Day 208 - 24 Jan 96 - Page 65


     
     1        paragraph:  "Quality falls into three main areas which you
     2        should be looking at".  Then it says, second paragraph:
     3         "The first is the quality of the raw product, and probably
     4        the most abused aspect of this is the muffin secondary
     5        shelf life which has been reduced to 48 hours on removal
     6        from the freezer".  Are they saying that there is a
     7        recognition of a general problem about shelf lives being
     8        abused -- not saying necessarily you, but that has been a
     9        problem at that store or is that a problem in the Company
    10        as a whole?
    11        A.  I do not know.  I do not think it is at our store.
    12        But, I mean, because it used to be three days from the
    13        freezer, but that went down to two.  So, I do not know if
    14        means from other stores.  I do not think it is do with our
    15        store.  When we take muffins out, we always date them as
    16        well, as with the buns, so they would have a date when they
    17        have got to be used by in any case and a time.
    18
    19   Q.   When this was done for you, this thing about it being
    20        probably the most abused aspect regarding the quality of
    21        raw products, did you talk to, is it, Jane Jarvis at this
    22        time?
    23        A.  No, it was Alan Charlesworth.
    24
    25   Q.   Sorry.  Alan Charlesworth, did you talk to him about what
    26        that meant in 1993 when you got that?
    27        A.  To be honest, I cannot even remember the pay rise --
    28        PR, to be honest.
    29
    30   Q.   Right.  What do you understand him to be saying there then?
    31        A.  I will just read it through again.
    32
    33   Q.   Yes.
    34        A.  I assume he is just saying to make sure that you do not
    35        get too many muffins out because the shelf life has been
    36        put from three days down to two.  So I assume he was just,
    37        sort of, saying, keep an eye on the quality and make sure
    38        that we do not ------
    39
    40   Q.   Does that ring true to you, that there seems to have been,
    41        in terms of the Company, a problem with the three day limit
    42        that buns were turning, you know, going off or something?
    43        A.  Yes, could possibly -- yes, it could possibly be that,
    44        yes.  Perhaps they are not as fresh as they would like
    45        them, yes.
    46
    47   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  How easy is it to forecast Breakfast trade
    48        compared with the rest of the day?
    49        A.  It is quite easy.  It is, sort of, it is a steady
    50        thing.  It, sort of, like picks up as time goes on.  The 
    51        more we have been doing breakfast, the more we have been 
    52        doing increased business and it has steadily increased. 
    53
    54   Q.   I understand that, but it does not go up and down ---
    55        A.  No, it does not.
    56
    57   Q.   -- from day-to-day.
    58        A.  Not like with on a main menu, no.  It is more of a
    59        steady .....
    60

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