nature of modern butchery.

Both the Chef and Butcher collections have been designed with distinctive, ergonomic, orange Santoprene handles for non-slip grip and safe handling, while the blades are as reliably strong and sharp as you could possibly want them to be.

All of which makes them the ideal knives for the job – thanks to a design that’s been almost 2.6 million years in the making.

www.shop.bunzl.com.au/khabin

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1. BKP1225010806 cimetar steak knife10 inch.

2. BKP0915001806 knife skinning 6 inch.

3. BKP0715009806 knife boning wide curved 6 inch.

4. BKP0716078806 boning knife granton 6 inch.

5. BKP0713006806 knife boning narrow curved 5 inch. 6. BKP1420078806 knife chefs wide 8 inch.

7. BKP091500806 knife skinning 6 inch.

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Pizza Perfection EASY TO MAKE AND DELIVER, THE CLASSIC ITALIAN PIZZA CONTINUES TO GET MORE POPULAR EACH YEAR – WITH PRODUCERS OFFERING EVER MORE WONDERFUL TOPPINGS.

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ou’ve probably heard the old yarn about why the man went into the pizza business – because he wanted to make some dough. Never has that joke been more apt than today, with the pizza market in Australia now valued at about $3 billion, and takeaway giants such as Domino’s posting profits of more than $100 million a year.

All of which makes it surprising that it took a relatively long time for pizza to reach this country. The first restaurants dedicated solely to this Italian classic opened in the late 1950s and early 1960s; Lucia’s Pizza Bar in Adelaide was probably first, with Toto’s in Melbourne launching a few years later.

As large numbers of Italians arrived here

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following World War II and the influence of American fast-food culture increased, the popularity of pizzas spread. Pizza Hut opened its first Australian outlet in Belfield, Sydney in 1970; Domino’s followed in 1983 with a store in Springwood, Queensland that offered home delivery – a revelation at the time.

Since then the market has exploded, with a mix of traditional pizza restaurants and takeaway joints found in every city and town throughout the country, offering a meal that’s made to order, quick to deliver, tasty and filling.

As the industry has grown, so has the variety of toppings, with classic combinations joined by everything from

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“Manufactured in Italy, this collection of pizza equipment includes spiral mixers, dough dividers and rounders, hot presses and ovens to suit every shape, size and quantity of pizza.”

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kangaroo to red peanut curry. Dessert pizza is also becoming more popular, with the likes of chocolate and marshmallow, and caramel and apple toppings.

However, for the man or woman looking to make dough from the pizza business, there’s one lesson to learn: quality is key.

And that’s where Moffat’s OEM range comes in. Manufactured in Italy, this collection of pizza equipment includes spiral mixers (making it easy to get consistent results with dough), dough dividers and rounders (to reduce your prep time), hot presses (which can easily produce 250-300 bases per hour) and ovens to suit every shape, size and quantity of pizza.

www.shop.bunzl.com.au/moffat

1. MOFSG691LNG single deck gas pizza oven.

2. MOFPF35MT pizza press form.

3. MOFVALIDO835ADG 2 deck electric pizza oven.

3.

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QUICK-FIRE Q&A

Restaurant Solution Bunzl’s Andrew Hill gives an insight into his work fitting out commercial kitchens… and working as a volunteer firefighter.

Churchill’s Stonecast Aqueous range emulates a pool of water. @Churchill_1795

ANDREW HILL Account Manager, Ballina Branch Contact Andrew with your custom fit-out requirements: Andrew.

Hill@bunzl.com.au Made in NZ with local ingredients. @healthpak

Centrepiece Bunzl products and partners you need to follow on Instagram

Bunzl is proud to provide full financial support to Bunzl staff who volunteer as firefighters.

What’s your professional background? I went from Hobart to Byron Bay for a surf trip in 1981 and never went back. I started my career as a chef and have worked in many restaurants in and around Byron before moving into the managerial side.

Tell us a bit about your role at Bunzl. I’m an account manager in our Ballina office. We have a small team here so we need to be multi-skilled. We have a retail side that’s open to the public so people can come and buy anything from a new wine glass to commercial restaurant equipment. I also look after kitchen fit-outs so my job is very varied.

What have you been working on lately? Together with Ross Abernethy and Craig Bradfield from our design department, I recently fitted out a new Vietnamese restaurant called Hungs Kitchen in Ballina.

What’s been your most memorable project? Fitting out the restaurant and bar at Peppers Blue resort on Magnetic Island.

We filled up two semi-trailers in Ballina, shipped everything to Townsville and then across to the island on a ferry – and unloaded it all ourselves!

You’re also a Station Commander with Fire and Rescue NSW. Can you share some recent experiences of fighting bushfires in your area? In November, a call came through that a large fire had started at Bora Ridge and there were houses and people under threat. When all the houses were saved we moved on to the next lot of houses… this kept going for about 10 hours. The feeling of having fire all around you is quite nerve-racking but knowing you have a team looking after you puts you at ease. In these situations, communication is key.

Swordfish, broccolini and caper salsa at Robert Burns Hotel. @therussolinigroup

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PHOTOGRAPHY: MAGNETIC ISLAND

Recyclable packaging forms part of the circular economy. @Detpak

Left Smithson overseeing dnata’s in-flight catering.

Below Warm market vegetable salad topped with sliced grass-fed beef and almond salsa verde.

TOQUE TALK WITH. . .

Robert Smithson dnata catering’s General Manager Culinary reveals the key ingredients for a successful in-flight meal.

During his 14 years at the helm of Australia’s largest in-flight caterer, Robert Smithson has observed a major shift in passenger behaviour.

“Flyers have become much more inquisitive about food,” he says.

“If you go back 10 or 15 years, people wouldn’t have asked: ‘Is it grain- or grass-fed beef?’ That knowledge just wouldn’t have been there. But today, people want to know.”

Smithson says his employer, dnata catering – a wholly owned subsidiary of the Emirates Group – has succeeded in recent years by evolving in line with passengers’ preferences.

“We’ve gone from that very basic ‘meat and three veg’ style of airline meals to a menu offering that’s not dissimilar to what you’d see in any good restaurant, particularly in the First and Business Class cabins, where we’re really pushing the boundaries of what we’re serving.”

Today, dnata catering Australia employs 4000 people in nine cities and produces 64 million meals a year for more than

45 airlines. “When I started with the company, airlines would tell us what to do,” Smithson says.

“Now, they lean on our expertise.”

In his role as General Manager Culinary, Smithson oversees a team of 10 corporate chefs who work closely with each airline to devise custom menus.

“Each airline has a different degree of involvement,” he says. “Qatar, for example, has a celebrity-chef program, so they’ll come to us with their latest chef and we’ll educate that chef on the difference between a restaurant and a plane. Other airlines will just say: ‘This is the budget, this is the equipment we have on board – you guys do it all.’”

So, where does Smithson begin when an airline asks him to start from scratch? “Delicate food just doesn’t work on a plane, particularly if you’re eating during turbulence,” he says. “You’ve also got to remember that nothing is really cooked on a plane – it’s reheated. The food needs to withstand that reheating process. So, for meat, we look at secondary cuts that can stay tender.”

Smithson also avoids raw fish and anything that needs to stay crisp, such as pastry or French fries.

But, contrary to popular belief, he and other airline caterers don’t over-season every dish.

“People have this idea that being on a plane messes with your tastebuds,” he says. “But that’s not really true. It’s all about the cabin pressure. Back in the 1960s and 1970s with the older generation aircraft, you did get some type of tastebud suppression and dehydration, but the new aircraft are so well pressurised that it’s not an issue.”

For Smithson, dnata catering is the culmination of a notable career which began in the 1990s in a small club on the northern coast of NSW. He picked up the NSW TAFE Award of Excellence in his first year of training and hasn’t looked back, working for prestigious corporate clients such as Captain Cook Cruises, Hilton and Southern Cross University. He has also guest mentored on Masterchef NZ. “I worked incredibly hard and actually joined dnata catering to try to take it easy!” he says, laughing.

“But the business grew and grew.

In hindsight, I’m very glad I’ve been part of this journey.”

www.forte.bunzl.com.au/flair

23

MADE FOR

PROFESSIONALS Khabin professional knives are expertly crafted usingg quality ‘X50CRmOv15 High-Carbon’ Carbon’ German stainless steel. el.

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CIMETAR STEAK KNIFE 10” BKP1225010806

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