Sabine Walter in conversation with ...
Renate Weiss, Managing Director of the aran Café in breuningerLand Sindelfingen
Ms Weiss, what do you love about your job?
Passion. I love to feel the passion with which I spoil our guests every day at the aran Café. My goal is to give every guest a nice break. I love advising our guests on which bread or cake suits them. I really like preparing the speciality coffees we offer in front of the guest. And when I conjure up the perfect milk foam in a cappuccino or the heart in a latte, and the guest's eyes get bigger and bigger and they then say, "That's made with love," it's the nicest feedback I can imagine.
I was over thirty years in the Jewellery sector active, over thirty years with the same employer. In those thirty years, there was never a day when I went to the office with the glow in my eyes that I have now. Luckily, we got to know the aran Café in Constance on a holiday 10 years ago.
I was enthusiastic about the concept from the first moment. A café that serves not only coffee and cake but also sourdough bread with delicious spreads! As I have a rather savoury palate, this was exactly to my taste. And then the warm and welcoming atmosphere, the big coffee cups, the delicious coffee ... In short: I was hooked.
At home, we did some research and saw that it was aran around a Franchise concept acts. We have applied for fun. And the fun turned into passion - for more than 7 years.
What parallels are there to what we do, personality development?
Very many. On the one hand, I have developed myself enormously. I am rather introverted and I had to get very far out of my comfort zone in order to make this career change, to set up my own business.. But I have grown with it. I have discovered new strengths and talents in myself. I have felt that there is something that fills me with such passion that I am willing to go beyond my limits.
I had to learn everything from scratch: making coffee, running the cash register, making sandwiches, managing people, buying goods, and so on. Anyone who has their own business knows what it takes to set up and run something like that.
There is of course another parallel with the Education and training of our employees. At the same time It is very important that they are and remain themselves.. Authenticity plays a very big role in dealing with guests. You Decides whether we can create trust and establish a real relationshipthat leads to the guest coming back. And that is what we want. We want regular guests.
The The third parallel I see is in our interaction with the guest.. We want every guest to leave our café with a smile - no matter how grim they come to us. We succeed in this with the appropriate tact, empathy, positive charisma and genuine interest. In this way, some guests are gently nudged to take a more positive view of things and to react more openly to their surroundings.
When do you get the best ideas?
At work. My magic word is: "simple". And I look at what I do through these glasses. And if there are things that are not yet "simple" enough, then ideas come to me. How can it go faster? How can it be even easier? What saves us steps in the process? How can we pamper the guest faster, reduce waiting times? I also invite my staff to think about improvements on an ongoing basis. And they also have ideas on how we can develop further.
What will your profession look like in 2050?
2050? (Laughs). I haven't worked there for a long time.
How will gastronomy change? I think, that the personal relationship between guest and restaurateur will become even more important. The guest wants to be seen and appreciated as an individual; and not just the regulars.
This means that we need completely different qualifications in the catering industry. We need well-trained service staff who speak our German language very well. We need people in gastronomy who have a genuine interest in other people and want to engage in conversation with them. We need staff who - no matter what their task - work with the attitude of pampering the guests and giving them a good time.
I am convinced that the desire for quality in the coming years increase significantly will be - quality in the food and drinks. But above all Quality in the interpersonal relationship with the guests.
Renate Weiss is the managing director of the aran Café at breuningerLAND Sindelfingen. The trained industrial clerk discovered her passion for the aran concept 10 years ago and has been running her own aran Café together with her husband for over 7 years. Together with their team, they manage to ensure that every guest leaves their café with a smile.
