DA PAOLO GROUP - 1 YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF SAFE CLEANING IN PARTNERSHIP WITH AQUAMA®
Da Paolo Group celebrates 1 year anniversary of safe cleaning in partnership with aquama®
Da Paolo Group has chosen aquama® as an all-in-one sustainable alternative to traditional chemical cleaners to ensure the increased safety of its staff, food prep areas, and guest dining spaces.
The aquama® Falcon R® dispenser is being used in Da Paolo’s central kitchen and the 5 litre reusable containers of aquama® solution are distributed across their 7 establishments in Singapore — Da Paolo Gastronomia, Da Paolo Pizza Bar & Da Paolo Dempsey Restaurant & Bar.
Bringing aquama® in means they are keeping the cleaning chemicals out: out of their restaurants, out of their ingredients, and out of their staff’s hands.
We interviewed Ian Crawshaw, Operation Manager of Da Paolo Gastronomia, to talk about their adoption of aquama® and its impact.
How did you hear about aquama®?
I first encountered aquama® when I joined Da Paolo Group 12 months ago - the organisation had just made the transition to aquama® when I came on-board.
How did you manage the adoption of aquama® with your employees?
The groundwork had already been done, and aquama® was in use across the group. However, we did encounter some minor teething problems in the early stages.
Some employees were not using the recommended quantities and dilution ratios which resulted in inferior performance. Also, they did not believe that a colourless, odourless liquid could be an effective cleaning agent and they defaulted back to using the very chemicals that we were trying to replace.
Following a reset and training refresh within a week, the team was comfortable and confident using aquama® and have been ever since.
Being in the F&B industry, what are the 3 key advantages for using aquama® solution?
We were able to replace several different cleaning products with a single solution, which simplified our processes. Not only simplify our processes but offer some significant cost saving.
Having the Falcon R indigo© machine in our premises allows us to produce just in time, so we don’t need to hold chemicals in the warehouse or in the outlets. This enables us to free up valuable storage space.
aquama® is 100% biodegradable and completely safe for our team, our customers and our planet.
Talking about the cost savings, by using the Falcon R you spend only 100 $S to clean your 7 establishments. Any idea of how much saving you did within a year compared to the usage of chemical products?
The implementation of aquama® helped us to achieve a 28% saving in our chemical and detergent spending in 2020 vs 2019.
aquama® replaced 90% of your traditional cleaning chemicals. Where and what type of surfaces do you clean with it?
We use aquama® for disinfecting tables & work surfaces, for mopping floors and also for cleaning windows and glass surfaces.
Did you find unexpected ways to clean with aquama® throughout the year?
We have used aquama® successfully for some ‘heavier-duty’ cleaning tasks in our kitchens, where we would normally expect to need a stronger chemical.
You consume on average 300 Litres every month of aquama® solution.
Congratulations, as it means you have saved the oceans from 172 Litres of pure chemicals per year!
How do you feel as a person and as a company?
It is refreshing and rewarding to work for an organisation that is trying to play their part in protecting the environment. By switching to aquama®, not only are we reducing the amount of chemical solutions reaching the oceans, we also see a drop of ~ 50% in the amount of plastic waste generated by our previous cleaning solutions.
As a person - especially as a parent to a young child - I am very conscious about how our positive actions today can impact the environment for future generations. Using aquama® is definitely a step in the right direction.
Would you recommend aquama® to other restaurants? If so, what do you like best about aquama®?
Highly recommended! Effective, food-safe and 100% biodegradable - what’s not to like?
aquama® replaced 90% of your traditional cleaning chemicals. Where and what type of surfaces do you clean with it?
We use aquama® for disinfecting tables & work surfaces, for mopping floors and also for cleaning windows and glass surfaces.
Did you find unexpected ways to clean with aquama® throughout the year?
We have used aquama® successfully for some ‘heavier-duty’ cleaning tasks in our kitchens, where we would normally expect to need a stronger chemical.
Do you have any other initiatives for a greener Singapore that you are proud of and you would like to share?
Da Paolo Group has already made some strides in eliminating single-use plastic and switching to eco-friendly takeaway packaging. In addition, we are continually looking at ways to move towards more sustainable packaging solutions.
We have just started a collaboration with Impossible (TM) Foods to expand our plant-based food menu and drive towards a more sustainable food consumption.
We are also partnering barePack, which provides reusable packaging solutions for takeaway food.
What is the next step with aquama®?
We are currently evaluating aquama® Indigo solution, which has virucidal properties. The goal here will be to transition from our current alcohol-based sanitizer to the 100% biodegradable solution that aquama® offers. We project that this will enable a further 20% reduction in our chemical spending and, of course, less plastic waste.