Tired of overflowing filing cabinets and mountains of paperwork? Ski Famille and Ski Vertigo, the ski holiday tour operators, found the perfect solution in Leafe, our innovative food and hygiene records management app.

In this interview, Cara Taylor, Guest Relations and Recruitment Executive at Ski Famille, shares her experience with Leafe and how it has streamlined their operations across 37 chalets and a hotel in the French Alps. She details the unique challenges of managing kitchens in chalets, why Ski Famille chose Leafe, and the impact of Leafe on record keeping and inspections.

Ready to discover how Leafe can simplify your kitchen management? Dive into the full interview and see how it can benefit your business!

Hello Cara, can you briefly describe the business, and your role within it?

I work for Ski Famille and Ski Vertigo. We are a UK tour operator providing ski holidays around the French Alps. We work across seven different resorts with 37 chalets across our program plus a hotel for this year. My role is guest relations and recruitment executive. I work in recruitment for the seasonaires teams over the winter and then I’m involved in some of the operational side of things in the UK to make it work better out in France. I also provide training for customer service and I trained some of the chefs because I was a head chef in one of the resorts last year.

I was a head chef last year and now I'm working in the office. When I found Leafe I was able to put two and two together. Having worked for these executive chefs, now being in the office and having access to the senior managers. I used my position to speak and say hey look I found this (Leafe) and yeah, it went from there.

You mentioned that you have 37 chalets. How many kitchens are in the operation then?

There is a kitchen per chalet that has one to two chefs working in it across the board. I think for this year we have 50 chefs plus the hotel kitchen team which I think is 9. So we have 59 kitchen staff that use Leafe.

Why were you looking for a kitchen management app?

So for all the reasons that you guys do it really! It’s to save us time, to save us money on printing and paperwork all the time, and also just for ease of communication. I think that’s (communication) been the biggest one for us because it is a digital app.

We were relying on paperwork and across 37 properties across several different resorts across the French Alps. We can't just have a look to see what the records are for any chalet on this particular week. Whereas, when it's digital any of us in the UK can log on to have a look. It just saves so much time and money, but I think communication is one of the biggest things for us because it can be checked absolutely anywhere. So that's why we wanted something that was digital rather than on paper.

You mentioned that chalets come with quite unique challenges, would you say there's anymore in terms of kitchen management that are specifically unique to chalets and bigger operations?

In restaurants especially in the UK you’ll have a team of chefs and you have your standard levels of seniority within one kitchen that work off one menu and they order à la carte. Whereas, in France we operate in chalets, which are domestic kitchens. They don't have the same facilities that you have in a normal kitchen and we have a range of ages and experiences as well.

Usually with seasonaire work because it is only part-time we have lots of younger people who have done courses and other chefs who want a change of scenery. So we have a wide range of experiences and ages which can be a challenge with training because it is a very independent role. Yeah, it's a different beast because it's one person in a domestic kitchen sort of cooking like a private Chef rather than a normal kitchen in the UK.

Did you look at any other sort of either similar apps or systems that could also digitise processes for you?

We did have a look at another one. I won’t say their name but the setup per property was about 3000 pounds. And then the monthly maintenance fee per property was I think it ranged from 250 to 500 pounds a month. So financially, it was not viable for us. We just prioritised on what makes sense for us. They didn't make that sense for us.

Were there any other factors and key differentiators that made you choose Leafe?

Yeah, it's just simple, easy and so customisable. Our chalet chefs have log books that are specifically for opening and closing routines, delivery temperatures, cooking temperatures, and recording the fridge temperatures. And, when I went on to Leafe that was the four main features it had on the first page. It was perfect. This is everything we need one in one! It was an instant sell to me.

Also what really sold it to me as well was that it's developed by chefs. I think a lot of these systems are developed by developers, not people who understand the hospitality industry. So they say this is how our app works. Whereas Leafe says ‘We have this idea, but how is it going to work for you?’ And then it's made to fit our needs which I think is really important.

Did the fact that we've been created for chef's by chefs influence your decision?

One hundred percent yes. We had a call with Sam. And, I basically did a sales pitch to my managers as soon as I saw it. I said this sounds great, can we do this please. The managers and the management directors said to have a chat with them and see what they offer. I did that and felt like I was a Leafe rep. “For chefs by chefs'' was a very big thing for me and it helped me to sell it to our executive chef who was happy to then have a wider conversation.

So we then had a meeting with the finance director, managing director, executive chef, myself and Sam. They were really impressed by it. They were really impressed by the flexibility of the app. And again, being a chef and seeing it was built by a Chef was a huge thing for us. Yeah, that definitely sold it for sure.

Which key features of Leafe have your chefs embedded into their day-to-day routine now?

Because we are a UK tour operator operating in France. We are bound by French employment laws and contracts. That means we are limited to a 35 hour working week. There is a huge challenge to be able to provide six days a week for 35 hours a week.

So, for the opening and closing checklist it's a much more pare down version and the checklist that we have reference points. And, if there needs to be a level of remedial training we will then implement it with the team. We will say okay, you have to sign this off on Leafe. It has given us that flexibility of being able to monitor situations and improve our service and offering.

So, we are slightly different from normal kitchens, but opening and closing routines, and reheating we use once a week. Cooking temperatures and probe calibration is taken once a day as well. On the UK side, the menu management has been really helpful like being able to put on Leafe what our allergens are. Especially in the hotel, instead of bringing out a long crazy allergen booklet that has got food splattered on it, because it's just been ripped from the kitchen wall. It has given us more professionalism. And, the ability to be table-side with guests, check on the menu management and say this has got these allergens in. That's been a really good feature for us as well.

How was the process of onboarding the team and getting new staff on the app?

It's been really easy, the process of onboarding is incredibly easy. It's incredibly simple and it makes a lot of sense how it's done. I like that you can share a link and a QR code. I like that you have that flexibility.

Getting head chefs to get to grips is always going to be a challenge. But, what helped us with that is having that support button being able to have all of our staff contact support and have refresher training at any time if they needed.

I’ve been a point of contact to be able to liaise with Matilda. She's been incredible throughout the onboarding process, as has Sam. A couple of the head chefs I've put in direct contact with Matilda. And that has really, really helped.

Have you noticed any results or clear benefits in your business?

The record keeping is a lot easier because it's a lot easier to check. Irrespective of where the head chef is, they can drop their team a reminder to say don't forget to fill in your Leafe. If they haven't done it they get a notification. Whereas previously it was a booklet that was in a cupboard and if they didn't remember that morning, it would be missed which is obviously a big issue. It's improved our record keeping as a whole.

Thank you Cara for your time, do you have any other comments to add?

I just love the app. I love everything about it. It's just a gap and as soon as I saw it as a chef I was like why has no one done this before this makes all the sense. This should be used everywhere all the time. So yeah, I am a massive promoter of Leafe for sure.

Inspired by Cara Taylor's experience using our app?

With Leafe, paperwork becomes a thing of the past and communication improves, saving you valuable time and energy. No more frantic searches during inspections – your digital records are organised and ready to impress. Schedule a free demo today and discover how you can simplify your kitchen management, like it did for Ski Famille, and focus on delivering outstanding hospitality.