Qoola wants to know: what do you expect from businesses today?
6 Comments
Karen Hamilton
July 25, 2009
To thank our Blogathon 2009 Gold sponsors for contributing to the Tiny Bites Grand Prize and donating over $100 to the Greater Vancouver Food Bank Society, we have asked each of them whether they’d like us to write on a particular topic on their behalf.
Qoola Yogurt + Fruit, who has contributed a $100 Qoola gift card to the Grand Prize and $150 to the Food Bank, asked us to create a discussion around the topic of their choice. Here’s what Jesse Yu of Qoola wishes to ask you:
As a foodie and now a behind-the-scenes guy, I will say that starting Qoola has made me much more aware of how important it is to provide an environment for responsible or meaningful spending, both in the back of the house as well as for customers.
I guess the question would be, if you had the opportunity to create a business in this day and age, is it enough just to provide a product that people would enjoy? Should you strive to do more with your platform if that opportunity exists?
Let’s backtrack a bit so that you understand where Jesse is coming from.
Qoola’s endeavour to be green
As I have already stated at length, and as many other local food bloggers can attest, Qoola’s line-up of frozen yogurt treats is one of the best that this city offers. Great product, for sure. But they don’t stop there.
Their other mandate is to operate a sustainable, caring, and green business, which manifests itself from their numerous charity sponsorships, adoption of recycling, compost, and Green Table practices, to sourcing quality ingredients that you can trust (as you will see from their committment to GE Free Solutions’ GE-Free verification program).
You can probably imagine that choosing to lead in these fronts can mean a much heavier operational burden – higher costs, more judicious vendor selection, and a ton more time in due diligence and community work.
What defines customer satisfaction? Tell us your thoughts.
Okay then – let’s restate Qoola’s question:
Do you expect more out of today’s business owners than to simply deliver a good product or service? If so, what other things do you demand from the companies that you patronize?
My two cents? I want to know that the businesses I support are:
- Giving back to the local community
- Thinking about the future (environmental footprint, economic footprint, etc.)
- Subscribing to a similar set of ethics than I
Your turn. What do you think?
Categories: Blogathon 2009, Blogging for Social Change, Food, Going Green
Comments
6 Responses to “Qoola wants to know: what do you expect from businesses today?”
Got something to say?
About Tiny Bites
Tiny Bites is a food blog that explores all things edible and imbibable in Vancouver, British Columbia. More >
Articles by Karen Hamilton
Read the food and non-food articles that I've contributed to sites other than Tiny Bites.
i got all excited when i read “provide an environment for responsible or meaningful spending, both in the back of the house as well as for customers.”
sometimes i wonder whether i am the “future consumer”. i am extremely picky, AND cheap. i want my buck to give me as much as possible of what i want, which is
- quality
- friendly, caring customer service
- company commitment to social and environmental values
- creativity
- employees who genuinely enjoy working at the company
i think this is a really, really important discussion!
I agree, times our touch and you need to get the most bang for your buck. Though when it comes down to it, as long as it’s a good product and I know that there are good people behind it; I’ll go with the company. A better company is more important than saving a few dollars in the long run.
Keep up your momentum, you’re doing great!
I agree, Isabella. In this day and age of instant and overwhelming information, people are learning to be more conscious of the impacts our buying habits make and the corporate policies our actions enable.
While I don’t believe the 100 mile diet necessarily works for everybody, sustainability is a big issue for me.
Focusing on more front-of-house, service is just a smidgen behind food/product quality which determines whether or not I’ll be a repeat patron.
[...] 8:30am: Qoola wants to know: what do you expect from businesses today? [...]
There’s a difference between what I expect and what I hope for.
I expect the usual crap will be sold in the usual way.
What I hope for (and what some businesses are doing) is providing a worthwhile product, a commitment to sustainability and people (customers, producers, workers) being treated as human beings. That some see this as a big ask says a lot (none of it good).
Isabella, Jeff, Bruce, and Evan,
Thank you for all your feedback – it truly means a lot to know that what we are doing as a company is appreciated. While I admit that we are not perfect, we continually strive and prioritize that it isn’t just about the product we offer, and that it is not just a transaction, money for food. It is about you, the customer and your overall experience, as well as what we can do to better the environment and community, at the store and outside.
Every team meeting I host, superior customer service is always the top of my priority. The challenge is getting all my team members motivated to believe why they are here, and that it shouldn’t be viewed as just a job. Slowly but surely, I hope we will get there.
I am really trying to transform how a business should be run: starting off correctly no matter how much more expensive or hassle-prone it may be, rather than reacting to trends or ‘talking the talk but not actually walking it’.
While getting our customers to sort our trash has improved significantly over time, it is still an overwhelming challenge. I really hope that in due time, other businesses will strive to do the same in hopes of making a small footprint to help our environment. We need to get the city to provide composting services – that would make things a lot easier for us! I heard that it is coming soon so I am very excited.
I hope you can all introduce yourself at the store sometime so I can meet you all personally! Please do not ever hesitate to let me know what we can improve upon. It is our commitment.
Best Regards,
Warrick