Have you met Darren O’Brien?

You may have met Darren O’Brien already, he’s been an integral part of our foodservice team for over 14 years. But he has taken on a new role and it’s one foodservice venues around Australia should know about.

He’s our new Bakery Innovation Manager.

What does that mean? It means he is the man with his finger on the pulse of current trends, products and consumer demands.

With over 35 years in food industry experience, Darren is our one-stop-shop of problem solving and innovative thinking for foodservice businesses. In his first few weeks in his new role Darren has been helping develop new products in line with Australian consumer demand. He has been speaking to customers about how they can save time, money and effort in the kitchen while improving the taste of their offerings for their customers. And he has been working with our bakeries to ensure our products remain the high quality we’ve become renowned for.

Darren started out a baker – working in small artisan bakeries and patisseries, then as a production foreman in a large croissant and pastry factory. So, he knows the ins and outs of great baked goods. Before joining our team, he worked at a number of multinational food companies working to create better products for the end user.

He is now passing that knowledge on to the full Tip Top Foodservice sales team, so they are now equipped with knowledge that is usually reserved for professional bakers.

It’s been a tough year (or more!) for hospitality and we want to make sure we have as many people as possible available to help you in your recovery. Darren joins a team of experts that can help you with your menu development. He, and our team, talk to hundreds of venues around the country and know what’s working well for venues like yours.

“I just love working with our customers – I love it when they come to us and say, we need to do something new, or different, or change our menu around, can you help us? The fact that they see us as the go-to guys for solutions to their problems is a great feeling,” says Darren.

If you’re looking for help in any of the below areas, don’t hesitate to get in touch, we’d love to help:

• Keeping costs low and margins high

• Developing popular menu items for your target market

• Reducing waste (especially in preparation for snap lockdowns)

• Creating on-trend menu items that suit your venue

• Speeding up processes in your kitchen

Our sales team will be better equipped than the competition after Darren has trained them.