Hi!
I wonder why from all the posts I bumped in to thin one.
On Monday, yes, on only 4 days from today, I'll be moving to the USA with a work visa, to work in a large hotel.
I'm very exited, the hotel is beautiful, has a french pastry chef and a state of the art kitchen. I visited the please and talk to the people there , it all looks clean and perfect.
I have been making cakes for 17 years and never before work for somebody else.
I have a great business in My country, but I't has become more and more unsafe with time, since Hugo Chavez is the president.
I'm very honored to have been granted a USA working visa, since is very difficult for Venezuelans to get. I do depend of my employer for my visa, actually, the name of the hotel is printed on the visa stamp, but I'm told that if I'm not happy, I can find a new employer and move to a new job.
I'll be moving alone with my two teenage kids.
I look forward with loots of joy and hope for my new life. Your post made me a little nervous I must admit.
As for my english, it's just the way as you read in this post, I never though that it can be a problem for me.
Wish me luck, I wish you the same, and may with time your influence can better the bakery and you gain the respect you deserve.
By the way, in Venezuela the eggs are kept out, no problem for 17 years.
Paola

I know it's not perfect, but I think it's an awesome opportunity to see the world.

am I the only one a little grossed out by the eggs inhaling and exhaling? I hate when I remember that it was a living animal LoL

Paola, congratulations on your upcoming move to the U.S. I think you'll find that most Americans are very kind and generous. Your written English is excellent, and that will help greatly. If your spoken English is as fluent as your writing, you will be just fine.

It must be very diffiicult to leave your country, but I hope that you and your children find a bright and prosperous future here! Good luck!

Ruth

Paolo,
Congrats on moving to US! You will love it!

Your eggs will be refrigerated, lol.

So you are moving to Miami Paola? Don't fret. You should be fine if you are in a decent neighborhood. Every major city in America has a "bad" part of town or maybe several "bad" parts of town. Your downtown areas are generally fine during the daytime but might be a bit intimidating at night. As for the Jonas Bros. They live almost a whole country away from Miami and now reside in California (they are from New Jersey though). Okay so I have a 6 going on 16 year old niece who is a Hanna Montana and Jonas Bros. freak!...LOL! I use to have family who lived in Miami (former sister in-law) but they all moved back here to Texas. I think my ex husband's uncle still lives out there. He goes by the name of Robert Woods and is a premier mansion builder there in Florida. His real name is Kiko Pineda...LOL!

At any rate, congrats on the new job! You will do fine I am sure. And yes you will need to learn buttercream skills but your fondant skills (which are amazing) will also be very necessary too!

Hi Tasteebakes! I am a native New Zealander and just wanted to reassure you that we are not all the same here in NZ

One thing I can say is that our Labour Laws are very strict and you were right when you said that you cannot 'get rid' of ANY employee native NZ or not. There has to be grounds for mis-conduct or lack of performance for disciplinary proceeding to be started. Then it is a long process with several followups where employees are given opportunities to rectify their behaviour. You can be reassured that if you have a contract with this employer then these laws apply to you to! Having said that most contracts will state what consitutes 'serious mis-conduct' and any of these behaviours can result in instant dismissal.

Eggs here are always just out in the open I put mine in the fridge when I get home, but only because I don't have very much bench space otherwise I would leave them out - just what we've always done.

I have never worked in a bakery so have no idea about what commercial practice is like - but all kitchens must be registered and have a rating. Is the place you work in rated A? The tearing the bags with her mouth was disgusting!

The marshmallow thing cracked me up! We don't get anything like the marshmallows that are available in the US! Also, no-one here would know what RKT was - the closest we get is called Honey Bubble Slice..

Keep your chin up! Not all us NZ'ers are the same alot of us are normal lol

I'm confused, those marshmellows look normal to me!!!! (from the UK) What are they like in the US??

Eggs in the UK aren't refridgerated when sold, although they are normally positioned near to the fridge section in the shop. Some people put them in the fridge when they get them home, others don't.

Congrats on going to NZ, I'd love to go. It does sound like the 'aging lady' sees you as a huge threat and doesn't want to retire. If I were you, I would carry on with what you are doing - keep your standards up, continue to mention it to the owner, don't talk to the 'aging lady' unless it is work related and if the owner doesn't sort his bakery out, I would look for somewhere else. $200 isn't much to pay to change really when you think that if the environmental health people came round, perhaps they could be shut down? I saw a program about a NZ department of health and they appeared to be really up on the cleanliness of their restaurants/kitchens etc.

Good luck for the future, perhaps you can open a bakery next to theirs and sell your cakes

Have to agree with those are UK marshmellows (mmmmmmm mellowygoodness ) And the eggs are the same, you can go in to any asda and find big barrels just sat waiting to be sold , i do this weekly, and buy almost 50 eggs and in two year ive only had 1 egg that was bad!

So sorry to hear your having so many issues with this person, perhaps, with her age etc, she is finding to let her 'livley'hood go?

US Marshmellows (not marshmallows) are softer, lighter and fluffier.

Here is the RKT I managed to make with the marshmAllows. Same texture, different taste. If I try again I will seperate the pink ones out, they are affecting the whole flavor. Those are white chocolate chips on top.

Makes great RKT sculpture stuff though and that's what I was after!

Thanks Tw1inkle. Most people I have met here have been very nice.

The bakery has an A rating but the last time they were rated was November 08. I was told with the "health dept" (not sure of the actual name here) shows up, there is a mad scramble to get things up to code. Every place I have ever worked in the US (including my own shop) in-house checks are so strict that the health dept is a walk in the park.

I brought the dry cakes and everything else to the owners attention and it's been over a week with no change.

With summer here, the gnats in the washroom are so bad, I'm afraid I'm going to suck them in when I breathe, lol.

I interviewed with a state of the art bakery, so I know they're not all bad. I was drooling over all the shiney stainless steel equipment. Please, please...

Here is a photo of the handsink with the canola oil bucket. This is an improvement. Last week it was down on the floor to the side and under the sink.

Went in on Thursday after not working for 2 days and there was no hand soap or papertowels. Of course I filled them...

Paolo

When we went to Hollywood we drove near the sign, pinted at a nearby by house and told them it was Miley Cyrus's. I know...were horrible.

They have told all there NZ friends thay have been to Hannah Montana's house!

They get asked about the Jonas Brothers more than anything!

Such a fascinating cross-cultural discussion. Best wishes to those coming to the U.S. and those from the U.S. in other countries!

[quote="tasteebakes" They get asked about the Jonas Brothers more than anything![/quote]

It's funny, the Jonas Brothers go to school with my nieces and nephews. The youngest was in the same class as my niece, friends, and now she and all her friends are just as star struck over them as all the other kids. It's nice though, they go back to their old school and do concerts for their friends.

Yes, still in New Zealand, still at this bakery!!!LOL

I have worked there 6 months now, The last 2 months I have been working only 16 -20 hours a week and doing a few cakes from home. I have mostly just been cross training and evaluating the situation. I am trying to appreciate that, of course, there will be major differences from country to country and identify those.
Let me remind you, that the whole situation is just WEIRD.
I am writing an email to the owner, who hired me, in order to push for the fulltime job that I was offered at this company. Which, is weird in itself, that I have to ask for the job I was hired to do it. Anyway...
I'm just going to go in and tell him what I want and will do for him. It is new territory for me.

It is ridiculous for me to go out and recruit new business for him on my own time and dime. I will recruit my own business in that case. If I am not in charge of cakes, I cannot guarantee the quality of those cakes to the new customers, which if I do it on my on, at home, I can guarantee the quality. So the goal here is to become in charge of the responsibility for every cake that leaves his business

Here is the email I am going to send. I've changed the names of people and events. Please give feedback!

Do keep in mind this is a wholesale bakery. Also the crabby old lady has gone down to 4 days a week. I currently do one day a week in the cake deot (alone!) and one day a week making sandwiches! I have been very passive about this because of the conditions of this place.

Okay, this is long:

Dear Phil,

I would like to schedule a time to meet with you and discuss my future at ***********. I have been with your company for 6 months now and I feel it is time for me to find my place within the company and be at the sight fulltime.

I have done a few cakes for friends in the ***** area and I am beginning to receive calls from people I have never met with inquiries about cakes. This new business is coming from word of mouth from the customers which is a great way to build up a customer base. It is my great desire to make these cakes and build up this business for *****. Together you and I must come up with a way to sell these specialty cakes for a lower price than the competition. For now, if a customer wants to buy a cake for an **, ** or ** price, they are going to go to these places. They are already prepared to pay this price and they can walk into the shop and see exactly what they will be getting, risk free. When you and I first talked on the phone while I was still in the USA, we talked about first offering specialty cakes at a great price to attract a customer base. Once customers feel comfortable with the consistency of a product they will be willing to pay more. I am attaching pictures of 3 cakes I have done recently.

A present cake. This is double 8" square chocolate sponge. I charged her $30.
Hannah Montana. Also a double 8' square sponge. $30
Dinosaur cake. chocolate and vanilla sponge. This was a call from a friend of the lady I did the present cake for. She had seen a dinosaur cake on ** for $105. I looked at the cake and it was an exceptional cake. She was looking to get a deal on a cake and was a little nervous about ordering an expensive cake over the phone from complete stranger. I did this cake for $50 in order to earn her business. She was thrilled and will not only be a repeat customer but she will recommend me to friends.
I explain to customers that I am an experienced decorator who is new to New Zealand. I tell them I am still working out pricing and will give them what I consider to be a great price in order to earn their business and that I am adjusting my prices as I learn more about decorating cakes in New Zealand. I want to use this pricing practice at ***** in order to build a specialty cake customer base for your business.

I would like to have **** flyers with color pictures of example cakes and example pricing. It is important to have a visual for customers to see and hold so they can get excited about it. This is something we can give to Jess (sales rep) that she can give to existing customers to let them know that specialty cakes are something we offer. I would like to begin developing this flyer at **** and working with you and Jess on this. We must have a marketing plan.

I also think that it is time to introduce an exciting new cupcake line. I have developed a "dessert" cupcake line using products already available in the **** cake department. They are: Cherry Pie, Apple Pie, Hello Rosie and Chocolate, chocolate caramel. I am entering these 4 cupcakes in the Kumeu A&H Society show on March 14th, the largest show of it's kind in the Southern Hemisphere. I have attached pictures of 3 of these to this email. I also have developed some new children's cupcakes that I am attaching photos of as well. The exciting thing about developing a new line of cupcakes is it gives you the opportunity to reset your pricing in regards to cupcakes. These should obviously be priced higher than the current cupcakes. These will need a new flyer with color photos and pricing. I would want to design and develop these at ***** as well. Let's keep your current customers excited about buying cupcakes and having new product on their shelves!

I am also entering the Novelty cake, wedding cake, celebration cake and chocolate cake catagories at the Kumeu Show.

Misti and Caroline do a beautiful job with the cupcake line they are currently doing and should continue with those as well. There are a few changes I would like to implement to the ways these are done such as having more than 3 bags at a time for decorating and possibly keeping larger amounts of each type of prepared frosting. I would like to do this the way Sam's Club (Wal-Marts wholesale store) runs their cake department. They are the masters of a wholesale, quality product that is easy and cost effective to produce.

As for the cakes that ****** is currently producing, I believe that we could greatly increase the sales of the current cake line by changing and using proper storage and decorating techniques. Two immediate problems that I have identified and would like to correct are placing an 11" cake on a 9" board and freezing or chilling the cake on the board. I have never seen an cake placed on a board that is smaller than the cake. It is a general cake decorating practice to place a cake on a board that is at least the same size as the cake. The board is the cakes only support, the edges of the cake are sagging because of it. It is also not a good idea to freeze and chill the cake on the cardboard board. The board becomes soft and provides no support which defeats the purpose of putting it on the board in the first place! A good cake decorator is going to peel the soggy board off, throw it away and put a new one on, which costs the company money.

I am not sure when this practise of using a small board to a large cake began but I would like to look into getting the proper size circle board.

This existing line of cakes (carrot, chocolate, banana, orange yogurt, chocolate logs, slabs) need to be cosistent in taste and appearence. Great Grandma is currently doing these. I have never seen cakes considered finished while being lopsided and having cake showing through on the sides. It is just not an acceptable practise. I have attached pictures of what these same cakes look like when I do them on Sunday. These are the same design, same ingredients as Great Grandma is using. You can look at mine and then have a look at hers for yourself. I realize that Great Grandma could be doing what she is doing because of an issue of cost for these cakes. I believe we could increase sales of cakes by improving their appearence, but this must be consistently so.

Another line of cakes that ********* is doing is the ********** cakes. In the US, there is a similar, successful line called **********. They also have birthday cakes and get them from a wholesale supplier. They offer a chocolate cake with chocolate icing and white cake with white icing. Wal-Mart also offers a cake like this. It is simple because the icing color detemines the cake flavor. They are iced and quickly decorated with color sprinkles and color streamers. I used to make these at Wal-Mart. They are fast and look professional and beautiful. Thay are a great "budget" cake. I am not sure what your contract is with ******* and ******* as far as the design of these cakes, but I like to know. I believe I could save *****money on these and eliminate the chance of a competitor coming in and taking this business away. I woul like to make examples of these for you to look at so we can work to improve this line.


I believe we should begin to ease the burden of work off of Great Grandma by giving me the responsibility of all new and existing cake orders. I will take over the existing cakes and implement the improvements that I have outlined above. This should be a simple matter of a new "who has what" print out. Take all the cakes off of Great Grandma's report and put them onto the same report that the cupcakes are currently on. Great Grandma can continue doing what she is doing with tarts, danishes, cookies, etc. If we take the burdon off of Great Grandma for cakes she can do an even better job at these other things she is currently doing.

I want to discuss all of these things with you and work out a plan. Phil, I feel that I should be in ****** doing what you hired me to do, improving and growing your cake department. Baking and decoating cakes is what I do and what I am passionate about it. Let me come in and do it for ******* fulltime as was your original intention. I also think that it is great that I have been cross trained across the cake and sandwich department. I enjoy being able to fill in and help out all across *************.

Please let me know what you think and get back to me on what time and day you would like to meet.