As a Campaign Partner for the Food Standards Agency, I love celebrating and spreading the word about great food businesses. Those who take their food hygiene and the safety of their customers seriously.  In obtaining a Food Hygiene Rating Scheme score of 5 these business pay much more than lip service to food safety standards.  Here are 5 ways how a Very Good Food Hygiene and Rating Scheme score helps to keep the doors open on your food business.

1. Attract walk by customers

Over the past few years the Food Standards Agency (FSA) has increasingly run consumer campaigns aimed at raising awareness of the Food Hygiene Rating Scheme (FHRS) and what the  scores stand for.  Their #WheresTheSticker campaign educated consumers further, alerting people to check for the sticker and query why one is not displayed. The suggestion that a missing sticker is worthy of further investigation may well make people either look for somewhere else to eat where they don’t have to a) take a risk or b) ask an awkward question.

2. Re-assure returning customers looking to book

Similar FSA campaigns have focused on their online ratings database which allows the FHRS score of a specific food business to be checked.  This has also included stressing that just because it’s your favourite restaurant/cafe/pub etc, the food looks and tastes wonderful and the service is excellent does not mean the food preparation areas are hygienic, clean or up to standard.

3.  Attract and keep good staff

Exercising good management standards and providing food safety training (I can help here) and supervision to ensure they are met creates a good working environment where good people feel valued and proud about where they work. Well performing people will happily commit to working in high quality food businesses and happy staff make happy customers.  Losing a key or talented member of staff is more than just a shame, it’s costly in both time and the expense of advertising, selecting and retraining.  Plus what view of your business is that past employee giving to their friends and family.

4.  Stand out on social networks

Acquiring and retaining a FHRS score of 5 gives you loads to shout about. For a start your Local Authority may post your score on social media.  To help, the FSA provides a toolkit that includes downloadable digital images and graphics widgets that can be used on your website and social media. These catchy graphics will attract attention on a timeline and help to tell consumers that you have scored a 5.  There are also static images that can be added to menus, flyers and paper adverts.

5.  Free Exposure

Campaign Partners for the FSA (such as I) may come and offer you the opportunity to participate in one of their consumer focused campaigns.  This could be featuring your food business in local or national blogs, news articles and social media campaigns.  A recent example of this was Green Sisters Ltd’s Geeta and Reena Salhan, who I chose to feature in 2018’s Food Safety Week Protecting Your Plate campaign because of their FHRS score of 5 and allergy free products.

So now you can see how putting the effort into gaining and/or retaining your FHRS 5 helps you to compete and not just comply as a food business.

I have sourced and agreed discounts with external training providers for accredited, online Level 1, Level 2 and Level 3 Food Hygiene and Safety and Allergen Awareness courses.  I have created this club to help smaller, independent businesses like yours take advantage of discounts that usually accompany larger orders.

For more information please contact me through this website link or call 0333 358 3084.