Advice

Profit by putting food on board

By Poppleston Allen

- Last updated on GMT

Profit by putting food on board

Related tags Food Food safety Food standards agency Hazard analysis and critical control points

You might now be thinking about your business plans for the new year, and what you could do to differentiate your offering from that of your competitors.

Something that you might be considering is either adding, or enhancing, your food offering.

Now might be perfect timing for such a move because research suggests 60% of people order food when visiting a pub.

Obviously this won’t be right for every operation. You might well be running a successful wet-led operation and don’t want to dilute your offering by adding food.

But it’s hard to ignore the pub-going public’s growing demand for quality food; a trend most noticeable when you look at something like the humble hamburger, which seems to have been replaced by the more exotic and expensive ‘gourmet burger’ on most pub menus up and down the land.

There is also a growing appetite for using technology to order food; with at least one mobile app allowing you to order and pay from your chair.

And because people generally spend about 20% more when using an app compared to cash, taking advantage of the increasing quality food trend and technology might seem like a match made in heaven.

Here are some legal considerations if you want to ride the food wave next year and enhance or add a kitchen to your operation.

Licensing

If your new food concept involves increasing the size of your kitchen, or adding a new one, this needs to be shown on your licensing plans. To do this, you’ll need to submit an application to your local authority.

The forms you need are usually available on their website.

Environmental

Something you might not have considered if you are adding a kitchen are the noise and odours from the plant you might need to install.

Things like air conditioning units and extractor fans can cause local residents to make representations against your plans.

Food allergens

If you are going to start serving food, then you need to be aware of the allergen awareness regulations; a new but important piece of legislation.

This is a serious subject because, according to the Food Standards Agency, about 10 people die every year from food-induced anaphylaxis. And statistics from the Department for Environment, Food & Rural

Affairs show that food allergen incidents rose 42% in 2014 alone.

The safety of your food

Another consideration for you is food safety. This might sound obvious, but the safety of the food your serve, and the consequences if something is contaminated, is very serious.

As a minimum, you should have a HACCP system (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point). This identifies the highest risk areas of the food operation and how those risks will be controlled. This includes the handling and storage of food as well as checking systems to make sure food is cooked properly and is not used beyond its sell-by date.

And you should always have documented evidence of all training as well as records of any checks carried out and cleaning undertaken.

Health and safety

Any extension of existing facilities or addition of a new kitchen will necessitate a review of all health-and-safety policies and procedures, with emphasis on risk assessments associated with the use of the kitchen.

Building control/planning

Make sure that any contractors you employ to carry out the construction works have made the appropriate applications in respect of building control and planning.

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