Dubai: A new café in Dubai is giving customers a neat deal: they can have their cake and eat it too, literally.
Customers at the Fraiche Café & Bistro can eat as much as they want and get their bills waived if they do their own dishes. What’s more, the bills’ value is donated to a charity.
The unique offer at the cafe which officially opened on September 3 in Cluster Y of Jumeirah Lake Towers, is valid from September 11 to 14. It is part of a campaign launched by Unilever and Vileda to support Water Aid, a global charity that provides access to clean water in less developed countries.
The campaign titled ‘Wipe your bill clean for Water Aid’ has a surprise element built into it. Customers discover the deal only at the end of their meal. The waitress who brings the bill provides them the option of either paying or doing dishes. “We wanted to give customers a pleasant surprise,” said Yousef Al Barqawi, the 29-year-old Jordanian owner of the café. “We want to see a sense of community and embraced the campaign to support a charitable cause.”
Although the restaurant is popular with office-goers during the week, families with children are also expected to throng the place during the weekend. Those who take up the offer get to do the cleaning with ‘Lux Sunlight’ dishwashing liquid and a ‘Vileda’ sponge - products supplied by sponsors. A takeaway bag with the two items is also given to them when they leave.
Asif Memon, Marketing Manager (Homecare) of Unilever said: “We have launched this as a pilot and will be scaling up the project next year. The campaign proceeds will go to Water Aid.”
The organisers said nearly 768 million people in the world do not have access to safe water and around 700,000 children die every year from diarrhea caused by unsafe water and poor sanitation. “Just Dh80 can provide one person with access to safe water, improved hygiene and sanitation.”
