After the bread round – we go to CATEX for new ideas and battle the elements at the market

Much as I loved to go to Barcelona to be inspired, sometimes you can’ t go quite that far and have to stay a little bit more conventional. So last Thursday we headed to CATEX, Ireland’s catering expo in Dublin. 

First however, the day – one of the worst of the whole winter – illustrated a magnificent team, a great customer base and amazing family support. You didn’t think a rotten day with gale force winds and rain could do that? Well, it can. Firstly, our senior baker, baked a full shift, starting here at 3am, finished at 8 and then set off to do the market, against all odds and probably against common sense too. Gale force winds disallowed the gazebo and so he sold from the back of the van, showers forcing the bread in from the – well tied down – table in front of the car twice. With never ending good humour, imagination and stamina, he never  complained as he smiled,  improvised, joked and sold – to our wonderful customer base who will come out hail, rain or shine and support our determination to sell on each and every market day, whatever the weather says. 

So thanks very much to Philippe and all our costumers – and to the husband, who without as much as a moments hesitation, gave us his car to go to Dublin ( the van being tied down in Kilkenny - literally) So, we set of to Dublin to CATEX and lots of inspiration while he settled down to cycle home from Waterford! So good for him and his training schedule - but still much appreciated. 

With all this bad weather and good will from team and family alike, we set off for CATEX. Four years ago, we found this expo and at it bought our ovens and mixers and got to know some of the industries suppliers. Four years later, we are a little bit less green and still love to come for the ideas and the chats and – of course – for the huge amount of free samples and free food  - with the arrival of the craft beer stalls and a wine bar with a wonderful timber barrel of prosecco a much appreciated addition. However much we all shop on the internet these days, there is no replacing the real thing, the machines set up and working, the demonstration of what they can do, the experts who not only meet you here but also willingly come out to anywhere in the country to demonstrate and talk you through what you need to know. For hours we walked and worked our way through a confusing maze of stalls, ate way too many different things, dreamed of sometime owning a hotel and finally settled on three things we should get. A labeling machine, a branded gazebo cover and – maybe – a vegetable prepping machine that would also handle bread crumbs. We looked at environmentally friendly packaging and planned ahead to the next great expansion when we will get rotary gas ovens. 

So, here I am, still grateful for all the team and family support, working through brochures and filing contact numbers but secretly dreaming of that hotel , probably with a café and bakehouse attached – but most certainly with an old fashioned drawing room with the timber barrel full of prosecco………