Saw a bakery owner yell at a 16 year old for dropping a tray of croissants

Was picking up supplies at Restaurant Depot yesterday morning and witnessed this scene. This kid probably works after school, slips on a wet spot near the freezer, and sends like 30 croissants flying. The owner starts screaming at him in front of everyone about wasting dough and time. Kid looked like he wanted to quit on the spot. I get that product costs money but we've all messed up in a hot kitchen. Every baker I know has dropped something or ruined a batch. How do you guys handle mistakes with your crew or apprentices? Do you charge them for waste or just write it off as training cost?

3 comments

3 Comments

colegarcia5d ago

Gotta disagree, that's just bad management and bad vibes for the whole crew.

garcia.cameron5d ago

Not sure I totally agree here. The kid messed up and yeah, public shaming isn't cool, but sometimes a boss snapping in the moment is human nature when you're losing product and money. It's not great but it's not automatically abusive either. I've seen owners who are too chill about mistakes and then the kitchen gets sloppy because nobody cares. There's a middle ground where you show you're annoyed but don't destroy the kid's confidence. The real problem is that owner probably has zero patience built up and that's a pattern that will drive good people away eventually. But acting like one yell costs the business more than the waste is a stretch, sometimes people need a wake up call to be more careful.

hernandez.gavin5d ago

That kid was probably making minimum wage, maybe ten bucks an hour. A tray of croissants might cost the bakery five or six dollars in ingredients. So the owner yelled at him over maybe half an hour of his pay. What nobody seems to talk about is how that kind of public shaming actually costs the business more in the long run. A good kid who feels humiliated is likely to quit, and then you have to spend time and money finding and training a whole new person. Plus the other employees see that and keep their heads down, which kills any teamwork in the kitchen. Best move is to just say "it happens, watch the floor next time" and move on.