Friday, January 13, 2012

Commercial VS Artisan

Hello Peeps,




Finally Ice Cream Societe is up and running!! 


I know it has taken more than 6 months of planning -> organising -> setting up -> at the end of the day the shop looks extremely good and the flavors for ice cream & sorbets are perfect!!




Yet what mind boggles me so far is that how little food knowledge people have towards the food they put into their mouth.


So this brings me in putting some "frustration" of mine into here especially when people are comparing us as ARTISANS to COMMERCIAL GIANTS


What is artisan and what is commercial


Artisan:
- handmade everything by using raw ingredients
- they have their own techniques & method
- they KNOW the raw ingredients very well
- the raw ingredients are usually organic & in high quality
- the amount of products they can come up with is very limited due to the long time consumption of making everything on their own
- attention to details is very crucial to them because they are solely responsible for the outcome of the products
- they DO NOT USE CHEMICALS (the food tend to have a very short period of shelf life)
- Pricing should be higher than the commercial giants (HOWEVER THIS IS NEVER THE CASE!)




Commercial:
- they manufacture all their food in a factory using heavy machinery
- they use the lowest quality of ingredients to increase their net profits
- there is no attention to details
- they can produce a huge amount of products to cater to their suppliers need
- then it would sit in the suppliers display fridge or freezer for the entire year if the product is not produced in the country.
- to do so, they have to put heaps of chemicals into their food (eg. stabilizer, bleached flour, dough softener, bread improver, dough colorings, liquid chemical food essence,  powdered food flavourings, saturated fat, cornstarch, high amounts of sugar etc.) 
Don't believe me, go to your pantry and check on the some of the food that you've just purchased especially on bread, ice cream and cookies.
- Surprisingly, people are WILLING TO PAY NO MATTER HOW MUCH IS IT BECAUSE OF THE BRAND and not wanting to question and know what has been put into their food.






I studied at Le Cordon Bleu (world- reknown culinary art school in the world and worked in varies hospitality establishments) and Ben (who has been working in the Food & Beverage industry for years), we are just appalled and surprise by the way people react to something that is actually better for their health. Paying a little bit more for the well-being of one health seems to not matter anymore. As long as its a franchised brand name they've bought it from, then that's the best one can find in the world. All I can say is that is DAMN STUPID! Stop using advertisements and brands to choose what to eat because these commercial giants are interested in profit margins and not your health and well-being. You are provided with senses so use them!! Smell with your nose, listen with your ears (eg. how the bread crust sounds like when you press it), feast with your taste bud (texture- how it sits on your tongue, taste- identify what is in it, balanced and harmonious flavors). Eyes are always the one that deceive you from trying something new. 




If you need some help, watch RATATOUILLE ;)


Cheers, MelXx