Patty shop vs pizza shop issue & lkl Ochi

[Stonigut]

One of our recent posters called the whole JAAA/MVP kassakassa "patty shop buisiness" implying a certain level of randomness to the operation and a general lack of cohesive, planned action, however I beg to differ and request that we should not use "patty shop" to characterize such behaviour going forward the term should be "Pizza shop bro, pizza shop not a patty shop, especially the classic independent pizza shop that is still in operation everywhere, the patty business no longer truly has that type of losse cannon, random, independent one off operation.

The patty shop business is actually one of the best organized businesses in Ja, they are widespread, there is good competition amongst a number of players nationally and regionally, they bring good value to the consumer as evidenced by the full shops in places from Junction, St Elizabeth to St Anns Bay, they have mastered the operations aspect by consistently delivering good value at a set price. So I would suggest why not use a "pizza shop" to indicate an operation that is is willy nilly and random in it's operation etc.

BTW went to Little Ochi last week and was really amazed how it had grown since the last time I went there in 1999, I guess that is really 10 years ago, the place has expanded, an actual parking lot is in place now, big kitchen, bigger freezers, better and more consistent engagement of each customer by their customer reps approaching people before they could ask for help, payment was straightforward, the wait was short for what we ordered the delivery and presentation of the food was good, I was so impressed with the whole operation I had to take pictures of each step of the process, well done Blacka/Little Ochi is not everything in Ja improve with time but Little Ochi has gone from to good to better in 10 years and clearly should be a benchmark for all local restaurant operations that pretty much start from a shoe string operation, I am not absolutely sure about the "shoestring comment" but when I saw this place in 1999 it was just a bit beyond a current Hellshire fish shop operation. It is not that anymore, that is for sure and for that business to come out of Alligator Pond and thrive the way it has is like a new volcano surfacing from the seabed.

[Exile]

Can we see the pics?

[Muadib]

Ok Vincent.. we si yuh point... is dis de Trini's did use try block yuh product..

[Stonigut]

Sorry Exile I have not been able to edit it enough to cut out the faces and then paste them so I can't post them.

[Islandman]

Good point about the patty shop, but I would rather not use pizza shop in its place simply because that would be replacing a traditional Jamaican experience (though no longer relevant) with an American experience.

We must can find a disfunctional Jamaican experience to replace it with so the term is still a uniquely Jamaican one!

Also thanks for the info on Little Ochi, I have heard a lot about it and saw it featured on Island Stylee (BET Jazz) recently and was impressed. Plan to make a trip there next time in JA.

[Historian]

Pizza: Unsuitable Analogy!

One of our recent posters called the whole JAAA/MVP kassakassa "patty shop buisiness" implying a certain level of randomness to the operation and a general lack of cohesive, planned action, however I beg to differ and request that we should not use "patty shop" to characterize such behaviour going forward the term should be "Pizza shop bro, pizza shop not a patty shop, especially the classic independent pizza shop that is still in operation everywhere, the patty business no longer truly has that type of losse cannon, random, independent one off operation.

Unfortunately, your patty vs. pizza analogy is a faulty one because:

1. Both have countless unorganized small players in the business. The only difference is that pizza has a much, much larger consumer base worldwide (in other words, it is more popular than patties).

2. At its organizational level, pizza franchises such as Domino’s, Papa John’s and others are generally very efficient entities with explicitly-stated controls, etc. The highly organized beef patty industry is still a comparably new arrival.

So, I certainly would not substitute pizza for Jamaican beef patties in this case where, according to your statement, we often find “classic independent pizza shop that is still in operation everywhere.” The same goes for patties in parts of Jamaica (you can purchase beef patties even in Coronation Market) and throughout the Caribbean.

Maybe jerk chicken and jerk pork, sold on street sides and sidewalks by seemingly every Tom, Dick and Harry, would be a more suitable analogy to the MVP/JAAA impasse? What operation is more “random” and displaying a “lack of cohesiveness” than the jerk chicken, jerk pork industry?!

[Gamma]

how about "knix knox shop"?

[Mosiah]

Pan chicken stand! There you go!

[Islandman]

Not bad.

Based on the recent experiences of myself , PeterR and others, "Faiths Pen shop" would be appropriate too!

[Islandman]

I like that. It gets my vote!

[Stonigut]

Again you missed the point, the individual independent patty shop is virtually non-existent, there are independent pizza operations everywhere, with their penchant of doing everything on the fly and taking small low quantity orders with many different combinations, makes it a very random operation with poor process control.

Patties shops have evolved and consequenly do not exist in the way that the poster referred to originally. Notice my focus on the pizza shop spoke specifically to the independent operator and not to the large scale operations which are not shops anymore, thus the analogy still stands the test of history, no pun intended! Plus the bottom line is let us not deride one of our operations that has shown real growth and improvement and let us look at another place for the true random, ever watch (New Jack City) non process oriented process. The jerk chicken and pork man is not a good analogy either as the processes they have are pretty standard and they crunch out a lot of production at what seems to be a pretty consistent quality for such small operations.

I saw a jerkman by our little China in Liguanea and he had his entire rack stacked in a very methodical manner all seasoned to perfection and from what I hear he is pretty good. I didn't get a chance to taste his wares, but the committment and sheer energy to consistently be a high quality jerkman on the side of the road and crank out good quality in such a low quality environment absolutely astounds me. The same can be said for the fish people out at Scott's cove the fried fish out there was consistently of the best quality for the three times i passed by there recently.