Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Our Next Audit!! Good Gracious!

We (CAL-GreenPages) performed our next audit this past January. Bob Estrin, Marketing Director, had the opportunity to visit with Pauline Parry at Good Gracious! Here's his report!!!

Good Gracious! was started in 1988 by Pauline Parry , within a year they moved from a home based operation to a full fledged commercial kitchen and have been growing ever since then. They are currently based in the Pico / Fairfax area in a building they renovated on Pico. The full time staff of 27 works out of a highly efficient space with, offices, conference/tasting room, warehouse and full commercial kitchen all in one building.

Pauline outlined to me the business philosophy and practices that make Good Gracious! the stand out company they are. The catch phrase that defines their business is “It’s all about Food, Fun and Love “. Having had the opportunity to sample their food at numerous association events and client projects over the years it is an accurate description of how they do things. While many businesses’s try to get to the cutting edge Good Gracious! , is the leading edge in Buffet design and food presentation.

The main focuses of the business are Catering, Event Design and Coordination, and Wedding planning. While they offer Green options to all their clients, they do so with out being aggressive about it. Even if clients don’t opt for Green the daily operating process of Good Gracious! make a portion of all their events green.

Good Gracious! Green Practices:
· Shop Local Certified Farmers markets for herbs and Vegetables
· Use local in season whenever possible
· Sort and recycle all waste
· Paper
· Cardboard
· Metal
· Cooking Oil
· Left over food at kitchen is available for staff to take home
· Excess food at Events is donated to local agencies for distribution
· Electronic communications as much as possible with clients and Vendors
· In house inventory of unique serving pieces that is reused
· Composting of food waste when possible

The staff of Good Gracious! Participates in many educational events each year. The Green message is always present in these presentations. Good Gracious has found that Green practices also make economic sense in the highly competitive Southern California catering market.

They are very deserving of a three leaf rating.

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