Merging a business but retaining a flair for the creative

A happy business

Much has been made of people trading down during the recession and the fast-food brands that have been reaping the rewards, but what of the mid-market casual dining restaurants? Against a backdrop of uncertainty and high-street discounting, is price sensitivity now more important than the moral credentials of a business? Jennifer Miller met with Juliette Joffe, owner and founder of Giraffe to discuss her views on the subject

Over the past few years many restaurateurs and caterers have chosen to drive real change in their businesses in order to embrace the organic, fairtrade, local provenance movement. Giraffe is an interesting business in this ‘high-streetscape’. With forecast turnover of £29 million in 2009/2010, representing a doubling of sales in the past three years, this brand has grown and prospered by simply sticking to the original, over-riding principles established with the first restaurant in 1998.

So where did these values come from?

To understand the Giraffe business, we need to first start with the individuals. Juliette and Russel are childhood sweethearts who met at the age of 13 and married at 19. Thirty-two years, three children, three businesses and, currently, 29 restaurants later, they are still going strong.

Russel’s career started in the renowned Langan’s brasserie. After a number of years both here and at other well known establishments such as Odette’s in Primrose Hill, Russel and Juliette joined forces in their first restaurant – Bistroquet in Camden. Three years later, ready for a change, they sold and opened another, Café Flo which, over the next three years developed into a successful eight-site group of French brasseries.

Again they were ready for a change and wanted to follow their lifelong dream of living and working in Israel. Russel and Juliette completed the sale of Café Flo and relocated with their children. It was here that the first seeds of the Giraffe brand were sown. “We had always wanted to live in Israel” explains Juliette, in her energetic style. “In hindsight we left it a little too late, as the children were too old to really make the move happily, but this is where the idea for Giraffe was first born. The two inspirations were that Russel was involved with Putumayo world music and we loved the giraffe – they are a great, friendly creature and have the largest hearts of any animal.

“We could see some really great opportunities for branding and design around the name and wanted to create a restaurant with world music and world food. Our vision was a family-friendly place where everyone could feel welcome. Eleven years ago McDonalds was family friendly, but there was very little else. We created bright colours and a relaxed atmosphere where anyone could find something that they wanted to eat, with no smoking, a broad range of dishes and something for everyone at any part of the day.”

So in 1998, along with Andrew Jacobs, a good friend and operations manager from Café Flo, the Joffes opened their first restaurant in Hampstead.

I’m surprised to learn that despite the global and ethical look and feel of the brand there is very little mention of the sustainability, organic, fairtrade agenda either in the restaurants or through the website and other materials.

So what is Giraffe’s approach to purchasing and produce?

“We do have a few organic juices on the menu, but that organic stamp is not the focus. We look for good products, from good people – that’s very important. For example we have been involved with Rude Health, one of our suppliers, since they started. The person behind it has a great product and is a great person. Likewise with Jude’s Ice Cream, they are a local, family-run business. They have grown, of course and are no longer the very small family business that we originally dealt with, but the people are great and they produce fresh, high-quality food.”

Yet Giraffe doesn’t hang its hat on stocking local UK produce and make no attempt to have everything sourced within the M25 or all from local producers. “Take the Brooklyn Brewery in New York, that’s certainly not local but, again, a small business with a great product and we are now their largest distributor in the UK. I think when people are making decisions about where to eat, particularly now, one drive is of course value for money, but I think people are also looking for quality, fresh food. I don’t think that organic is a necessity – I think ‘happy food’ is the key. We make sure all our fish is sustainably sourced and the produce that we buy is from a ‘happy’ source.”

I’m interested to know how this approach has impacted in the current climate. With high street restaurants, including Giraffe, discounting heavily, must there be pressure on the bottom line?

“Certainly, you have to maintain your gross profit and buying becomes very important, as does finding your own deals and making sure you can maintain the quality of ingredients. But this is not all new; we have always had deals available for our members. If you are member of the website a 2-for-1 offer has been available for a long time, and deals and discounts will certainly continue in one form or other as the economy recovers.

“The consumer mindset has changed, previously someone with a voucher would present it with an element of embarrassment, now it’s turned around and people make decisions about where to dine based on the deals available. It’s inevitable with this shift that consumers will expect some form of discounting into the future. Exactly what form this takes remains to be seen.”

During our conversation Juliette has talked a lot about the suppliers that she works with and her own business as people and family orientated.

How do you maintain that family feel as you grow and evolve?

“It does get harder, but it’s all about being visible, hands-on and out there, and right now that is more vital than ever. Our employees and customers need to see that we are there and that we are part of it all, not hiding away in the background. I think it’s also about letting people be themselves, we can’t have robots running the restaurants. Yes, we have recipes and Giraffe is a brand and needs to be recognisable, but if you get a chicken dish in one restaurant and then the same dish in another someone will add their own touch and make it personal and that’s important.

“We need to have vibrant, interactive, happy staff and that means that they have to have the right attitude and behaviour to start with and then need training and feedback on an ongoing basis. It does get easier as people increasingly want to work for Giraffe, but it also gets harder as we get bigger.”

So what are the plans for the future?

“We will be opening sites steadily year on year at a responsible rate of four to five per year, and we also have our franchised sites in the airports which have been a great experience. We will continue to keep an eye out for good suppliers with good products and continue with our approach to product sourcing. As for discounting, let’s take that as it comes.”

“I think when people are making decisions about where to eat, particularly now, one drive is of course value for money, but people are also looking for quality, fresh food. Organic is not a necessity – ‘happy food’ is the key”

Click here to subscribe to EP Magazine