Hoteliers are focussing more on food safety

Eating out is no longer a rare activity you do with your family to celebrate an occasion. It has become a regular feature in our way of life. But what if eating out comes at the cost one's health? Risk of food borne Illness is very real and very serious. Hoteliers think that if their patrons fall ill after eating there, the worst thing that the patron can do is to not visit that establishment again. That's not what happens.

The new law empowers consumer to register complaints against any hotelier. The Food Safety & Standards Authority of India has introduced a reward scheme to promote this. This is a very progressive step by the law, but maybe misused by some consumers. Some consumers may threaten to report the hotelier for every small lapse. They could demand a free meal or even worse, a compensation. This will put the hotelier in a dilemma.

A hotelier's worst nightmare is a consumer who can also be a potential threat.

I have been working with many hoteliers from Andheri East especially to enable them counter these threats. Over the last one year they have started to realise that external third party consultants and trainers can help them to improve their food safety, enrich their customer experience and enhance their brand.

ADVANTAGES OF CONSULTANTS

Specialists - third party consultants are specialists in their domain. They have worked in it for many years and have tremendous amount of experience which can add a lot of value to the hoteliers. Experienced consultants have a lot of examples and real life situations which can be shared with hoteliers which makes the training and consulting very interesting for the participants and enables them to connect better.

Economical - Once a month is cheaper than having one on your payroll. Another problem of having a senior person with a lot of experience on your payroll is that you have to offer them interesting work most of the time. This is not easy as it sounds. A senior consultant loves working with multiple companies as every new company has a different set of challenges.

According to me, the following areas in which hoteliers can use external guidance.

FSSAI Compliance - It is a new law. Most hoteliers still haven't understood. A FSSAI consultant can help them to prepare the food safety management system (FSMS Plan), which is mandatory by FSSA. He can also apply for the FSSAI License.

GAP Audit - The consultant can also conduct a GAP Audit to find out what gaps exist in the system and help the Hotelier to close them quickly and effectively.