As the curtain begins to descend on Tourism Awareness Month 2022 under the theme “All Sectors, One Tourism”, we shift our focus to the food industry, which is celebrating Guyana Restaurant Week (GRW) from November 25-December 4, 2022. Many restaurants have signed up to participate in the culinary event by preparing their most delicious and aesthetically pleasing dishes to attract customers for a fine dining experience.
This is the 15th season of the GRW and while it is known that food brings people together in a way nothing else can, the quality of service that a restaurant offers, is just as crucial as the taste of the food it prepares. To guarantee long term quality service, the Guyana National Bureau of Standards (GNBS) can assist restaurants and other food establishments to implement standards which streamline their processes, boost customer confidence and in turn have them wanting more.
Restaurateurs, particularly, can implement the requirements of the National Standard – Code of Practice for Quality Management in the Restaurant Services (GCP 17:2003). This standard is a document whichcan be used to guide the preparation of wholesome foods and the delivery of safe and reliable services.
According to its scope, the code of practice specifies the managerial requirements necessary to ensure the efficient running of any restaurant establishment. It addresses customers’ satisfaction, high productivity, and competitive service along with other key areas for a successful business.
Restaurant owners, managers, and employees all share the responsibility to ensure that customers are treated professionally. As it relates to service, the document notes that the establishments shall have basic guidelines which include an evaluation of the service provided against acceptable standards. In this regard, it emphasises that there are three aspects of quality management in the food service that affect the customer, which are personnel, material resources and effective operation.
Further, the standard requires businesses to establish a quality system, which should mainly focus on marketing to understand the needs and expectations of customers. The system will also help them to develop workable designs for the preparation of food and service delivery.
The Code of Practice also addresses many other requirements, which can prevent service inefficiency and unreliability, and the provision of foods that are undesirable and unsafe for consumption. These requirements relate to personnel, material resources, internal and external communication, system of checking, contractual arrangements, advertising, and design and development of new products.
Additionally, conformance to the requirements of the Code will improve quality control, documentation and data control, purchasing, process control, corrective and preventative actions and handling, storage, packaging and delivery of foods prepared.
Finally, implementing the Code of practice for restaurant services can be a timely response to the challenges many local food establishments are currently facing. Using the document to streamline and improve many of the aforementioned processes within establishments could result in customer preference for the offerings of conforming businesses. Hence, with increased preference and demand, conforming food establishments will rake in more revenue crucial for growth and sustainability.
For further information on this subject, please contact the GNBS on Telephone Numbers: 219-0064-66, WhatsApp 692-GNBS (4627) or follow us on Facebook #GNBSGY
