Ziwira Travel August

Ziwira PalatteInterviewCO-FOUNDER OF PANTRY CAFÉYANA KALWANIIn addition to my experience, I also had some questions in mind for the Pantry Café, regarding their sustainabilitypractices. Yana Kalwani, co-founder of Pantry Café very kindly discussed the establishment, and the image thatPantry Café would like to portray to its customers. Having travelled extensively throughout her life, Yana and herhusband Mahesh’s passion for healthy food inspired them to explore the café culture and prompted the two to createa home grown café concept that was community friendly.Q: Eateries will always be a competitive business. What is theimage that the Pantry Café wants to portray to customers? -How would you describe your establishment?A: Pantry Café is a local eatery that serves good, belly-warmingcomfort foods from around the world, using the finest and freshestingredients. The image that we want to create is that of pure, premium,artisanal and fresh food, while at the same time highlightingsustainability. We also like to constantly remind people that PantryCafé is a home-grown brand. It is the sort of brand that we wouldlike to introduce to our own family and therefore quality and purityare paramount.Q: You have partnered with local suppliers for your herbs andvegetables. You also supply organic eggs and high grade meats.Please share why you value organic products, and whether it isdifficult to source local vegetable supplies and organic productsin a place like Dubai with such a hot climate?A: Firstly, we would like to clarify that we are not a purely organicrestaurant. While we do favor, and always try to source organicproducts- for their purity and natural freshness, this is notalways possible in the UAE. Although the number of local farmsand distributors of organic produce is increasing constantly, availabilityfor all ingredients still remains an issue in this climate andbecomes increasingly difficult during the summer months. Havingsaid that, access to organic ingredients is much easier now than itwas a couple of years ago. Our emphasis is and has always has beenon premium ingredients, and we do not like to compromise on this.We also emphasize the purity of our ingredients and therefore refrainfrom using any colorings or additives. Finally our promise toour patrons is guaranteed freshness and food that is prepared fromscratch in our own kitchens.Q: Tell us about Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certificationin relation to the sourcing of your paper packaging. Why is thisimportant to you?A: When we started brainstorming a business model for PantryCafé, we insisted on instilling CSR initiatives from the beginning,rather than incorporating it into the business as an after-thought. Indoing so, we identified that using FSC certified paper could be oneof the strongest ways to support the environment, since it wouldensure certain eco-friendly parameters had been met. It also encouragespaper manufacturers to seek out wood suppliers that work toprotect habitat, prevent pollution, plant more trees and avoid displacingnative peoples and harming wildlife. This was a challengingtask at the time because, while there are numerous suppliersof packaging material in the region, there were very few that wereaware of - or had access to FSC certified paper.Q: Tell us about how your crockery has the lowest carbon emissionsof any hospitality tableware manufactured anywhere inthe world.A: Once again, the crockery selection was a tough choice. Thereare so many suppliers of crockery and so many beautiful and sometimescheaper options available. We finally opted for the EvolutionRange from Dudson because the company’s claim that the rangehas the lowest carbon emissions of any ceramic hospitality tablewaremanufactured anywhere in the world, appealed to us. Smallmeasures such as these help us maintain and fulfill our corporatesocial responsibility. The crockery looks beautiful and rustic, whichfits in with our overall aesthetic.Q: Can you share examples of ways that you teach your staffabout energy conservation in everyday practices? (CorporateSocial Responsibility CSR initiatives).A: We like to lead by example and constantly remind our staff aboutthe CSR initiatives that Pantry undertakes. To conserve energy,we rely on natural light when possible and train our staff to holdoff switching on the lights until dusk –especially during summerswhen it gets dark so much later. They are also encouraged to reducewastage wherever possible (waste not, want not) and are asked todistribute paper table mats, napkins and other consumables sparingly.We switch off the air-con during non-service hours and transferperishable retail items (that requires low temperatures – Panachocolates, etc) into our refrigerators during the night. Finally, atour outlet in Al Wasl, we have swivel windows, which allow us tolet in fresh air during the cooler months and gives us a chance toswitch off the air-con during the day.www.ziwira.comBy: ZANE SMALL