This Week: Dave Collier on The Baking Industry, its Problems and the Opportunities it provides

 

RCL FOODS Young Baker Challenge 2nd place winner: Ameera Gani from Chefs Training & Innovation Academy in Centurion, Gauteng with Dave Collier, founding president of SA Bakers Association

Dave Collier has over 44 years of experience in the Baking Industry both in South Africa and the UK. He trained as a baker and confectioner before becoming a retail bakery manager in Tesco's, UK at the age of 22. After immigrating to South Africa in 1990 he continued with Pick and Pay for 3 years in retail before becoming their Central Bakery Manager. 

In 1995 he went into partnership in his first bakery, which evolved into a training bakery. With the birth of the SAQA qualifications system in 2000 Dave went full time into
training as a service provider with Advanced Bakery Management Services. 

In 2009 he returned to retail where he first became the National Food Specialist for the Fresh Stop chain of convenience stores. following this in 2013 until very recently Dave was National Bakery Manager with The SPAR Group Ltd where he managed over 40 wholesale bakeries as well as looked after the interests of over 900 stores.

Last Week

It was a Business Meeting.  We don't have the final figures for the Burns Night fundraiser but everyone seemed quietly optimistic.  Our next fundraiser is the Golf Day and it was decided to take up this month's Project Meeting with a discussion on the Golf Day.  It's important  that we make it a success with as many 4-balls playing as possible as we have taken on additional projects this year and it's important that we don't neglect existing ones so the more money we can make the better.

Next Week  

We will be discussing the Golf Day and how to make it a success.  It is possibly under threat which, Bill Brunjes will explain and we must do our best to see that it survives and we support Bill to ensure that it's a great success this year.

Founded on 6 November 1890, members of the Johannesburg Golf Club first began playing "behind Hospital Hill", in an area that later became known as Clarendon Circle and Empire Road. The club did not settle here, moving four times in the next 19 years, before settling in 1909 on the land it still occupies today.  The Club helped create the Transvaal Golf Union in 1908, and provided the first President of the South African Golf Union in 1910.

In 1930, the Prince of Wales (who later became King Edward VIII), played the West Course. Six months later, he became the club's patron. In July 1931, King George V added the "Royal" prefix to the club's name.

Little is known about the original Kensington Golf Club that went out of business in 1918. The later version of Kensington hosted a number of significant South African tournaments and competitions, particularly in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. Kensington merged with Royal Johannesburg in 1998.

International:  Sri Lanka

ll the world’s a stage for young Sri Lankan thespians who, with their Rotarian supporters, take their Shakespeare seriously. For nearly five decades, tens of thousands of them have participated in the All Island Inter-School Shakespeare Drama Competition. Known as the “Shakes,” last year’s contest, held in September and organized by the Rotary Club of Colombo North and the Colombo YMCA, included
more than 1,000 students. The ensembles performed 30-minute scenes that organizers chose from eight plays. “They are judged mainly on acting, and marks are also allocated for direction, teamwork, and effects,” Club President Lasika Jayamaha says. Rotaractors assisted with front of house and backstage roles. “The competition has been a springboard for thousands of young people across the island” to careers in acting, directing, and media, Jayamaha says. Adding to the shine, the coveted rotating trophy is a silver bust of Shakespeare that was a gift from the mayor of Stratford-upon-Avon, the birthplace of the Bard.