PR News : Restaurant Rescue Project
RESTAURANT RESCUE PROJECT GENERATES OVER R5 MILLION IN SUPPORT OF INDEPENDENT CAPE RESTAURATEURS
The Restaurant Rescue Project is a true indication of what South Africans can do when the chips are down. Instead of admitting defeat , the Wine Industry and Restaurants banded together in the spirit of Ubuntu and made a plan!
Restaurants and Wine Farms rely on each other heavily within the hospitality industry.
My husband and I bought tickets to ensure our favorite Vineyards and Restaurants survived the lockdown and booze ban. This campaign was about saving the livelihoods of honest hard working South Africans.
The Restaurant Rescue project was launched deep into the country’s rigid COVID-19 economic lockdown, the not-for-profit Restaurant Rescue Project (RRP) founded in mid-July of this year (2020) by wine entrepreneur Alex Dale of Radford Dale Winery and chef patron Matt Manning of Grub & Vine Restaurant, has generated R5, 031, 800 by the generous restaurant-going public.
The Western Cape’s independent restaurants were hit hard and fast as the lengthy lockdown commenced in late-March and whether the eatery was a titan in the fine dining world or a popular local brasserie where everyone knew your name, it was very quickly, an economic devastation. Of primary concern was not so much the immense loss of income for the restaurant owners but rather the struggle to keep employees on the payroll. A total of 750 direct jobs were preserved thanks to this initiative.
The RRP seed germinated with a genuine offer of assistance to a friend and industry colleague. As with so many, Chef Manning’s Bistro was in trouble and wine entrepreneur Dale stepped up to the plate to assist. Dale realised that the best way to make a real difference was to gift Manning 220 6-bottle cases of premium Radford Dale wine. With a retail value of over half a million Rand, these wines were added as a free gift to a Grub & Vine dinner voucher purchased for diners to redeem after lockdown. The impact? The vouchers sold out in three days, and Grub & Vine’s future was secured.
Due to its overnight success and realising that there were many other restaurants who would welcome the same lifeline, Dale contacted other established and premium wine estates who were quick to join the cause. The revenue that Grub & Vine received from the campaign generated an instant lifeline of over R300,000, which kept the restaurant’s doors open and staff employed during the most challenging time of the economic lockdown.
"The Restaurant Rescue Project has been the life support machine for so many restaurants in this difficult time and it would not have been possible without the hard work and generosity of my good friend Alex Dale. I am incredibly thankful, to not only Alex and Radford Dale for supporting Grub & Vine, but also to all of the other wineries who so generously jumped to the rescue of other restaurants that needed the support. I am very proud to have helped start this incredible initiative and I can't thank everyone who supported enough", said Matt Manning.
Commented Luke Dale Roberts, chef and owner of The Test Kitchen and The Pot Luck Club, which both restaurants participated in the programme, “It was a game changer. We had a cash injection when we needed it most, which gave us the springboard we needed to re-open.”
Commenting on the achievements of the RRP, Alex Dale said: “The irony of Covid-19 is that it has brought many of us to our knees, financially, while we remain in perfectly good health. The threat of illness has delivered the actual demise of livelihoods and businesses. The Restaurant Rescue Project was a refusal to stand idly by when so many people in the sector needed help. It showed how people can unite to outflank even the most tumultuous conditions -whether brought about by disease or by government- and survive through helping one-another.”
THE RESTAURANT RESCUE PROJECT IN NUMBERS:
• 19:- restaurants that participated
• 29:- supporting wineries
• 750:- employees’ jobs and livelihoods safeguarded
• 3,471:- number of RRP vouchers sold
• R5, 031, 800:- cash generated
• R6, 390, 950:- retail value of wine pledged by the wineries
List of independent restaurants and collaborative wine estates who participated:
• Grub & Vine with Radford Dale
• Aubergine Restaurant with Lismore Estate
• The Pot Luck Club with Warwick Estate
• Black Sheep with Migliarina and Thelema Mountain Vineyards
• Foxcroft with Hilton Vineyards
• The Test Kitchen with Jordan, Oldenburg, Keermont, Radford Dale, Ken Forrester and Hartenberg
• Wolfgat with Savage, David & Nadia Sadie and Donovan Rall Wines
• Salsify at the Roundhouse with Graham Beck, Steenberg and Capensis Wines
• Upper Bloem with Villiera Wines
• SeaBreeze Fish & Shell with De Grendel Wine Estate
• 96 Winery Rd with Journey’s End Vineyards
• Cheyne’s with Journey’s End Vineyards
• Codfather with Alheit and Spider Pig Wines
• La Mouette with Strandveld Vineyards
• Jonkershuis with Bruce Jack Wines
• Blockhouse with Bruce Jack Wines
• La Tête with Luddite and Elgin Ridge Wines
• Café Charles with Sijnn Wines
• Between Us with Von Loggerenberg Wines and Thorne & Daughter
All revenue generated from the now-finalised RRP initiative was paid directly into participating restaurants’ bank accounts. There were no marketing or administrative fees, making the Restaurant Rescue Project 100% pro bono.
For further comment, contact Alex Dale via alex@radforddale.com, call (27) 83 453 0053.
For Press and Media assistance contact Ian Manley of ManleySocial on 0861 MANLEY (626 539) or email ian@publicity.co.za.
During South Africa’s COVID-19 lockdown ManleySocial represented pro bono the Restaurant Rescue Project as well as the highly successful feeding programme COURAGE – www.courage.africa and also UNITAR (the United Nations Institute for Training and Research) - www.covid.za.com
I was so incredibly touched when I saw how may people "just wanted to help". The Restaurant Rescue Project swept aside egos . From a Wine lover and Foodie's perspective, I wanted to ensure that my favorite vineyards and restaurants survived this epidemic. My heart went out to all the owners of these establishments that literally "had the rug pulled out from underneath them". I have first hand experience of restaurateurs crying because they didn't know how they would pay their staff, many who had worked for them for decades.
The Restaurant Rescue Project shows what we can do as a Country when we band together.
Press Release issued by : Manley Social