How working with a catering consultant could be a huge money-saver for a hospitality business
Whether to hire a catering consultant or not can be a topic of great debate amongst businesses. Some of your team may be concerned about an initial outlay or ongoing costs. It may feel to some that hiring a consultant to work on a catering project can be costly and raise questions on whether there will there be a return on investment.
One of our consultants, Matthew Merritt-Harrison sometimes feels frustrated by the misconceptions surrounding paying for consultancy. He firmly believes a consultant’s expertise could actually save a business a potential fortune if something went wrong; even worse, not using one could result in a business closing down. One area where he has particular concerns about businesses needing professional advice and support is food safety standards. We asked Matthew to share his thoughts on this topic…
You may remember that recently one of the largest ever fines for breaches of food safety was handed out to a fast-food operator in Leytonstone. It amounted to just under half a million pounds. Whilst it was important that the catering operator was held to account, it raised multiple questions about how the food health and safety standards could be so low. This could have caused a serious risk to public health, so cases like this are extremely important in driving awareness for other businesses.
Many questions come from a case like this, with arguments around who was responsible. There was clearly a failure of operational management, not only in the restaurant, but also from senior management, who failed to identify the issues before they became a problem.
It was important that Environmental Health held the operator to account. However, Environmental Health only became involved after a complaint from a member of the public, who was served rodent faeces with their food. Could the problem have been identified earlier? We know that there is a limit on the amount of resources for inspections, making it hard to respond to all concerns and enquiries, and to spread limited resources to undertake scheduled inspections.
Many large businesses, such as contract caterers, will have their own team of independent inspectors, but budgets and time constraints mean that site visits are limited, sometimes to just one a year.
As someone who has over 25 years’ experience of providing independent, professional catering advice, I believe that the most effective way to uphold food safety and quality standards is a quarterly, independent audit, spending the best part of a day at each site. It’s important to ensure an audit is carried out over a full day to get a good understanding of the procedures and to paint a full picture.
Auditing quality and food safety should not be confrontational, but about working with the caterer for continuous improvement, changing working habits and delivering food, service, quality and health & safety in line with best practice.
So why should you spend your money on a catering consultant? It’s an effective way to maintain the food safety and quality standards in a catering facility. Regular checks, advice and support not only reduce the risk of customers suffering from food poisoning, but also demonstrate due diligence in the event of any potential problems arising.
Given the substantial benefits of using a catering consultant, the question should not be, ‘Why are you spending money on an FCSI catering consultant?’ but, ‘Why are you not?’
About the author
Matthew Merritt-Harrison has over forty years’ management experience in the catering industry. After graduating from the University of Surrey, he held senior roles in both operations and business development for major catering contractors and set up a fine dining division in London.
Matthew has managed an extensive range of consultancy projects since 1995 throughout the UK and in Europe, encompassing catering, cleaning, retail and soft FM. He has a master’s degree in International Hospitality Design and Management Consultancy.
Matthew is a professional member and immediate past chair of the FCSI. He is also a fellow of the Institute of Hospitality and former chair of its audit committee.