ABOUT 50 PEOPLE will get jobs when fast food chain Chefette opens its 15th branch by Christmas.
The multimillion dollar restaurant at Welches Plaza, St Thomas, work on which began this month, will include a drive-thru, a MEGA three-storey playground and a fully digital indoor menu.
It will be built on 6 000 square feet with seating for 130 people.
The announcement was made yesterday at a Press launch at Chefette Rockley, Christ Church.
Executive chairman Assad Haloute said the new location, which has been in the planning stages for over 18 months, would allow the restaurant to better serve customers and offer more convenience in the Warrens area.
He said while other businesses were downsizing, shutting down and not expanding, Chefette, which employs over 750 people, continued to invest in the country, especially its “well trained staff to ensure that we as a company will continue getting stronger”.
“Despite the tough economy and the worst recession the world has ever experienced, Chefette remains committed to Barbados, our employees and our loyal and dedicated customers. We will continue to build and invest to keep our companies strong and protect the jobs of staff,” he said.
Managing director Ryan Haloute said Chefette has always played a vital role in giving back to communities even more now during “these challenging economic times”, and it has already begun to assist neighbouring schools such as Welches Primary, Sharon Primary, Queen’s College and The Lester Vaughan School.
He also announced that over the last week, Chefette’s 14 restaurants, nine drive-thrus and two BBQ Barns, have gone fully digital.
He said the move was an effort to communicate with customers, keeping them up to date and informed on specials and promotions in a world which was becoming digitally demanding.
“I like to call this the game changer not seen in Barbados as yet. We are the first restaurant in the whole Caribbean to have gone fully digital, fully, meaning as well that it incorporates the drive-thru which is our exterior menus.
“This new digital drive-thru concept is something which is fairly new in the United States as well. The major chains in the USA don’t have all of their drive-thrus digital,” Haloute noted. (AH)
