- The University , Campus
- 14/05/2020
Working at the uni: excited anticipation for Brownies&downieS crew
These are tense times - no less so for Brownies&downieS and its special employees than for anyone else. The lunch chain, all of whose branches are closed by necessity, hopes after the summer vacation to open its premises on the TU/e campus: its very first lunchroom at an education institution. And this prospect is fueling the excited anticipation of its staff, uncertain times of crisis or not. “They think it is going to be so cool working at the university.”
Admittedly, “there was a hint of a bluff,” formula manager Philip Christiaans of Brownies&downieS reveals as he tells us about the email he sent a long time ago to the director of Appèl. He explains that under the name Happiness, Appèl, a business caterer, had developed a concept similar to Brownies&downieS for the Den Bosch head office of Essent. “So I sent a rather brash mail saying, ‘I think you guys need us’.”
The franchise organization - launched in 2010 with the first Brownies&downieS in Veghel and now boasting fifty branches - had regularly been approached by commercial companies, he says. ‘Can't you come and do something on our premises?’ “But a lunchroom is a whole different ballgame from catering. Besides, operating solely as Brownies&downieS we would never have been able to win a contract like this one at TU/e.”
Thus joining forces was the name of the game and Brownies&downieS found a partner in Appèl. “They took us very seriously right from the get-go. ‘This is where we see you guys,’ they said, during our first tour of Atlas. A top-rate location in a magnificent building, centre stage.”
When it was evident that the caterer had won the contract, Christiaans and his colleagues (along with Appèl themselves) could set to work. This chiefly involved collaborating with hospitality and catering entrepreneur Robin Walschots, the owner of Brownies&downieS at Eindhoven's Victoria Park and a mine of experience. “That business is running very smoothly and this is a great next step.”
Read on below the photo.
Grab and go
Fast and tasty food. This, says Christiaans, will lie at the heart of the lunchroom coming soon to TU/e, to the spot where the Local Heroes food counter used to be. “Normally speaking, visitors spend an hour in our restaurants. This will be an entirely different experience, more grab and go.” Coffee, tea, sweet bites, soup, rolls and salads will form the backbone of the range on offer in Atlas. But, to some extent, the formula will continue to develop once they are up and running, “We'll be learning and refining as we go.”
This motto will also apply to the ‘special employees’ of Brownies&downieS, as the chain calls its core crew. People with Down syndrome or a severe form of autism, for example. ‘People with a disability’ as your average Joe would say, ‘although to our mind that isn't the right word at all. Because this is a ‘disability’ that presents all kinds of opportunities,’ says the company on its website. “A new environment is always a little nerve-wracking, especially for our employees, who as a rule are very reliant on structure,” says Christiaans. “Whatever happens, you can be sure that two weeks before we open, we'll do a dry run to practice everything.”
Four or five employees, together with a supervisor, will soon be working every day on the ground floor of Atlas. Their main task, as at all lunchrooms in the chain, will be to offer hospitality. “In this sense TU/e is no different. On the other hand, the pace of some things will be a little faster than elsewhere and we'll be training our people to deal with that.”
English lessons
Among the potential campus customers will be English speakers. This will pose another new challenge. At any rate, all information in Atlas will be available in two languages, and a supervisor who speaks not only Dutch but also English will be on hand. Above all, Christiaans sees this eventuality as likely to provide appealing opportunities for progression for his employees. “Who knows, maybe we'll start offering them a 30-minute English lesson every day.” Within the limits of what is required, of course: “On one occasion we had international guests in Veghel and a member of our staff went over to their table and took their order in fluent English.”
For Christiaans himself, the tension - which he sees as only healthy - lies in the question: will it be popular? As a rule, Brownies&downieS is proving a successful formula, “but will this version also take off, with a target group of students and employees that is, moreover, somewhat younger than the chain is used to?” Whether the international community will embrace this acclaimed Dutch concept is not something he's particularly worried about. “Foreign customers are often the most enthusiastic.”
For the rest, reports the formula manager, the main feeling is one of excited anticipation, not least among the pool of employees who will soon be starting work on the campus: some of them experienced employees moving on from the chain's other Eindhoven branch, others newcomers from the waiting list Brownies&downieS has accumulated. “I'm already seeing messages from parents telling us that their son or daughter feels it is so cool to have this opportunity to work on the campus. That is the best part of all this. We really need to justify that anticipation.”
Springboard
Another thing the company would like to see happen in practice: the fulfillment of its self-imposed role as springboard between social enterprise employment and the regular job market. “Because that's really our aim. In our restaurants our employees are nothing out of the ordinary, but at a supermarket checkout, as customers, we might do a double take. We want to change that.”
Might more educational institutions soon have a Brownies&downieS in their buildings? There is certainly interest, says Christiaans - not least among franchise holders who also have a university close by. “But first of all we are going to get this one up and running and learn from it. There's no grand objective like having ten campus locations within a year.”
All 53 existing branches of Brownies&downieS are currently closed due to the corona crisis. According to Christiaans, behind the scenes people are working hard to re-open them on June 1st, with changes in line with the one-meter-fifty guidelines. Preparations for the opening on the TU/e campus at the start of the new academic year are going ahead as planned. “We'll have to await developments, of course, but we'll also make sure that we're ready."
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