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Hindsight won’t help South Australian Restaurants

The storm may be over, but the effects of yesterday’s storms will be impacting South Australian restaurants.

Assuming the restaurant managed to avoid any damage, the owners are now walking into a facility that has been without power for many hours. That means that they have a fundamental question to answer –

Do you keep the food or throw it out?

Keeping it means that you have a potential food safety risk.

Throwing it out is a loss of income. There is also the issue of restocking, and with the entire supply chain compromised, it may be difficult to buy items.

The cost of the unknown

The majority of restaurant and cafe owners won’t have any option – they know there was an extended power failure and that their fridges and freezers were off. They know their fridges would have been over 5°C.

What they don’t know are:

And that information is critical. It isn’t essential to throw food out that has been over 5°C but it is essential to throw it out if it has been over 5°C for too long.

The only problem is that they don’t know how long it was over 5°. Because of this, they have no option but to dispose of the food.

The solution

The solution is quite simple – temperature loggers.

Temperature loggers record the date, time and temperature every couple of minutes. This would have meant that the restaurant owner or manager could have identified when the fridge started to get too warm, when it cooled down again, and if it was a significant problem.

They aren’t even that expensive. A restaurant would spend more on toner cartridges each year.

Forget about hindsight, what about tomorrow?

It is just a matter of time before there is another incident. It could be a big storm, a lazy cleaner who unplugs a fridge, a broken fridge, or just a disgruntled customer. Now is the time to add that extra bit of protection for your product and your reputation.

Contact us on 1300 30 33 34 to work out if temperature loggers are right for you, and what the best type is.

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What is covered with our shipping insurance?

Our normal terms and conditions (like most businesses) is that you take possession the moment an order ships. If the order is lost or damaged in transit then, in theory, it’s your problem. In reality we will have a conversation and try to work out a good way to resolve the issue where we are both happy (or not too upset).

Shipping insurance is there to remove the drama. If an order is lost or damaged in transit, we will simply send out a replacement, and we will then deal with the courier directly to resolve the original problem.

Our shipping insurance also means that if an order is delayed beyond what is normal and reasonable then we will send you another shipment (stock levels permitting). Then you should receive one of them sooner, and when the second one arrives you simply Return To Sender.

How much is shipping insurance?

Shipping insurance is 5% of the cost of the goods.

Is it worth it? Practically we have had far less than 5% of shipments have problems. It is, however, what Australia Post and other couriers charge. Ultimately insurance is about peace of mind and less hassle when something does go wrong.

Shipping insurance as an option

Shipping insurance is offered as an option on all our web sites. You can select it at the checkout.

For large orders our staff may also ask if you would like shipping insurance.

If you would like shipping insurance on an order you are placing with us, just ask.

Mandatory shipping insurance

Unfortunately we have had a couple of large orders not make it and then the customer refused to pay. A friend suggested that the easy way to avoid the dispute is to insure any shipments where we have a significant risk.

If you would like an immediate line of credit (30 days to pay) and have the goods ship immediately (no credit check delays) and are purchasing over $500 then we will add shipping insurance to your order.

The shipping insurance can be waived if the order is between $500 and $2,000 and you provide us with a formal confirmation that you accept responsibility of the goods once they ship.

Alternatively you can prepay by direct deposit or credit card.

What is not covered?

If there is a clear proof of delivery to the shipping address provided then we class that as delivered. Unfortunately there are cases where it is lost somewhere between the loading dock or receptionist and ending up in your hands. But we also know that a photo of the bag against a generic grey background is not proof of delivery, it is just proof of existence! It needs to be a reasonable proof of delivery.

It also doesn’t cover the expectation of overnight delivery. For example, if we were to ship to Melbourne (we are in Sydney) then we would expect it to be delivered within about 3 days. Most of the time it is overnight, but there are enough floods and other issues that regularly cause minor delays. Sending a second order the next day tends to not fix the problem. If it is super urgent, talk to us about how we can minimise the risk.

For damage claims we ask that you contact us immediately and we will probably ask for photos or some proof. The shipping insurance doesn’t cover claims weeks later. We do have warranty covering our items, but it excludes physical damage (e.g. being dropped). If the goods are damaged in transit then please let us know ASAP so we can cover it under the shipping insurance.