Canvas Rebel — Meet Chef Reyaña Radcliff
We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Reyaña Radcliff. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Reyaña below.
Reyaña , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Quality control is a challenge almost every entrepreneur has had to focus on when growing – any advice, stories or insight around how to best ensure quality is maintained as your business scales?
I have always loved using fresh ingredients over anything. There are times when an easy alternative route is warranted, but for the most part, especially while doing meal prep items, I provide clients with the healthiest, freshest option available. If its not in season, it doesn’t go on a plate. As my business expands into wider audiences, I take local farmers with me. I go to the farmers markets and intentionally use their agriculture for larger events. This means not only can I expand the community’s interest in what they too can find in the neighborhood, but I also bring money back into the community. This relationship helps me keep the quality everyone deserves while eating, even on a budget, and keeps my cost down because of an understanding between me and the vendor that I will keep buying from them, and they will get an income from me and the people I introduce to them. With rising prices everywhere, especially in food, it’s important for me as a chef of large events and small caterings to give the best quality food available, without hurting anyone ´ s wallet. Sometimes reviewing planned menus and readjusting can help that. For example, I am very upfront with my meal prep clients. If I can ´ t find an item while shopping, I contact them immediately with a solution closest to what they were expecting. That builds trust and understanding. We are all in the same mindset of shipping, inflation, etc, so luckily, it isn’t something that I have had a problem with thus far.