Residents allegedly find caterpillar in Foood

An incident involving a dissatisfied customer finding a caterpillar in her salad, and being unhappy with the restaurant’s response, recently played itself out on Facebook.

Debbie Mortimer posted on the Randpark Ridge Community page that she took her boys for a waffle at Foood Randridge Mall. While eating her salad, she alleged that she encountered a “random French fry” and later a worm, or caterpillar. When she allegedly drew the manager’s attention to the issue, she said that he had a “smug little smile” and allegedly shrugged off the incident.

When she stood up to escort her son’s friend away from the table, she alleged that the manager told her that before she left, she had to pay for the waffles. She refused. The manager in turn allegedly threatened to phone the police. Mortimer countered that she would post the incident on Facebook, to which the manager is alleged to have said “be my guest, Madam”.

After a public backlash and debate across the social media platform, Adries Blom came forward. Commenting on the same Facebook post, he identified himself as the owner of the Foood Group. Blom said, “I am the owner of the FOOOD Group. I was made aware of the incident that Ms. Debbie Mortimer was involved with at the Randridge Mall branch on Friday afternoon 21 August 2015. I have already addressed it with the staff at Randridge Mall and corrective measures were already put in place. I would like to place on record that we have been involved with Foood in Cresta for more than 19 years and in Randridge Mall for more than 9 years. We have always been very serious and proud about our product and customer service. I would like to make use of this opportunity to sincerely apologise to Ms. Mortimer and her family for the unfortunate incident. We will also be in contact with Ms. Mortimer in person.”