Chapter 3: Food productionAimThis chapter aims to outline key considerations in the planning, design,equipping and staffing of foodservice operations.O!ectives The chapter is intended to support you in: "eveloping a systematic approach to the planning, designing, equipping and staffing of foodservice operations #dentifying the factors to e taken into account $hen making operational choices %nsuring compliance $ith health and safety requirements.&eneral considerationsThefoodandeveragemanagerresponsileforalargeoperation,as$ellas dealing $ith staff reporting directly, revie$ing financial performance,monitoring quality standards, overcoming ostacles and fine tuning the operation,also has to consider innovation. Creating ne$ operations,or renovatinge'isting ones, means eing involved in developing ne$ concepts or rethinking oldones. This can include activities such as creating ne$ design, developing ne$ menus,everage lists andrethinking approaches toproduction and service, $hich thenincludes looking for ne$ plant, equipment such as crockery, glass$are, flat$areand cutlery, through to uniforms, and so on.Trends in the international market have an impact on foodservice usinesses so itisnecessarytostayintouch$ithformingtrends.Thedangersfor foodserviceusinesses are that they can flounder ecause too much has een spent on interiordesign that could not e afforded or the usiness has suffered ecause the conceptis not harmonised $ith effective staffing and menu and everage list design. Thereis a tangile relationship et$een the nature of the market, the type of demandeing met and the udget availale. #n a competitive market unless the operationis unique, it has to e more attractive.Customers need a reason for coming to aparticular operation rather than another offering similar products. A systematic approachThesystematicapproachtodesigning, planning,equippingandstaffingofafoodservice operation includes giving consideration to a $ide variety of factors.These can e grouped under si' road headings: The market needs Operational needs (pace allocation and requirements Finance availaility (ustainaility )ygiene, health, safety and security.The market needsThe needs of the market, or rather the need of the estalishment toprovide products to meet the determined market needs, may e ascertained y$orking throughthefirstthreestagesofthefoodservicecycle*seeChapter+,page,-. These are:+. Consideration of the potential market and the needs of the consumer.,. Thedeterminationof policies andtheusiness o!ectives, includingthedeterminationof thescopeof themarket needs that theoperationisintended to serve.3. The interpretation of demand, $hich identifies the type, range and scale ofthe food and everage services to e provided.&iving consideration to and making decisions $ithin the first three stages of thefoodservice cycle, *much of $hich has already een discussed in Chapters + to 3-,a frame$ork $ill have een estalished $ithin $hich systematicconsideration can e given to the planning and design of the facilities for the foodand everage operation and determining the plant, equipment, and staffing required.Operational needs#ncludedintheconsiderationof theplanninganddesignof facilities andthestaffing of the operation, is the determination of the various operational methodsthat $ill or are to e used. This includes: .eceiving and storage methods /roduction systems and methods (ervice system and methods "ining arrangements Clearing methods "ish$ashing methods Control methods "isposal of $aste and $aste products.Themovementoffoodandeveragesthrougha foodserviceoperation shouldfollo$alogicalsequencestarting$ithreceivingandstoragefunctions andcontinuingthroughtothedisposal of $asteproducts and$aste. This caneillustrated as sho$n in Figure The flo$ of materials and staffsOperation aspects also include consideration of, and estalishing, food andeverage control systems. This involves many different areas and individuals $ithina foodservice facility. (pecific areas that should e looked at, and controlprocedures that should e estalished include: Cash control (ales analysis Control of the customers0 ills and receipts Food production forecasting Control over the various storage areas, including refrigeration /urchasing and receiving control /ortion control, and 1uality control./lanningfor thesecontrol mechanisms eforethepro!ect has eencompleted, oreveneforeitisunderconstruction,ishighlyrecommended.Operatorssignificantlyincreasetheirchancesforsuccess$henall oftheseareas have een critically e'amined and sufficient controls have eenestalished. The considerationofoperationalaspectsalsoneedstotakeintoaccountthe customer usage of food and everage service areas. This $ill include issuessuch as access to the premises and facilities such as toilets. #t should also includethe needs of the disaled and of children.Finance availailityThe main financial o!ectives of the operations $ill have een considered understage t$o of the foodservice cycle *determination of policy-. 2nder this stage thefinance availale $ill have een determined. Consideration $ill also have to egiven to: The cost of the space to e used Thepurchasingpolicies, e.g. uyingequipment, leasingequipment,lease3rental, ne$ or used The e'pected life of the operation in terms of the product life cycle andtherefore the e'pected life of the equipment.(pace allocation and requirementsTaking into account the various considerations outlined aove, Tale 4.+gives a rough guide to the space allocation required for different types offoodservice operations.(ustainaility5hen designing or refurishing premises, and $hen selecting equipment, carefulevaluation of potential energy and $ater saving should e a part of each usiness0scost6saving, sustainaility and corporate social responsiility *C(.- strategy. Thisshould also consider the longer6term use of the premises and the equipment. Apartfrom improved environmental credentials and a positive perception of the usinessthereis potential for increasedenergy savings. #nadditionany sustainailityprogrammeisaimedat encouragingreduction, reuseandrecycling, sometimeskno$n as .7 and depicted as in Figure 4.,.Figure: .7 8 .educe, .euse, .ecycle*(ource:developed from C%(A, ,99:-)ygiene, health, safety and securityThe design of foodservice facilities must at all stages reflect the need for safe andhygienic $orking practices. Theearlyinvolvementofthe localenvironmentalhealthofficer*%)O-$illreducetheriskofcostlylateramendmentsearingin mind the legal po$ers of the %)O to close catering premises considered unfit forfood production. (imilarly the local fire officer should e consulted prior to anysignificant alterations or changes of use. (ecurity must also e taken into accountin the design process to allo$for the protection of the premises, stock,equipment, cash, data and of course people *staff and customers-. )ealth and safetyThedualresponsiilityofemployersandemployeesat$orkistoensurethat thepremisesandequipmentaresafeandthattheyarekeptsafesoastopreventaccidents.%mployersneedtoassessanyha;ardsorrisksandimplement procedurestodeal $ithanyaccidents.All employeesshouldreceive training in accident prevention. (afety signs must e used to inform andinstruct people using the premises so as to prevent accidents, or $hat they mustdo in the event of an accident. "eveloping a positive health, safety and hygiene culture#t is an important function of management to develop a culture of safety. &oodmanagement involves stimulating staff interest and motivating them to set goals toachieve the highest standards of hygiene and safety $ithin the organisationFigure:"eveloping a health and safety cultureA positive safety culture estalishes health and safety systems< effectivelyachievingtheculturerequirestimeandeffortfrommanagement. =anagementmust e caring, committed and $ell organised. #t must identify named individuals$ho are competent to guide company policy and kno$ledgeale staff $ho are aleto contriute to the usiness through health and safety committees. A summary ofan approach to the development of a health and safety culture for a foodserviceoperation is given in Figure aove"eveloping health and safety policies=anagementarerequiredtodevelop$orkalepolicies,$hichaddressreal$orkplaceissuesthatareofpracticaluseandaretailoredtotheoperationand processes. )ealth and safety policies should lead to the identification of allpotential ha;ards found$ithintheusiness andattempt todeal $iththem,reducing the risk of in!ury in so far as is reasonaly practicale There is, therefore,an inseparale link et$een policy and risk assessment, the first stage ofdevelopment of a comprehensive health and safety policy. The policy sets do$n a commitment y the company, organisation or operation toencourage food hygiene practices $ithin the organisation. These must e seenaslayingdo$nclearguidelinesando!ectivesformanagementandstaff. (omeof these policies have een modelled closely on health and safety linesgiving a detailed set of road o!ectives $ith guidance in relation toparticular processes. %mphasis must e on clear accurate guidance to ensure thatmemers of the staff comply and that all $ho $ork for the organisation accept thepolicy. (ome estalishments ask staff to sign a formto indicate that theyunderstand the policy andthat they mean to comply $ith its o!ectives tomaintain high standards of hygiene. Failure to comply, once signed, may lead todisciplinary action. The success of the policy must e !udged on the commitmentofthe$orkforce,thereforeeforeformulating anydocumentit isadvisaletoconsult $ith staff. #t is important that any policy is simple to understand and ispractical to operate.Control of sustances ha;ardous to health *CO())-(ustances dangerous to health are laelled very to'ic, to'ic harmful, irritant orcorrosive. 5hile only a small numer of such chemicals are used in foodserviceoperationsforcleaning,personsusingsuchsustancesmustemadea$areoftheircorrectuse,properdilution$hereappropriateandto$earprotectivegoggles, gloves and face masks. #t is essential that memers of staff are trained totake precautions and not to take risks..isk assessment/revention of accidents and preventing food poisoning in foodserviceestalishmentsareessential,thereforeitisnecessarytoassessanypossileha;ard or risk and decide $hat action is to e taken. The purpose ofregularlyassessingthepossiilityof risks andha;ards is topreventaccidents. First it is necessarytomonitor thesituationtohaveregular andrandom checks to oserve that the standards set are eing complied $ith. #t isessential thataninvestigationismadeifanyincidentsoraccidentsoccur. Theinvestigation must aim to track do$n any defects in the system and proceed toremedy these at once. The outcome of the assessment is that potential ha;ards orrisks can e classified under four levels:+. =inimal risk 8 safe conditions $ith safety measures in place.,. (omerisk8acceptalerisk