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Fun.Food.Focus... Testimonials
Some of our clients have had their say about their Fun.Food.Focus team building activities and 'hands on' cooking experiences.
All Occasions Group
The venue was terrific (as always), the tour and the cooking demonstrations a wonderful hit and the canapés were sensational'
Jodie Sinel
All Occasions Group
we all enjoyed the afternoon very much, and it has inspired a couple of us to at least purchase the sushi making ingredients and tools - not sure if the 'making' has happened as yet! Of course we gained a good idea of what we can offer clients too.
Merilyn Dayman
Ambulance SA
'A good fun afternoon with a few laughs. It was good for teambuilding, and for getting out of the office and trying new things'.
'Learning how to make pizza, throwing the dough – or at least trying to! Being able to work together having fun and having a yummy pizza to take home was the best part of the day'.
Australian Dental Association 
Thanks you so much for all your efforts on the night! The night was a huge success and everyone had a great time.
The participants were full of compliments. They all thought it was a great way to break up the evening! And a few were bragging quite a bit about their cooking skills!
Thanks for everything. I hope to work with you again in the future!
Australian Institute of Management (AIM) SA
'Thank you for a great team building activity. Providing ongoing opportunities for our various teams to interact with each other is important, so it was a wonderful activity to enable them to work together, undertaking a fun activity, and to get to know each other in a different environment.The Chef was very helpful, and was very pleasant if we needed assistance. Some of us had not cooked very often…but we were able to produce some really good food... Eating together was the best part, and talking together about what happened during the cooking was very interesting. All in all…a great activity'
Emma Silvy Julie Short
General Manager Functions & Facilities Manager,Poeple and Orgnisational Development
A Prominent SA Energy Provider
'Thanks a lot for a fun day. The atmosphere was relaxed and our staff had a chance to interact on a more social level, while still learning team building and communication skills. The chef was great value for money! He made it simple and fun and helped us out when things weren't quite going to plan. But the best part undoubtedly came when we all got to sit down, relax and eat the food we had work so hard (some harder than others!) to make and enjoy interacting with others outside of the work environment.'
A Tobacco Company
'It was a very good day and has flowed nicely; all involved in organising have been great! '
'Thank you for a fantastic day.'
Badge Constructions
The best part of today's event was - the chance to see some of my team mates in a different light, and the interaction with colleagues doing something we don't normally do'.
Bank SA 
'Thank you for organising our 2011 staff Christmas function.
The day was a total surprise for the staff as we withheld any information untill we arrived at the mystery venue. When we walked in, a couple of staff were heard to say "oh we don't have to cook our own do we?". These two guys were probably more engaged than some on the day.
The menu was terrific, and gave us all a great feast to get into at the end. We really enjoyed the company of your two chefs. They helped and interacted with our staff really well and kept quite relaxed through the event. The day was organised well and we all enjoyed it. The guys all joined in well in their groups and we can highly recommend this as a team bonding exercise.
Thanks Again.'
Chris Hobbs
Practice Manager
BankSA Financial Planning
Bank SA
Fun Food Focus
What a wonderful team building exercise! We were fortunate to engage Helen Paige and her team to work with 54 of our staff during our annual sales and service conference. Helen and her team of skilled chefs and assistants provided a range of terrific recipes for our group to create. Working in teams and armed with chef’s hats, aprons, clean hats, knives and ingredients, away they went. Approximately two hours later, the group was enjoying their gorgeous and tasty creations.
From a team work perspective, the activity was extremely successful. The group worked as 'self managed' teams and staff who said they normally 'avoided the kitchen and anything to do with meal preparation', felt comfortable to attempt everything! The activity was fun, dynamic and engaging from the 'get go' until the first mouthful of food was consumed!
We have used a variety of different team building activities over the last few years and this year's activity would have to be one of the highlights. To be able to go from reading a recipe [like interpreting a vision document] to eating the food created in teams [evidence of the vision being achieved] was strongly linked to the way we work in a banking sense and was most enjoyable.
Bank SA
Well......yesterday was FABULOUS! Of course, we knew it would be.
You and your team were friendly, professional and helpful. Our delegates were very impressed. Plenty of chatter on the bus trip back to the hotel - they were on a high!
BUPA Australia Group 
“Thanks for a very relaxed and enjoyable evening.
A wonderful opportunity for my team of leaders to experience a change of pace and see each other in a different light using food preparation and consumption to create a unique fun and creative journey. The chef was very helpful and encouraging ensuring that everyone participated.”
Phil Scapens Chris Hobbs
Head of Claims & Customer Administration Practice Manager
Bupa Australia BankSA Financial Planning
BUPA Australia Group
'Yes we did have a wonderful day thank-you, the chef was fantastic. The best part was making the food in teams and working together'
(comprising Bupa Australia Health P/L and MBF Australia Pty.Ltd)
BUPA Australia Group
" Just a quick note of thanks for planning, organising and executing a great event. The team thoroughly enjoyed themselves and got a lot out of the occasion including seeing each other in a different light. I'd have no hesitations in passing on recommendations to others."
Dave Cucchiarelli, Team Leader, BUPA Australia
BHP Billiton
“Our event was so well organised, with everything taken care of from the venue, to the food and even the cleaning up! All we were required to do was turn up, cook and have fun!”
“As a team building event it was a great way to interact with colleagues who you may not normally and have a lot of fun in the process, we will still be talking about this for some time to come.”
Liz Curr, BHP Billiton
City of Unley 
Thanks for what turned out to be a great day. The feedback from the team members after the event has been extremely positive. Hands on cooking was a great way to take ourselves out of the normal work environment, have some fun, learn a few new skills and then enjoy the results of your combined efforts. It was one of the best team building exercises I have participated in.
Regards
Paul Weymouth | Manager Development
City of Tea Tree Gully 
'We thoroughly enjoyed it.'
Julie Short
Manager,Poeple and Orgnisational Development
Clipsal 
I really think the team bonding activities that Fun.Food.focus run make a fantastic program. It is not only about great fun and great food, but also about bringing a team closer and fulfilling the tasks set, building up trust and achieving a result, together. I really enjoyed my time and I understood that, by relying on the team, I can achieve something which I would never be able to achieve by myself. If we have the chance, we will definitely do it again
Cornerstone College 
'Just wanted to take the time to thank you and your team for the fantastic day that you provided for our staff. Due to the diversity of roles within our group and there being thirty five of us, it is always hard to provide a professional development experiencethat everyone enjoys and also meets the training needs of the College.
Your program for the day provided an opportunity for many of us that we haven't attempted before and the meal that was produced is still talked about today. I find it amazing that such a large group were able to break out into smaller groups, work cohesively with varying levels of competency, and then regroup at the end of the session with a first class banquet being the result. The personality profiling exercise which allowed us to select our groups for the cooking component was great as it allowed the staff to see the theory behind the profiling outworked in a practical sense.
The day has helped our group appreciate each other's personalities and met the need of stretching each of us beyond our comfort zones.
Thanks again for managing and facilitating the day. Your regular contact in preparation was greatly appreciated as it allowed me to work on other aspects of our professional development week.
Steve Sanders
Director of Business Operations
Credit Union SA 
"The cooking activity was lots of fun and extremely well organised. The activity served as a catalyst for our team building objectives and the staff learnt a lot about themselves and each other."
Rachel Randall
Human Resource Consultant
Evans Partners Chartered Accountants
'I did have a "Fun.Food.Focus" day!'
'The exercise was great for interaction with the team…the best part was the relaxed atmosphere and the time allowed to interact as a team'
'It was very enjoyable. The best part was getting everyone involved'
'The best part was relaxing and eating whilst still focused on a "team"'
'Once again thank you for your time and effort in helping us have an enjoyable Christmas Function.'
'Everything you did ran smoothly, superbly and everybody enjoyed themselves and took a lot out of the day'.
Ferrier Fashion Fabrics
'Everyone loved it (the French cooking). It encouraged people to work together in a team, and working in a group (provided) healthy competition. It was really good fun and a great team event. I had a fabulous time'
Owner and Director
Flinders Partners 
'Just a quick note to thank you so much for organizing our Fun,Food and Focus event with Mohamed as our chef.
Teamwork is something that's almost impossible to refine when you are in an everyday work situation, but seeing it from a different perspective where everyone can participate, means you can now work out why some things work and others don't.
That's the real benefit we achieved with your help. Thankfully, our team is a great one and the way the team went about the cooking and enjoyed the day confirmed this and made it easy to see what is working in the team and how to ensure it stays as a great team. Without your event it would have been easy to take a lot of our strengths for granted.
Thank you too to Mohamed who was a brilliant character and great chef. His passion for food and people is a great asset to the whole day, and really made it so much fun and enjoyable for everyone.
Thanks again Helen for a great session and I look forward to recommending others to your program.'
Anthony Francis
Managing Director
Fosters Group 
'The fun part was learning the art of sushi making. Thanks again for your efforts in making it a fun-filled session'
GE Money-Motor Solutions - Australia & NZ 
'I had a great afternoon thanks... (we) really enjoyed the experience and have already suggested the idea to others.'
'Thanks for your help - really appreciated'
Kevin Whelan
General Manager
Haigh's Chocolates 
'Thank you to you both for making the MEA function at Haigh's Chocolates such a great success. By all the feedback I received, everyone enjoyed the tours, loved the cupcake decorating and thoroughly enjoyed the finger food and wine. It was a delight to work with you...'
Fun.Food.Focus presented a specialist 'hands on' cooking segment using fabulous Haighs Chocolate at a Meeting & Events Association event held at the Haigh's Visitor Centre at Parkside.
Sandra Gibson, Marketing and Promotions Manager
Large SA Retailer
We had a wonderful adventure! Chef Jittiporn was a wealth of knowledge on all the ingredients for our cooking experience and the food was delicious. Thank you Helen and team for a memorable night.
Macquarie Bank 
'I thought the whole thing was terrific'.
'An enjoyable day and a step in the right direction'
'Very relaxed, comfortable environment'
'Good fun and great atmosphere'
'Thank you for making such an effort'
'The team bonding and interaction was the best part of the day'.
Magill School
A wonderful way to start the school year – staff thoroughly enjoyed mixing in an area out of our normal work. It kick-started our year as a close team.
Mclntyre Robertson Scarborough Pty Ltd 
'Just a quick note to say thank you for a great day last Friday. We all had a lot of fun.
Everyone has been talking about it since and they all enjoyed being able to cook some new recipes - with the added bonus of the food going to some well deserving people - which really was the icing on the cake! A few people have already tried cooking the recipes at home with much success.
Can you also please pass on our thanks to the others who assisted.
Kind Regards'
Paul Scarborough
Director
McDonald's 
'The best part was making all recipes from scratch, eating what we cooked together. '
''The hands on cooking and the 'attitude' of the chef to our 'laid back' running of the night were great.'
NAB 
Loved the 'hands on' part of the class. Great produce, well set up. Gave us great choice and inspiration.
Just cooking with people and sharing food created friendship - breaking bread together.
It was a great connection to our (Bank's) themes'.
NAB Regional General Managers from around Australia
Origin 
" Fun.Food.Focus lived up to their name and reputation. The Team Lunch was well organised, professionally run and was enjoyed by all. The team found the lunch event to be a great way to get together in a relaxed atmosphere and learn new skills; skills which resulted in all preparing and enjoying a great meal. The team at Fun.Food.Focus obviously put considerable effort behind the scenes for the event to run so smoothly.
Thank you to Helen and the team at Fun.Food.Focus."
Mark Endersby, Lead Environmental Advisor, Origin
Partners in Grain 
'The best part of the day's event was:
- The involvement of all people
- the networking
- the great discussion
- the interaction and involvement of all voices'
Members of Partners in Grain
Port Adelaide Enfield City Council 
'The Fun.Food.Focus sushi making session was an excellent way for the team to get together in a relaxing learning environment. Everyone loved the chef….and his magic tricks! The team all commented on how much they enjoyed sitting down at a long table and eating the sushi together at the end of the session.
The knowledge café was a very useful tool for identifying key issues by individual members within the team in a non-threatening
manner'
Jane Marr
Visitor Information Centre Coordinator
PKF 
For our ‘hands-on’ cooking class with Fun.Food.Focus, we chose Northern Indian. The class was authentic as we worked in an actual Indian restaurant with traditional chefs. It was great to work with professional chefs in their own environment and have the opportunity to cook using an authentic Tandoori Oven and knead naan bread dough the traditional way.
The chefs gave us some good tips that we can use when cooking Indian food in the future and it was great to see them in action in the kitchen. The food was delicious and the highlight of the day was sitting down as a group and enjoying the meal we had created. I would recommend Fun.Food.Focus to other corporate groups looking .
Angela Haydon, Senior Consultant
Due to the success of the Northern Indian experience, PKF booked a team building event focused on Southern Indian cuisine.
" The Directors all enjoyed the cooking class and had a great time. It was a good team building exercise and really well run."
Anna Storen, Marketing Coordinator
Red Bull 
Thanks for an amazing day, the team certainly enjoyed themselves. It was great to see the team bonding in such a relaxed, fun environment. Certainly something different to the standard team activities we've done previously. It was a fantastic reward for our staff who responded very positively to ‘hands-on’ and participatory nature of the day. I will be highly recommending Fun.Food.Focus to others and look forward to doing it again!
Rural City of Murray Bridge
On 25th May 2011, key managers and support staff within the Sustainable Development Division of the Rural City of Murray Bridge were treated to a day of fun, cooking and information sharing courtesy of Helen Paige and her Fun.Food.Focus team. The combination of techniques in developing team building and leadership skills with our group was a refreshing and enjoyable way of buildling a bond between the participants.
The Rural City of Murray Bridge Council would definitely consider Fun.Food.Focus for future team building or team bonding events and would recommend them to anyone who is looking to improve team dynamics.
Peter Bond
Executive Manager Sustainable Development ---- Rural City of Murray Bridge
Rural Press 
'We'll definitely be trying these (recipes) at home! 'The best part was - cooking and getting to know each other'
Santos
'The Cooking Class was an excellent team building exercise, and I thought the enthusiasm and organisation of the hosts made it even better. Most importantly though, the food was delicious! It was:-
- Good fun
- Good laughs
- Good menu
- Well organised
- Good facilities
It turned out to be a very enjoyable experience. The hosts were fantastic and the food was even better. I can't wait to try some of the dishes at home.'
Greg Cowley
Team Leader - Pipeline Integrity
Santos with chefs from ASSAGGIO
"It was very enjoyable, very educational and fantastic food."
'"The best part was having access to excellent chefs, to observe and learn from."
Santos
The whole team agreed it was a great experience and they enjoyed every minute. From my point of view as team leader, the opportunity for us to share a creative and learning experience in such a relaxed and fun way and totally removed from our normal work environment was invaluable.
Santos
'Thanks for the fun team offsite. It was a lot of fun doing the cooking and then eating the results along with some ...wines'
Senior Geophysicist Greg Cowley
Development - Onshore Gas Exploitation Team Leader - Pipeline Integrity
Santos
'We recently used Fun.Food.Focus to assist us with a Team Leader's meeting, and team building day. We wanted a location that was out of the city and somewhere where we could have wine tasting. Fun.Food.Focus organised the entire function for us - they found the location, the gourmet cook and also provided some independent feedback on the briefing session held with my staff'.
My staff really enjoyed the 'hands on' cooking of Greek food, the friendly competitiveness with the other team members and of course the communal eating afterwards.
We had Fun.Food and some Focus...
I have recommended Fun.Food.Focus to other Team Leaders at Santos, and would be really keen to engage them again for another team-building event in the future.'
Santos Team Leader
SANTOS, HR Section
'It was a lovely day with delicious food. The best part was working as a team to bring ingredients together to produce a meal that we all shared in'.
'Any small team group looking to have some fun and bond together to produce something would benefit from an experience with Fun.Food.Focus'
Team Experience 2
'The best part was the team cooking event and level of involvement - great fun!'
'The cooking experience offered greater insights into team co-operation and interpersonal skills'
Solar Shop Australia
“As a team going through major restructuring, this event was a great way to observe everyone in action in a completely new setting. It was great to have the employees work on their team building skills in a new setting. The professionalism of the FunFoodFocus team was exemplary. Helen’s observations of our team were insightful and valuable. We will be back for sure!”
Katherine Smart, National Training Manager
Trelleborg
Thanks for the arrangements last Thursday. It can only be classed as a "great" success. The crew are still talking about it and nobody died from the cooking!!
Our thanks to Aki and Russell and i would certainly recommend this activity as part of a team learning experience and to assess people's ability to work within a team.
Willach
The feedback was great from everyone. These articles were published in the top Pharmacy Mags of Australia.
Happy for you to use this for your references and pass it on to Justin.
He is an excellent cook, the food was extraordinary!
Thank you again for all your help.
Publication: Retail Pharmacy Date: September, 2010
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