Catering company hires, trains local kitchen staff

The daily grind in the provincial petroleum industry is tough. The long hours, the weather conditions and meeting the demands necessary to keep operations running smoothly, regardless of the economic climate, are arduous tasks at best.

The food preparation profession in the work camps is no exception. Regardless of the pay, the quality of the meals served at work camps in the oil patch could turn out to be the tipping point when it comes to holding on to workers.

But Richard Skinner and Nicholas Hopkins, who own Calgary-based company George Ross Caterers, which has brought its culinary expertise to several of these camps in Alberta and Saskatchewan, are no strangers to the inherent conditions of the nitty-gritty oil and gas sector. They also kept an eye open to opportunities in the surrounding community and decided to hire Aboriginal people to staff their remote kitchens, and occupy janitorial and housekeeping positions.

“We have a great relationship with the Aboriginal people in one work camp we’re based at, where we got most of our staff from the whole area, and they’ve been great,” said Skinner.

“At one point a few years ago, up to 70 per cent of our staff was Aboriginal and they all did an excellent job,” he noted.

Skinner and Hopkins share decades of kitchen experience between them, having started the company three years ago when they recognized the demand for professionally-prepared meals in the oil patch. Skinner, whose background includes tenure at hotels in London, the Middle East, Bermuda, Halifax and Calgary, wasn’t concerned about the lack of experience among some of the Aboriginal locals he hired. To that end, a Kitchen Helper program was created for new hires to learn the ropes in an atmosphere with a steep learning curve.
“The form of training that we do provide includes a Foodsafe program, health and safety, and the use of chemicals and fire extinguishers,” said Skinner. “We also provide apprenticeship opportunities in our kitchens and have promoted people up through the ranks. For example, in one camp, we have two kitchen supervisors and a number of housekeeping supervisors and the jobs they perform are first-rate.”

From the company’s perspective, it wasn’t a case of taking advantage of local labour. The company tirelessly promotes a good neighbour policy by touring the schools and presenting workshops where camps are based.
Strong believers in workplace diversity, the company also believes in giving back to the community by promoting employment opportunities.

Workers employed by the company are required to hold a food handler’s certificate. Chefs work long shifts for three weeks at a time and must tailor their menus with an understanding of the needs of the crews they feed, which requires a great deal of planning. Breakfast cooks need to be early risers and self-starters, while kitchen helpers need to be versatile and possess an ability to learn quickly on the job.

Despite these demanding prerequisites, Skinner has had no qualms over hiring Aboriginals regardless of experience.

“Some have had experience, others we brought up through the Kitchen Helper program, and we have had no problem whatsoever.”