running in conjunction with Hobart City Mission, a catering arm and more recently a condiment line, which has landed a deal with Hill Street Grocers. The increased exposure is all beneficial for Ms Biffa in growing the Hamlet brand, but ultimately the key focus will never change from providing opportunity for disadvantaged Tasmanians. “The industry actually has a real opportunity to create some jobs and look for ways that they can employ more people who might be differently abled,” she says. “Soit’saboutfindingthepeoplewhoarestruggling to find work, give them the skills that they need so that they can actually fill all these spots in cafes and restaurants and tourism businesses. “That’s sort of how Hamlet was born. There’s a real opportunity for the industry now. We are at a bit of a boiling point, I think, in terms of finding staff.
“And if we want to actually see change, we need to see people with disabilities working in jobs and doing things just like everyone else, so that there is true representation of community. “The other thing that I’m really keen to do is expose the hospitality industry as a potential career. I think it’s so often looked at as a ‘job in the meantime’ while you figure out what you’re going to do, especially in front of house. “But we want to show our participants that this can be a career, you can make quite a few steps up the ladder I guess and have a really fulfilling career in the hospitality industry.” “At some point we have to draw a line in the sand and plan to get back to a new normal and I feel that is what has happened.” - Hamlet CEO Emily Briffa
Hospitality Review: April 2022 10
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