The sweet deal of a pastry apprenticeship with Miss Macaroon
3/2/2021
We could wax lyrical about Miss Macaroon’s gloriously colourful and flavourful macaroons all day long. Founder Rosie Ginday trained as a high-end pastry chef, working at Michelin-starred restaurant Purnell’s in Birmingham before setting up the brand. So it’s no surprise these are some impeccably made sweet treats.
Deliciousness aside though, what really makes their products special is the social impact they have. Miss Macaroon gives young people experiencing difficulties in their life the skills and confidence to find employment through their Macaroons that Make a Difference (MacsMAD) courses.
In the lead up to the social enterprise’s 10th birthday, we caught up with Rosie to find out more about the ins-and-outs of these life-changing courses.
Firstly, we have to ask – why macaroons? What made them the perfect product for your mission of baking a brighter future?
The idea for the social enterprise definitely came first, then I went looking for the right kind of product to create our social impact. In my job at the time, I got to redesign the afternoon tea menu and was trying out loads of different products. It was then I became obsessed with macaroons, especially figuring out the science behind why when using the exact same recipe my first batch was okay and the second was a complete mess!
So I knew this product was complicated enough to keep me interested. But it was also simple enough that someone who had never worked in a kitchen before could pick up the recipe and start making it. Our lemon buttercream, for example, has just three ingredients – butter, icing sugar and fresh lemons. I knew our trainees would be able to make these and we could use them to teach really important skills but also that people would want to buy them at a decent enough margin to actually fund the programme.
I’ve got a fine art background, so having an infinite possibility of macaroon colours and flavours was very exciting to me too. I developed our recipe and finessed the pantone matching system where we match exactly to corporate colours – we’re the only patisserie in the world that can do that.
Your MacsMAD courses include input from professionals like a psychotherapist and counsellor. Can you tell us about what the programme covers and why it was important to you that it goes beyond practical catering skills?
The initial programme was designed by me 10 years ago but with every single cohort we’ve further refined it. We have a maximum of 16 people on the programme and that’s so we can completely tailor the course to whatever their needs and barriers are.
Say we have people with anxiety, we’d deliver the programme in a different way to if we had people with ADHD and anger management issues. Because of this, we work really hard to bring together people who will work at a similar speed and whose barriers complement each other, rather than work against each other.
Over the years, we began to feel like we needed to bring in expert support, as the young people we were working with had more severe needs. We have this very strong trusting relationship with our trainees. They share a huge amount with us and it takes a lot of bravery and vulnerability on their part to do that.
The psychotherapist and counsellor runs two “Welcome to work” sessions per cohort, where we have a bit of a catch up on how everyone’s doing and what their particular barriers to work are. For instance, with our current cohort she’s doing some activities around identity and then introducing a tool, like a basic CBT record to help people with anxiety address unhelpful thoughts.
It needs to be personalised because we’re very ambitious for our trainees. They always impress us and exceed our expectations in how far they progress – that only happens when you treat people as whole people and are really open to their input. They know themselves better than anyone else and often know what’s holding them back. We just support them, putting things in place to address those barriers.
How do your trainees usually find out about the course and get involved?
They get referred from a whole host of organisations. They can come to us through job centres, housing associations, youth homelessness charities, care leavers service, prison and probation services, churches…we have a real wide network of organisations.
Then they come onto a short two or three-hour induction programme for them to understand what we do on the programme. We assess where they’re at in terms of numeracy and literacy and then they have to refer themselves onto the programme. Because it’s very intensive and asks a lot from them, people can’t feel like they’ve been pushed to join by their job coach because they just won’t be able to stick it out. It’s important they have that ownership and responsibility.
We bet you get some lovely feedback from the trainees. Has any really stuck with you?
Yes, loads! What we try to do post-programme is push MacsMAD graduates into employment but some of our trainees need an extra helping hand, so we provide paid employment for them as a stepping stone. So we’ve had some fantastic trainees who have become our employees and have then gone onto other stuff, which is really lovely.
We’ve got some graduates who are working in the industry, although they might currently be on furlough. And there are others who have gone into all kinds of other industries – construction, business admin, IT. It’s always nice when people move onto stuff that’s not catering because we always say the skills you learn on the programme are transferable so it’s nice hearing people feel that as well.
How have you had to adapt things for Miss Macaroon and the MacsMAD programme throughout the pandemic?
We’ve had to adapt a lot. 90% of our business was corporate and wholesale so that had a huge impact on what we do but we’ve really focused on our B2C offering and we went through a rebrand over the summer. Now that Christmas is out of the way, we’re focused on our MacsMad trainees and getting our graduates into placements. We also work with other local organisations, supporting young people to get into work in whichever way possible really.
We’re coming up to Valentine’s Day, which is going to be a little different in lockdown. How can your gift boxes and hampers play a part in people’s plans – whether they’re with their loved ones in person or can’t spend it together?
We’ve got a whole range of Valentine’s Day hampers and have got personalised heart-shaped macaroons. Every penny goes into our MacsMAD programme and all our partners featured in the hampers have social aims too. We work with the likes of Forty Hall Vineyard through our macaroon and English sparkling wine hamper, which will create a very special Valentine’s Day. They provide opportunities for people with mental health issues to get out into the natural environment, building their confidence through work placements and being close to nature.
So just treating yourself to a lovely Valentine’s hamper – whether that’s having one each over a video call or staying at home and enjoying one together – could really make a huge impact for vulnerable people out there.
There’s another special occasion coming up in February, as Miss Macaroon turns 10. How will you be celebrating?
Hopefully, we’re going to be doing an in-person event in the summer. In the meantime, we’re releasing our special edition 10th birthday gift box, featuring seven flavours that our customers are currently voting for. Then we’ve got a range of collaborations coming up, which will be launched on our birthday and then every three weeks after that. There are three confirmed so far but they’re under wraps at the moment!
What have been some highlights over the 10 years of Miss Macaroon?
Some of our trainees have gone onto fantastic jobs but more than that, they’ve rebuilt relationships with their families because of the stability and because of better communication skills and self-awareness. Those real heart-warming stories are my personal highlights.
And then also opening our store in Birmingham city centre and moving to a much bigger kitchen and expanding our team; welcoming the likes of the Countess of Wessex and James Martin; making macaroons for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle on their engagement tour; going to the royal wedding and getting an MBE. There’s just loads!
What advice would you give to someone who wants to follow your lead and create a successful foodie social enterprise?
Absolutely go for it. Start small, start with £50 and make all your mistakes and then completely change everything based on what didn’t work. Then put £100 into it and try it again.
And I think it’s really important not to be wedded to one fixed idea about what your enterprise is going to be. If you’re open to doing it in collaboration with your beneficiaries, if it’s that kind of social enterprise, then your business will be much more stronger for it.
Which other social enterprise(s) would you like to shout about?
Oh my god, there’s so many. If we go by categories then for premium high end, I’ve just been gifted an Elvis & Kresse notebook which is gorgeous. As a food gift, Harry Specters – their stunning chocolates support young people with autism into work.
For drinks, Forty Hall Vineyards with their English sparkling wine; One Gin with their apple and sage gin; Toast Ale with their Indian pale ale…it’s too hard to shortlist!
Meet the founders behind more social enterprise brands:
