Brewing the National Cafe Strategy

14 Nov 2018

14 November 2018

In early 2018, Steve Dixon joined the organisation to lead the model as the National Cafe Manager, bringing with him years of experience in Australia and the UK in managing multi-site corporate hospitality departments.

“It was felt that our cafes were being left behind in certain aspects and areas of the organisation,” Steve said.

“But this has presented a real opportunity for us to focus on providing customer-centred service, create a clear strategy and invest in tools to enable our cafes to bring food operations into the same echelon as the organisation’s core service areas.”

While cafes at each hospital operate in different environments – from community cafes in Warrnambool to bigger cafes in Murdoch – Steve said the first elements of a standardised cafe management approach were starting to pay off particularly at cafes in Subiaco and Midland, while the new Berwick hospital and Frankston cafes present refreshed community environments.

“We are starting to see the benefits in cost-effectiveness but more importantly, providing a consistent customer experience,” he said.

“A standardised approach provides our cafes with the tools they need to offer the base standard provision which can then be added to, to meet the needs of their community.

“For example, when I first started we really only had one preferred supplier across the board, now we have several huge organisations working alongside us and we are benefiting from bigger
contracts providing better buying power.”

St John of God Health Care Hospitals Project Director Scott Gilbert said this standardisation would continue in the new year.

“Overall we want to make sure our cafes are consistently offering excellent service and become financially sustainable,” he said.

“We look forward to seeing more improvements in the coming months and year ahead, and then listening to feedback from our patients, visitors, caregivers and doctors to ensure we are meeting their needs.”