11th Mar 2009 - 00:00
Abstract
Probably accounting for a relatively small proportion of costs in most food service operations, cleaning and hygiene has a much bigger impact on the business. We look at how caterers should put it higher on the agenda.
It's tempting to try and cut corners when times are tight but increasingly stringent regulations, greater awareness of food safety and initiatives - such as Scores on the Doors - should be reason enough to take cleanliness and appearance seriously. And there's a good business reason too as revealed by independent research commissioned by JohnsonDiversey. Over one third of people who enter a dirty restaurant will leave immediately and a further 23 per cent will order but leave before completing their meal. The company's market manager (foodservice and contract catering) Rachel Powell, says: "Most customers won't tell the restaurant manager but will tell their friends and also say they will never return. So hygiene is important to your business and choosing and using the right cleaning supplier has big implications. "Suppliers spend a lot of time developing products for specific applications and your investment in them will be wasted if you don't use them correctly. If you don't read the label it won't do what it says on the tin. So if the label says apply and leave for a specific time, do just that. "Simply spraying and wiping straight away might not always get the best results and will waste product and money. Devise a regime that, for example, allows you to clean larger areas or more tables so that you can keep working while giving products a chance to get stuck into the grime. The instructions are there for a reason. "It makes sense to keep on top of cleaning and complete routine jobs every day. Cleaning as you go is better for overall hygiene and food safety but will also reduce or eliminate the need for costly deep cleans when dirt, grime and scale have built up unnecessarily. "Another trick is to select products with dual-action properties, such as cleaning and odour elimination, to reduce the number of separate tasks and avoid buying extra items. "It's surprising how much cleaning spend is wasted through inappropriate use of products. Research has shown that when staff are allowed to dilute by pouring from a container they over-dose by as much as 66 per cent which is very wasteful. "Incorrect dilution also leads to poor results which can cause bad hygiene or leave the unsightly residues on hard surfaces, crockery or cutlery that are a real turn-off for customers. In fact, our research showed cleanliness of cutlery was the third most important factor for customers. "This is one of the reasons why many JohnsonDiversey products are supplied as concentrates for use with a controlled dosing system. With these each refill of a spray bottle or sink for dishwashing is always prepared at the optimum dilution for tip-top performance and there is no wasted product, helping control costs. "Basic dosing equipment is relatively inexpensive and a spray bottle of hard surface sanitiser, for example, prepared using concentrates costs around 12p whereas the equivalent ready-to-use product is £1 or more from a cash-and-carry or wholesaler. "Concentrates are also good for improving sustainability with reduced waste and related disposal costs. This is because more chemical is stored in smaller containers and water is only added at the point of use.
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