New electricity retailer Utilise powers artisan food store Sabato
It all began in the early 1990s when Jacqui and Philip Dixon were visiting friends in Australia and tasted true artisan food products for the first time – in their case, Rustichella pasta, Colonna extra virgin olive oil and Ferron risotto rice.
IN THOSE PRE- café- culture days, New Zealand food choices were fairly basic, and the Dixons became hooked on these delicious, traditional, food products, often made from recipes passed down through the generations. Soon many of their friends were clamouring for them too.
“The difference in taste and quality was so different to what was available here, we decided to look at securing a regular supply,” says Jacqui Dixon.
She was a nurse, and her husband was in finance, but they decided to leave their careers to create Sabato, born in the Dixon’s home in 1993.
The name “Sabato”, which means “Saturday” in Italian, was also a sign of the times. Shops didn’t open in New Zealand on Saturdays in those days, so “Sabato” stood for pleasureable foods you could indulge in on a non-work day.
With two young children in the mix, starting a new business was a big juggle, Dixon says, but Sabato prospered, fuelled by a growing network of people who tasted their products and were no longer content with commercial options.
“When you try really good ingredients, sometimes it’s just too hard to go back.”
Fast-forward to today and Sabato is an established artisan food importer, producer and retailer, employing over 30 staff. Its retail store in Mt Eden has become a treasure trove for foodies.
The premise also has a commercial kitchen, and on any given day it is a busy place, filled with people, the hum of commercial mixers, and the smell of puff pastry and empanadas.
All this activity soaks up a fair amount of power, and that’s why Sabato was attracted to the Utilise electricity offering, savings gained through customised pricing coupled by personal service.
The business feels it’s hit the jack-pot with Utilise, an innovative new entrant in the electricity sector, which has designed its services specifically for business needs.
Sabato’s logistics and facilities manager
The business feels it's hit the jack-pot with Utilise, an innovative new entrant in the electricity sector, which has designed its services specifically for needs.” business
Adam Peary says it investigated switching to Utilise after seeing that it offered the most costeffective deals and was transparent with pricing.
“Running a production kitchen with commercial mixers, ovens and chillers, we consume a lot of power and so we need to manage these costs closely.”
The Utilise business consultant met with Peary to discuss Sabato’s needs and found out about how their business uses power and assessed their connection and metering. And within 24 hours the company came back with a well-thought-out proposal.
“The Utilise proposal was impressive, and provided customised pricing for us. When they saw our legacy analogue meters they offered to upgrade them to smart meters, which meant they could give us a pricing plan with peak and off-peak prices. After seeing the seven chillers in our shop they immediately saw savings opportunities for our business. We will save $5,000 over the next year as a result of switching over to them,” Peary says.
The upgrade to smart meters was at no extra charge and outside normal business hours – which was a real attraction, Peary says.
Within a week of the first meeting with Utilise, Sabato had made the switch.
“They came to install the smart meter between 5 pm and 5.45 pm, which meant they didn’t get in the way of the kitchen and store and that made the transition easy,” Peary says.
“It’s not just about the savings either, we can also go online and check out our power usage and get a clear idea about our power usage pattern.”
Now the electricity is taken care of, Sabato can focus on what it does best – providing artisan food around the country.
The Dixons regularly travel overseas to source products direct from family businesses and have grown the range considerably over the years. Some of the companies they deal with have been in business for generations, Dixon says, like Giusti (balsamic vinegar of Modena), and Forvm (wine vinegars).
Sabato’s kitchen, powered by Utilise, produces its own mayonnaise range, using quality olive oil and free range eggs. They also make Julie Le Clerc and Peter Gordon condiments and a selection of baked products.
Dixon says their Christmas mince pies, made with the “wickedest butter pastry”, have a following all of their own.
The company also employs its own cheesemonger who works with local cheese makers, to offer a range of New Zealand cheese.
Dixon says Sabato sells much of its range to selected food stores, and online, but some things can only be purchased from the retail store in Mt Eden.
“Life is never dull as we constantly taste and assess potential products. We supply many restaurants up and down the country.”