Darren O’Brien steps into new Bakery Innovation Manager role at Tip Top Foodservice

Tip Top Foodservice encompasses some of Australia’s best known bakery brands, from Tip Top to Abbott’s, Burgen, Golden, Speedibake, Australian Garlic Bread Co and more. Supplying into all sectors of foodservice from small business through to largescale venue catering, it boasts a specialist team with expertise across all types of fresh and frozen breads, cakes and bakery product categories. Now longtime National Account Manager Darren O’Brien has stepped into the new position of Bakery Innovation manager – Foodservice. We caught up with Darren to find out what the new role entails.

“We’ve seen continuing changes in the foodservice market over the past few years,” Darren points out, “and even though COVID has accelerated this trend it was obvious prior to that.”

“At the same time our customers have been facing challenges and we want to help them by making sure they have the products which meet their needs.”

Hence the creation of the Bakery Innovation Manager role, which Darren says is about “working more strategically to determine our future innovation pipeline for products, as well as to capture new business opportunities for our customers into the future. It’s easy for us to make bread, but our customers have to turn it into the end product – and we want to work strategically with them to make that happen.”

Drawing on an intimate knowledge of the market

Darren’s intimate knowledge of the bakery market and extensive work experience at Tip Top Foodservice meant he was able to step seamlessly into the new role. With 35 years in foodservice and bakery under his belt, he’s a licensed baker and qualified pastry chef who got his start in small local bakeries and patisseries, then joined a major multinational food company in his early twenties.

“It’s always been that way – I was making cakes at home with my mum as a kid and I’ve never stopped wanting to be involved with baking. I went to one of our big bakeries at Chullora the other day to pick up some new product and the foreman said ‘Do you want to wait outside?’ I said I’d rather come in because I love going through the bakery, so I got my safety boots on and in I went. That’s how I feel – I can’t get enough of it.”

Conceptualising solutions to meet customer needs

Darren’s technical expertise combined with his longstanding involvement across Tip Top Foodservice’s customer markets has given him a deep understanding of foodservice baking, while his time at Tip Top Foodservice has also exposed him to global and local trends and the knowledge gleaned from extensive commissioned research. He’s able to take that information and combine it with the customer’s strategic goals, wherever they may be in the market, and piece them together into a solution to meet their needs.

Additionally, Darren is working closely with Tip Top Foodservice’s field sales team to enhance their understanding of how the company’s products fit within different market sectors. “An institutional customer, for example, will be using a certain set of products whereas a café proprietor needs a different set. It’s also a question of how those products work within specific environments and differing equipment at hand within the kitchen. And with the rise of delivery, we’ve also got to look at how products present when they arrive at the point of consumption.

“What I try to do is take all our internal knowledge, our original commissioned research, our inhouse expertise and from that make sure we’re developing the right products that fit our customers’ current needs. For example, a pub group might be building certain types of burgers – our buns need to be fit for purpose, not only on trend but complementing what the customer’s doing.

“Every six to twelve months we invite key customers to innovation days in which we take all our insights and identify opportunities through continual innovation which fit within their business strategy and result in a product that’s going to excite the consumer.

“What I’m now focused on is making that information more accessible to our field sales team, who can have those same conversations with the individual customers they call upon so everyone can benefit. We’re always thinking about the big picture, making sure our knowledge is helping to drive the whole market forward, from pubs, clubs, QSRs and restaurants to cafes and takeaways.”

When we spoke to Darren for last issue’s update on the bakery market, he talked about the COVID-driven focus on takeaway and home delivery opportunities. In the past few months, he adds, there’s been a noticeable turn towards frozen bakery products.

“Just the threat of lockdown leads to booking cancellations, less foot traffic and less consumer mobility, all of which impacts upon how much food your business is likely to sell. So people are worried about food wastage and to protect against that they’re buying in more frozen product, because if they don’t use it they know it won’t go to waste. We’re now factoring that into our new product development and are striving to make sure that we make new products available in both fresh and frozen.” 

After 14 years with Tip Top Foodservice, Darren is clearly as enthused as ever in his new position. “My time here has exposed me to a great deal of local and international food research and insights, plus given me the opportunity to work with many different customers and provided me with a wealth of knowledge. It’s been fantastic for me personally and it’s wonderful to have the chance to share that with others. I just love working with our customers – I love it when they come to us and say, we need to do something new, or different, or change our menu around, can you help us? The fact that they see us as the go-to guys for solutions to their problems is a great feeling.”