(Chef Patron Andy Waters trials the ‘ultimate box of tricks’)
From hosting global superstars to retail therapy, Birmingham NEC is the UK’s number one venue destination, welcoming 6,000,000 visitors and holding over 500 events every year. At the NEC complex, sits Waters Restaurant – a jewel within the New World Resort that boasts a Michelin recommendation and is owned by respected chef, Andy Waters.
With over thirty years in the industry, Andy and his team treat diners to beautifully cooked, British classics – often with a twist – in opulent surroundings. With his name above the door and a busy kitchen to run, Andy is responsible for maintaining that coveted Michelin listing, as well as ensuring the service runs efficiently and safely for his talented brigade which includes the newly crowned UK Junior Chocolate Master and Bake-Off the Professionals finalists.
Andy comments: “It’s a team effort, it’s not just about the name above the door. Some of my chefs have been with me a long time and they’re safety is important. My experience of cutter boxes is that they are a nightmare! They’re clumsy, you can never find the end and they don’t come out smoothly. When Cofresco approached me about trialing the Wrapmaster 3000 I was interested to see what it could do.”
With a busy, compact kitchen, Andy was impressed with the dispensers’ smaller size – at just 12 inches wide – and its ability to keep up with high volume usage and a demanding service. In just two weeks the kitchen saved a whole roll of foodservice film – a significant saving for the kitchen.
“The Wrapmaster is just efficient, the smaller size is great for the kitchen. Being 12-inch-wide a sheet of foil or parchment fits the trays perfectly – so there’s no waste.”
17% lighter and 28% smaller than its predecessor, the Wrapmaster 3000 is portable and easier to use and reload. The dispenser proved popular with the team; providing tangle-free cuts there was now less time spent looking for the ends of the rolls and product ending up in the trash, Andy adds, “It’s really easy to feed through the rolls, you pull the end and cut.”
With the restaurant proudly displaying a hygiene score of five, food safety is a top priority for Andy, especially after a member of the team had to go to A&E after cutting their hand on a cutter box.
“We were busy, she grabbed the box and sliced her hand on the blades. The injury needed stitches and she couldn’t work. Above anything the team’s safety is key to me – with the Wrapmaster chefs can’t cut themselves as it has a concealed blade, it’s a far safer unit to use in the kitchen.”
Along with safety, Andy takes cross-contamination very seriously and every step is taken to meet health standards. Andy immediately noticed the benefit of using the professional kit when it came to minimising risks and keeping his kitchen hygienic.
You can label the dispensers individually for raw meat, fish and veg – with cardboard cutter boxes you can’t identify what they’d been used for previously. The hygiene inspectors love to see the Wrapmaster and it helps with those scores, the fact the rolls are protected in the box means we’ve already got that tick. It can be put through the dishwasher and be wiped down with sanitizer – from a hygiene point of view it’s the ultimate box of tricks!”
Andy adds, “Anything that can make a chef’s life easier has to be good, Wrapmaster is cost effective, good for the environment and safer for the team.”
Watch the video to find out how Andy got on with the Wrapmaster 3000
The Wrapmaster 3000 was updated as part of Cofresco Foodservice’s ongoing commitment to chefs and is proven to have a big impact on kitchens using 20% less foodservice film, 25% less foil and 25% less parchment compared to a cardboard cutter box.
Wrapmaster is part of Cofresco Foodservice, a division of Melitta USA, Inc. The award-winning range includes the new Wrapmaster 3000, Wrapmaster 4500 and the Wrapmaster Duo which dispenses two types of material or can be used for large volume users of one material.