Change for the better
THE willingness of Truffleduck to reinvent itself while building a loyal client list has underpinned the Geelong catering king’s survival in the fiercely competitive world of hospitality.
Well, that and having a quality product, empowered staff, reliable business systems … and hard work.
The business lessons keep coming when talking to founder and director Hugh Palmer and general manager Deb Nash about being in business for 30 years and how Truffleduck has evolved from a struggling CBD cafe to now employing about 125 people.
But even after three decades of building one of Geelong’s most recognisable brands, their eyes remain focused on the next thing and continually adding value to the business.
“We are excited by where we have come from but we are more excited about where we are going,” Mr Palmer said.
“If there is going to be an endgame, you have to keep adding value to your brand.”
While opportunity has sometimes dictated direction, Truffleduck’s first reinvention was born from necessity.
Like many others, Mr Palmer had entered the hospitality industry “on a wing and a prayer”, taking over Ruby’s Tearooms in James St in 1988 with a view to bringing Melbourne trends to Geelong.
“We had a breakfast menu 30 years ago. No one was interested,” Mr Palmer said,
While the sandwiches worked, it wasn’t enough.
Moving into catering was a matter of survival and the renamed Truffleduck quickly developed important — and ultimately long-term — relationships at the top end of town.
Ms Nash, who had joined the business “as a dishwasher” in the early days, said the catering side enjoyed huge growth which benefited from being able to cost the service to achieve measurable outcomes.
However, running out-ofhours catering in addition to opening a cafe from 7am to 5.30pm, meant long days; they claim a record shift of 28 hours.
Mr Palmer said that after eight years at James St, the business operating scenario had changed amid competition from the central city shopping centres.
John Heard, who owned the Balmoral Art Gallery at Fyansford, was also looking for a new direction, and with the beautiful old building already having seen life as a function venue, Truffleduck took up the lease in 1995.
The move meant simply closing the doors at James St, with the cafe unable to be sold.
Ms Nash recalled booking 10 weddings after an open day in 1997 and for the next three years the wedding market boomed.
With a growing reputation, Truffleduck was kept busy catering for weddings and events on site and off and they also capitalised on the marquee function era.
“They were the best years, we were booked out two and a half years in advance,” Ms Nash said.
But having a recognisable brand and a going concern and having a solid business model and investing in your future are different things.
Ms Nash credits entering the Geelong Business Excellence Awards in 2007 as enabling a critical analysis of the business.
“We found out that our business model had to be reinvented,” she said.
Ms Nash and her husband subsequently teamed up with Mr Palmer to purchase the freehold at Balmoral and in 2009 they renovated it, extending seating capacity to 233, or about 160 with a dance floor.
From the November day they reopened, “there was hardly a day that wasn’t booked”.
Truffleduck was also cracking into catering for large-scale events and fought hard to do the big ones when then they came to town, like the UCI road cycling world championship in 2010.
Mr Palmer said catering for bigger events was about systems, processes, procedures and accountabilities “and making sure the skill set of your people is reflective of your brand”.
In regards to staff, Truffleduck has tried to be a leader in the hospitality industry in being an employer of choice.
New opportunity knocked again in late 2012 when they were approached to operate the Deakin waterfront cafe.
“Our business doubled in size when we took that on,” Ms Nash said. “It again challenged all our business principles”.
With the benefit of years of experience, they have overcome the initial hurdles and the addition of the Deakin business is now a valuable extension of its brand.
Now they are again evaluating opportunities to grow or change.
“You have to keep reinventing yourself,“Mr Palmer said “Unless you keep trying to keep better, you fall behind and get left behind.”