Manning's takes best vendor Curry Fest award

Claudia Gardner, Assignment Coordinator

WESTERN BUREAU:Mannings School copped the vendor display award at the annual Westmoreland Curry Festival, which was held on the grounds of the institution on Sunday.

According to Promotions and consumer services manager at Grace Foods, Angella Grandison-Reid, the vendor competition, which involved 20 vendor display booths, is an aspect of the competition introduced by Grace Foods this year, as a part of Grace Kitchens' 45th anniversary celebrations.

"So what we judged on was the whole aesthetics of the booth; how they presented the layout, the ergonomics, ... we judged on cleanliness and hygiene, because that's very very important. So apart from the food handlers permit, we also judged on how workers are attired as it relates to aprons and how uniformed they looked," Grandison-Reid, who is also manager of Grace Kitchens, told Western Focus.

Personal touch

"Some of them (booths) came with signs courtesy of the organisers, but there were some people who were very creative in making their own signs, and adding their own personal touch to it. And how they even wrote up their menu cards and their price list was also a part of the whole judging," she added.

She said customer service was also a key aspect of the scores, and that this, in addition to Mannings' overall display, the level of customer service and the feedback from customers propelled them to the top.

"We spoke to the customers because we know that the customer is king. Because a lot of times, the foods is great, but the customer service is a let-down. So we interviewed the customers to find out not only about the taste, but also the service delivery. We looked on how they interacted with the customers," Grandison-Reid said.

Pleasantly surprised

Head of Manning's Home Economics Department, Ilene Cohall Bailey, told Western Focus that she was pleasantly surprised with the award.

"It is a surprise to me. I think we deserved it. We have the eye for the aesthetics, and we have put it in practice," she said.

She also spoke glowingly of the school's innovative dish of curried chicken drumsticks with curried cho-cho, which also scored high points in the competition.

"We think that cho-cho is underutilised. So we took out the bones from the drumstick and stuffed it with a seasoned curried cho-cho, which we cooked down in coconut milk and served with pumpkin and Irish potato wedges," she said.