A huge-if-true newspaper report this week has raised the possibility that sandwich bread could soon be a thing of the past. Calum Henderson investigates.

It’s the New Zealand food story of the year, and it broke last Thursday on page 5 of Dunedin community newspaper The Star. Under the extremely emotive-to-southerners headline “Thin ‘cheese roll’ bread in peril”, reporter Shawn McAvinue wrote of a noticable decline of sandwich bread on Dunedin supermarket shelves. Sensationally, the story seemed to suggest the thin-sliced loaf could even be phased out altogether.

If true, this is a seriously huge scoop. Like, Seven Sharp huge. Julian Lee or even Tim Wilson standing in front of the trays in the bread aisle of a Countdown Metro, asking punters what they think huge. Hilary Barry and Jeremy Wells debating it in the studio for a good five minutes afterwards huge.

How did such a massive story instead fall to a Dunedin community newspaper? And could it possibly be that sandwich bread is on the verge of extinction?

Breaking bread

The original story is a masterpiece of community newspaper journalism. Just look at that lede: “Sandwich bread sales in Dunedin could soon be toast.” The claim is backed up with comment from a Foodstuffs spokeswoman, who confirmed consumers preferred toast bread (“a thicker, more generous slice”) to sandwich bread, before seemingly trying to shift the blame onto the rise of artisanal bakers.

Another outstanding sentence: “The first five shoppers approached by The Star slammed sandwich bread.” The reporter has managed to find five of the most fed-up people in Dunedin and they don’t hold back, describing sandwich bread as a “measly”, “plain” product that “no one wants”. The story is accompanied by a photo, taken by the reporter, showing a local man proudly holding two loaves of the superior toast bread.

I emailed McAvinue demanding he reveal his sources, assuming the story to be a crafty write-off of a press release put out by representatives of Big Wheat. He replied that the idea for the story in fact came when his wife sent him to the supermarket to get a loaf of sandwich bread, but all he could find was toast. This story was an exclusive – and a bloody good one at that.

Why we need sandwich bread

Obviously the implication that bread companies might be secretly phasing out sandwich bread is completely outrageous. Sandwich bread is an essential part of many classic New Zealand recipes. To a southern audience the most important of these is the cheese roll – you simply can’t make a proper one with any other slice of bread. An Auckland subeditor might have changed the headline to “asparagus roll” – the same underlying theory applies.

Sandwich bread is the first item on your shopping list if you’re making those delicious little sandwiches they always have at catered morning or afternoon teas. Likewise, if you’re buying a snarler from a sausage sizzle and they hand it to you on a slice of toast bread, you should chuck that bad boy straight in the bin – these fundraising jokers clearly don’t know what they’re doing. Remember on Married At First Sight the other week, when Ksenia was feeding the ducks? Pretty sure that was sandwich bread too.

The problem, and the solution

There is, however, one purpose for which sandwich bread does not seem fit: sandwiches. To make a proper sandwich – one with tomato or any other moist ingredient – using sandwich bread means taking an enormous risk. The thinner slice can quickly become soggy, its structural integrity compromised. For most of us, it’s just not worth it.

Could this be the reason behind sandwich bread’s apparent decline? Why would you buy a product called sandwich bread when it’s bad for making sandwiches? Consumers are confused, and who can blame them.

It’s true that toast bread is the more versatile slice – better for making sandwiches, more absorbent. But there is still a place for both on the market. What I’m suggesting is this: bread companies should drop the “toast” and “sandwich” labels altogether. Toast bread should just be known as “bread”. Sandwich bread should be marketed as “thin-slice bread”, and what we now think of as extra-thick bread should be rebranded “thick-slice bread”.

The end of sandwich bread?

Bread companies would usually expect to pay tens of thousands of dollars for the kind of branding advice dished out above. I have offered it to them for free. In exchange, I sought just one thing: assurance that they would never stop making the product we currently know as sandwich bread.

When asked to guarantee the continued existence of sandwich bread on their shelves, a representative from Countdown ominously told The Spinoff, “We’ll have a chat to the team and come back to you.” They later suggested contacting manufacturers GWF (Tip Top) and Goodman Fielder (Nature’s Fresh, Molenberg, Freya’s, Vogel’s and other popular bread brands) directly. So far neither company has responded to The Spinoff’s media enquiries.

So, the future of sandwich bread remains uncertain. It’s probably fine, but we can’t be too complacent. When was the last time you bought a loaf? Why not sizzle some sausages for tea tonight and nestle them in a soft, thin blanket of sandwich bread. Invite friends around and surprise them with a plate of asparagus or cheese rolls the way they were meant to be made. Feed the ducks. Feed your dog (maybe just a little bit). Sandwich bread is a gift to all – it’s time we stopped taking it for granted.

For chefs and restaurateurs all over the world, hospitality’s pressure-cooker environment is no joke. As we increasingly grapple with the consequences of depression and anxiety among those working in our food industry, what’s New Zealand going do about it?

Le Suquet à Laguiole in the south of France enjoyed the highest accolade in fine dining for two decades. But in an unprecedented move late last year, its acclaimed chef, Sébastien Bras, revealed that he wanted to “give back” his restaurant’s three Michelin stars. Bras told the tire company/guidebook publishers he no longer wanted any part of it – it was too much stress, too much pressure, and just too many expectations for him to endure.

“Today, at 46 years old, I want to give a new meaning to my life… and redefine what is essential,” Bras said back in September. “We want to proceed with a free spirit and without stress, to offer a cuisine and service that represents that spirit and our land… Perhaps I am going to lose fame but I accept it, I assume it.”

The request caught many – especially Michelin themselves – off-guard. Chefs dream of their restaurants being featured in a Michelin guidebook, so why would someone want to just throw it all away? As the oft-quoted phrase goes: ‘If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen’. But in recent years, the industry has started to realise that actually, if you can’t stand the heat, maybe we need to try and do something about it.

In New Zealand, one in five Kiwis will experience mental illness this year. A lot of things can factor into that: family, relationships or trauma, perhaps. And while employers can only do so much to help, having a workplace culture where it’s OK to talk about mental health issues can make a huge difference.

But in a commercial kitchen, that can be a challenge. There’s a relentless pressure to perform and chefs often work long hours on very little sleep. There’s an overriding expectation for staff to just ‘harden up’ when the going gets tough, an attitude that can be exacerbated by the high number of men working in commercial kitchens. Of course, it’s not just the chefs that are suffering – restaurant owners are also small business owners dealing with everything from food and customers to health and safety.

“Working in a restaurant is stressful and there’s a lot of creative pressure as a performance-based industry,” says Marisa Bidois, Restaurant Association of New Zealand’s CEO. “There’s a real ‘work hard, play hard’ mentality as well, which isn’t necessarily specific to our industry, but it’s certainly one of the barriers to talking about mental health.”

In an attempt to try to break down some of these barriers, Bidois says the Restaurant Association has started the Hospitality Mental Health & Wellness Action Group. In its latest meeting in August, it was announced that the group had formed a wellness panel of industry leaders and mental health and wellness experts to open up discussions regarding mental health specific to hospitality. The wellness panel is set to return later this month when the Restaurant Association and Eat New Zealand co-host the Hui, its inaugural conference to discuss food and hospitality in Aotearoa.

Across the Tasman, Aussie chef Mal Meiers has been hosting his Food for Thought charity dinners since 2014, which aim to encourage conversation around a table of good kai to break down the stigma surrounding mental health. This year, it’s taking place in New Zealand at Auckland’s Gemmayze Street, with 100% of profits raised from the dinner donated to Mental Health New Zealand.

“In our industry, [we can see] the effects that long hours, high-pressure work environments and an often ‘just deal with it’ attitude can have, causing those suffering from anxiety and depression not to speak out,” Meiers said when this year’s dinner was announced. “Having personally faced this, I felt a huge importance to support this cause; hence the creation of these dinners, which was sparked from my own experience.”

Chefs including Gemmayze Street’s Samir Allen, Culprit’s Kyle Street and Cazador’s Dariush Lolaiy will join Meiers in the kitchen for the Food for Thought dinner. In August, Lolaiy and his wife/business partner Rebecca Smidt gathered together their industry mates for a collaborative dinner in honour of celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain, who tragically took his own life in June. All the dishes served came from Bourdain’s Les Halles cookbook, with all proceeds going to Lifeline. Lolaiy and Smidt’s dinner was followed by the formation of the 72 Club, which asks businesses, community groups and individuals to do what they do best and socialise over food.

In addition to Bourdain’s death earlier in the year, mental health issues in the hospitality industry in New Zealand and abroad have increasingly been in the mainstream media’s spotlight. Last year the suicide of high-profile Sydney chef Jeremy Strode was a shock to many, and a few months later, Auckland chef Matt Bing died after a battle with depression. Bras himself admitted he wanted to drop the stars to avoid the level of stress that drove Bernard Loiseau, another three-star Michelin chef, to suicide in 2003. “That’s in a corner of my mind,” he said.

“I don’t want to describe it as some sort of insidious, dark underbelly of the industry, because it’s not like that, but it’s just bloody hard work,” Smidt told The Spinoff before the  Les Halles charity dinner earlier in the year. “It’s very competitive, the financial incentives are less and less, the demands and expectations of customers are more and there’s no way of getting off working like that without compromise – which is going to be your health, whether mental or physical.”

Bidois says the Restaurant Association often gets enquiries from restaurateurs about how to help staff they think are dealing with mental illness. She says such enquiries have increased over the last 12 months, which could be attributed to the recent spate of tragic deaths of high-profile restaurateurs. She also adds that 40% of New Zealand’s hospitality workers are under the age of 25, which is pertinent considering New Zealand’s shockingly high youth suicide rates.

“We’re constantly helping to connect people. I know there are plenty of restaurant owners out there who are trying to solve some of these problems the industry has traditionally suffered from.” Such methods include implementing a four-day working week (chefs often work up to 12 hours a day), encouraging staff to take regular breaks and eat properly (“I guarantee you most chefs eat once a day,” The Grove’s Brody Jenkins said on the issue last year) and encouraging wellness initiatives (some hospitality businesses have held yoga classes for their staff).

Food has often been upheld as the ultimate way to bring people together, but for those providing such dining experiences, food can be an incredibly isolating experience. The heat of the kitchen shouldn’t have to cripple our chefs and restaurateurs. The consequences can be tragic, and it’s important – now more than ever  – at we really, truly do something about it.

Where to get help

Need to talk? Free call or text 1737 any time for support from a trained counsellor.

Lifeline – 0800 543 354 or 09 5222 999 within Auckland.

Samaritans – 0800 726 666.

Suicide Crisis Helpline – 0508 828 865 (0508 TAUTOKO). Open 24/7

Depression Helpline  – 00 111 757 or free text 4202. This service is staffed 24/7 by trained counsellors

Samaritans  – 00 726 666

Healthline – 0800 611 116

Youthline – 0800 376 633. Text 234 for free between 8am and midnight, or email talk@youthline.co.nz.

0800 WHATSUP (0800 9428 787) – Open between 1pm and 10pm on weekdays and from 3pm to 10pm on weekends. Online chat is available from 7pm to 10pm every day at www.whatsup.co.nz.

For more information about support and services available to you, contact the Mental Health Foundation’s free Resource and Information Service on 09 623 4812 during office hours or email info@mentalhealth.org.nz

Resources for improving mental health and wellbeing in your restaurant can also be accessed via the Restaurant Association’s website.