Rotorua’s Capers café owners Gregg and Susan Brown with Manager Liz Brown (right):- 2017 Meadow Fresh Café of the Year award winners.
Capers café in Rotorua has taken out the 2017 Meadow Fresh New Zealand Café of the Year Award ahead of 500 entries from throughout New Zealand. Finalists in the event were invited to the awards presentation evening on February 9 at Generator Library & Bar, where lead judge Kerry Tyack enlightened guests about the criteria and observations the judging panel faced in the selection process.
Key components to the success of the cafes who reached finalist status included the initial welcoming of patrons and the quality of the coffee produced. “ Never let an inexperienced staff member manage the coffee machine as it has the potential to prove to be the one component that will let your customers down, irrespective of how good the food and service,” says Tyack.
Many entrants in the awards failed to fill out the entry forms fully and were eliminated in the first round.
Capers, a top contender in previous years awards, stole the judges overall attention through its quality, consistency and most of all the passion “it clearly displays for satisfying every customer who walks through the door.’’ And according to customers the engaging staff are proactive in determining and meeting customer’s needs, especially Manager Liz Todd who leads a team of equally dedicated service providers.
‘Capers inspires loyalty from its customers by providing excellent food and coffee on site, as well as takeaway meals and salads and a retail larder full of artisan and organic produce. They have won a trip to Melbourne valued at $7,500 , a feature article in consumer magazine Dish and the winning title of Café of the Year,” said compere Vincent Haringa.
A new category introduced to the Café Awards this year was the Goodman Fielder and Unilever Food Solutions Award for Innovation, which went to The Sugar Shed in Pukekohe. A strong use of social media to inspire customer loyalty to their friendly service and extensive range of dessert options proved a winner to the judges.
National Category Award Winners are: –
Tararua Best Metro /CBD/ Capers/ 1181 Eruera Street Rotorua
Hellers Classic Kiwi/ Rumbly Tums/ 213a Rosebery St Tokoroa
Hellmann’s Best Suburban/ Sweet Vanilla Kitchen/ 49 Pretoria Street Lower Hutt
Tucker’s Ridge P{ies Best Rural/ Red Shed Palazzo/ 64 Jesmond Road , Karaka, Auckland
Puhoi Valley People’s Choice/ Surf Shack/ 123 Emerton Road, Waihi Beach
Goodman Fielder and Unilver Food Solutions Award for Innovation/ The Sugar Shed/ Pukekohe.
