To celebrate its 70th birthday, Burns & Ferrall wanted to do something different, special and unique to the hospitality industry, and something that would keep in line with the company’s purpose – to be the innovative heart of hospitality. In this spirit, Burns & Ferrall mixed innovation with creativity and developed the Great Container Kitchen Giveaway.
The crowd gathered at Taste on Auckland’s Normanby Road, where Epiphany Café from Hamilton was revealed as the winner of the fully-furnished shipping container kitchen, valued at over $125,000. Oliver Pataray, head barista for Epiphany Café, was on hand to accept the prize.
Epiphany Café was founded in Hamilton in 2016 and is best known for its hand-made doughnuts and quality coffee. There are now ten locations in the North Island with five more on the way and planned expansion into the South Island. The company was recently named 2018’s Emerging Franchise of the Year at the Westpac New Zealand Franchise Awards, and Paratay said that the Great Container Kitchen would help them train up staff and increase capacity at their factory.
“We’re very excited and very lucky to have won the container,” said Pataray. The Great Container Kitchen will be put inside their central factory in Hamilton, which produces goods for Epiphany Café franchises across the country.
“We’ll use the container are training for franchisees, particularity the baristas. Fingers crossed in the next year or two we’ll be undergoing expansion overseas, so having the container as a base for our training will be very helpful.”
Burns & Ferrall CEO Tony Broome was pleased with how the competition was received and said that Epiphany Café was a worthy winner.
“The Great Container Giveaway has been a fantastic way to celebrate our 70th birthday,” he said. “It’s been a great competition and we’d like to take the opportunity to thank our suppliers and everyone else who made this possible. It’s been an exciting twelve months building up to this, and congratulations again to Epiphany Café.”
The finalists ranged from small independents like Wanaka Gourmet Kitchen to nationwide restaurant chain Cobb & Co and Foodstuffs North Island – Courts Fiji rounded out the top five, making the Great Container Giveaway an international competition.
