Chronicle Pepperpot April 15, 2018
XXI
Revolutionising the fast food industry By M Margaret Burke
occurs at peak times: around break-
Sumptuous fried chicken with fast, lunch, and dinner meals, many fries, ketchup for dipping and people depend heavily on the foods a glass of beverage
FAST food restaurants are continually springing up all over they will receive from the fast food Guyana. Food is in demand restaurants. However, unlike the and it would seem that more home, the menus do not change daiand more people – at all agesly, but instead, they mostly remain prefer not to prepare their the same – though there is usually a own meals to take with them to variety that may meet the pocket or schools, workplaces and elsethe desire for the day or both. where. So these restaurants – Fast food restaurants must begin most of them having their base to rethink their approach toward through reputable internationgood and healthy al agencies- are doing well and meals and not just a this is good. ‘belly full’. This is However, studies continue to confirm that it not an attack on these is crucial for these fast food restaurants to strive restaurants; they are to accomplish high-level customer satisfaction, fulfilling a role and which can only be achieved through superior many people are encustomer services. The success of a restaurant joying themselves. business should depend on high-class service Then many of the to customers and true value for the satisfaction franchise owners of of the customers. these restaurants are The fact is that good customer service proalready established duces satisfied customers; it creates experiences businessmen of good that can meet customer expectations. And such standing in their line good customer service consists of developing of product and sergood bonding with customers, which would vices. Beharry Group hopefully lead to good and long-term relationof Companies (the This burger decked with fried chicken and ships. It creates advantages for both customers KFC franchise holdcheese is garnished with lettuce, served with and the business alike. Customers benefit beer) for example, has potato fries and a glass of beverage cause the business is providing a service that been in the products meets their needs – the business benefits beand services industries for many years and continue to stand cause the customer is happy and wants to continue spending. as one of the top producers in Guyana. However, many people – both children and adults are MENU FOR HEALTHIER MEALS often the victims of bad eating habits, added to sedentary In Guyana today, people are becoming more and more lifestyles. Studies have shown that children are often the conscious of healthy lifestyles; paying attention to their primary victims. Increasingly, many of these children are health and nutrition, food safety, hygiene, regular exercise driven to school, eat fast food or junk food on the move, and and the likes. And with the demand for food which spend far more time in front of screens than playing.
OBESITY AND DIABETES The rates of obesity are soaring even in children, but far too many adults suffer the same fate as well; in addition, there is the real health problem of diabetes which organisations such as PAHO/WHO, the Ministry of Health, the Guyana Diabetic Association and others have been expressing great concerns about. This is not to place blame on fast foods alone, but they must care about what they share. Studies have also revealed that there is a real chance that the next generation may experience an unprecedented decline in longevity due to chronic health conditions related to poor diet and inactivity. Donna Finelli, director of brand marking, said that it is no coincident that eating trends have begun to shift perceptibly. Gone are the days when a burger and fries were the only choices. She notes that customer surveys in the past three years indicate people want ‘options that help them eat well on the go.’ VEGETABLES, FRUITS AND LOCALLY GROWN Served with some fried chicken, chips and drink, some vegetables, and or even a piece of fruit would make a difference. Then instead of some creamed potatoes, some other creamed ground provision would suffice. These can be good starters. No one should expect the fast food restaurants to make a sudden dash for change because Guyanese need and really should change their approach to this regular eating that they do; it will not be fair; it will not be economical, and it could not be a radical easy change-over; too much may be at stake. However, there is the need for urgent considerations; dialogue around the round, oblong or square-table so that a fast food change will visit Guyana with some sense of earnestness. Despite all this, however, there is still hope as many fast food restaurants have now started offering healthy alternatives; some major chains like Wendy’s, McDonald’s and KFC have even started focusing exclusively on providing healthy fast food.
Roann Pierre Perfecting her art
ANY artists would use their angst to fuel their creativity and at one time, 20-year-old Roann Pierre was no different. As time passed, however, she found happiness in her art and worked on perfecting her craft. Pierre has been steadily making a name for herself. She is a full-time artist working diligently to purchase her own studio. “My ultimate goal is to master realism and become an inspiration to other artists coming up,” she told the Pepperpot Magazine. But she likes being alone when she draws because people can be a distraction. And drawing late at night into the morning is where she finds her comfort. This perhaps attributes to her being a bit of an introvert but she’s
working hard to improve her ‘people’ skills. Most importantly, however, is that her art must be perfect; there is absolutely no room for error. “I’m kind of something of a perfectionist when it comes to drawing,” Pierre highlighted. And this is not just with her but with the work of others as well. “If I go to an exhibition and I see another artist’s work, I would think to myself that I can do it too.” She also explained that she is more inclined to draw ‘realism’, which is the drawing of detailed real and factual descriptions. Realism became her speciality and she actually garnered huge motivation from patrons and other artists who would egg her on. “Honestly, I was into art all my life, [it’s] just that I didn’t know,” Roann said. Since her tender nursery school days, she would be the best at drawing. Then in primary
school, her teachers noticed she would pay keen attention to drawing diagrams exactly from the textbooks but it wasn’t until Fourth Form, in secondary school, when she really started to get pushed by her art teacher. As a result of that, she chose art as one of the subjects she wrote for her Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examinations. “She [her art teacher] taught me the basics, which back then was a huge deal for me,” Pierre related. And she thought about furthering her studies in art but according to her, “life got in the way.” For a while too she was without her art, but she found her back to it since it helped her go through troubling times. It was her escape, as she says, “My own little world away from reality.” Getting back into art was surprisingly easy. She actually tried out drawing architecture and noted that she was surprised that she was capable of doing that.
Perfecting her craft was always on her agenda however and she never stopped learning, even if it meant being glued to YouTube learning all day. “Around last year June I was at the national drawing competition and I met an old Guyanese artist,” she recalled. “He told me don’t
let negative energy fuel your art because your art will always depend on being depressed for you to perform.” So despite using it as an escape from her troubling times, she decided to change her mindset. Roann said that whether she was happy or sad, she just draws. Also, she knows that her art makes other people happy and that of itself makes her happy. And the support from her family and friends has been overwhelming with her dad actually making the tables she uses to draw on and her friends always sharing her work on social media. But for the people who do not know the young Pierre, words of discouragement are many. Exasperatedly she explained, that people do not know the amount of work artists put into their pieces. Pierre says, however, “I don’t lose hope, hopefully, one day my work will be in most households locally and internationally.”