How an effective cleaning maintenance and food safety program sets up your restaurant for success

Wednesday, March 18th, 2015 - 3:12 am
By Matt Del Vecchio

Success in the restaurant business can be elusive. With the variety and quantity of restaurants available, it is increasingly difficult to attract new clientele and to impress regular customers. The same challenge applies to retaining employees while keeping workers happy and productive.

There are a multitude of factors that contribute to a restaurant’s success. A proactive implementation of an effective cleaning maintenance program and dedication towards food safety can go a long way in setting up your restaurant for long-term success.

Consumer wellness

Canadians spend 24.5 per cent of their household food budget at restaurants. Consumers now have an unlimited choice of food service establishments at their disposal. The easy access to a wealth of knowledge to inform their decisions based on their increased awareness of airborne illnesses as well as reviews and feedback are a mouse click away. As a result, clients are paying more attention to the cleanliness of food service establishments.

Though customers who notice unclean conditions will not complain to a server or manager, they certainly will be talking about it! In an independent nationwide consumer research study, almost 80 per cent of participants said that they mention the tainted experience to family and friends. Seventy per cent said they never returned to that restaurant. With only one third of customers actually complaining to the manager or server, most restaurateurs will never find out why they are losing customers. The statistics leave no doubt that cleanliness plays a crucial role in the success of a restaurant.

Worker wellness

Pleasant working conditions are a key motivational factor for employees. Since employee turnover is undesirable, costly, and time consuming for any business, ensuring better work conditions will improve your bottom line. For a restaurant, however, the cleanliness of the workplace becomes even more valuable. Like customers, employees also talk. Would your employees encourage their friends and family to come and eat at a restaurant if they know that it is dirty and disregards food safety?

Your personnel constitutes an important resource which can also help attract or deter potential customers. By improving the cleanliness of your establishment and encouraging them to participate in its upkeep, you are not only improving productivity and morale, but you will also be improving the overall reputation of your establishment and attracting business.

Kitchen hygiene

Foodborne illnesses cannot be trivialized. Over 8.5 million Canadians develop foodborne illness each year, of which 39,000 end up in the hospital and as many as 600 die. In addition, food poisoning can result in loss of prestige and reputation, lawsuits, increased insurance premiums, lowered employee morale, and professional embarrassment. The good news is that most foodborne illnesses can be prevented through proper hygiene and safe food handling techniques. Below are some helpful tips and reminders:

  • All food contact surfaces used in the preparation, service, display or storage of food should be cleaned, rinsed and sanitized after each use. Try to ‘clean as you go’.
  • Wash, rinse and sanitize: After use, equipment and utensils should be cleaned and sanitized in a three-compartment sink which is deep enough to allow for complete immersion of the items to be washed.

When cleaning, it is important to use the right materials for the job:

  • Dishwashing detergents and liquids are designed to dissolve grease, oil and dirt.
  • Disinfectants and sanitizers are designed to kill germs. These are powerful agents and should not be used indiscriminately.
  • Anti-bacterial hand cleaners can also kill germs.
  • Always clean surfaces first with detergent to remove any grease and dirt, then apply disinfectant or sanitizers to kill any remaining germs. A no rinse sanitizer is recommended due to its convenience and ease of use.

It is critical that your employees be trained to properly use any cleaning system that you choose. With so many different surfaces to disinfect in a restaurant (i.e. counters, sinks, cutting boards, slicers, floors, tables, chairs, bathrooms and more), a line of cleaning products that is illustrated with pictograms and colour-coded for different surfaces will help your employees quickly learn and provide them with a daily reminder of correct use.

Wall charts can also be very effective. Seek a cleaning solution provider who offers training to your employees. A cleaning system that can be customized to fit will provide you with the optimum use of the products purchased and allow you to focus your time and resources on other aspects of your business.

Hand hygiene

Frequent and proper handwashing is an essential part of good kitchen and personal hygiene. Some germs can stay alive on our hands for up to three hours. The use of gloves does not eliminate the need for hand hygiene. Likewise, the use of hand hygiene does not eliminate the need of gloves. Gloves, when changed regularly, reduce hand contamination by 70 to 80 per cent, prevent cross contamination and protect customers and employees from infection. Crucial hand washing times include : when handling or preparing food or utensils, especially when in contact with meat fish, poultry or eggs, as well as after going to the toilet, touching garbage or waste bins and sneezing or coughing.

Get clean

There are many resources that can help you achieve your cleanliness goals. For example, health inspectors, rather than posing a threat, can become a valuable source for suggestions and ways to improve your establishment. Be proud of your accomplishments and educate your customers by hanging food safety certificates in public view, as well as handwashing reminders.

A clean restaurant will, by no means, guarantee success, but it will go a long way in preventing problems, moving you one step closer to reaching your goal. With one less thing to worry about, you can then focus on other areas of your business in order to achieve the level of success that you desire.

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About the author

Matt Del Vecchio is Vice President Foodservice, Avmor Ltd, Canada’s leading provider of professional cleaning solutions.

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