NCCO International 
Running a safe and efficient restaurant kitchen is no walk in the park. There are a hundred things everyday restaurant managers, chef, and staff must address to ensure kitchen operations stay on track.
This is true across all types of restaurants – from fast food to fast casual to full service and fine dining. Many of the day-to-day issues are the same. The higher the volume, however, the more important it is to be efficient – streamlining the prep, ordering, and order fulfillment process is crucial to success when a thousand people are ordering from apps and waiting for a quick bite in the middle of the workday.
Food safety becomes even more important when dealing with takeaway and to-go packaging – restaurant staff should always know they have done everything in their power to ensure a safe and delicious meal once the order leaves the store.
Food Safety
What are restaurants are doing to increase safety? There a several ways a restaurant can ensure their cooking and serving practices are as a safe as possible, as outlined by the World Health Organization:
- Make sure food is cooked thoroughly.
- Cooked foods must be reheated thoroughly as well.
- Serve cooked foods as quickly as possible.
- Proper storage of cooked foods.
- Don’t let raw foods and cooked foods come in contact.
- Wash your hands constantly.
- Keep all kitchen surfaces clean.
It’s the Law
Ensuring your restaurant guests have the best possible experience is only part of the reason why food safety is so important. Food safety is required by law. While every state has different standards, your restaurant kitchen must be in compliance should the health inspector come knocking.
Failure to comply can result in hefty fines, or worse – your restaurant could be shut down. Learn more about restaurant safety protocols state-by-state here: State Retail and Food Service Codes and Regulations by State
Boost Efficiency
Once you know your kitchen is as safe and clean as it can possibly be, it’s time to start thinking about efficiency.
This is the fun part. There are always new and creative ways to make your restaurant more efficient. Whether it’s food waste, time management, or stocking inventory, ensuring things are running as smoothly as possible is the key to success for any restaurant.
What are restaurants are doing to increase efficiency in the kitchen?
- Smart menu development – use produce and ingredients that are easy to find and readily available, and dishes that are easy to prep.
- Manage your inventory – always know what you have and when to use it, and make sure you are managing stock rotation in and out of freezers, walk-ins and pantries.
- Prep procedures are key – Checklists for staff to reference during a rush helps the prep process become a routine that is easy to follow and keeps back of house on course.
- Treat kitchen equipment with respect – If an important tool or piece of equipment breaks down the whole kitchen operation can collapse. It is important to Keep up with certified inspections for walk-ins, freezers, ovens and grill.
- Establish strict cleaning routines – A strict cleaning routines will keep small cleanup jobs from turning into larger, time-consuming projects. – all areas of the kitchen must be cleaned thoroughly at the end of every shift.
Tools of the Trade
NCCO several kitchen solutions to ensure your kitchen is running as efficiently as possible – and won’t be hit with any food safety violations as well.
Labeling Operations
Some solutions are simple. By keeping track of prep, sell-by, and use-by dates, DateIt™ Food Rotation Labels allow service operations to eliminate unnecessary food waste, keep inventory organized, and avoid food safety violations.
NCCO’s line of SecureIt™ tamper-evident labels feature special cut marks that break if meddled with to provide extra peace of mind for customers ordering delivery and takeout.
Browse NCCO’s wide selection of products to make your kitchen safer, and more efficient, today.
Browse NCCO’s wide selection of products to make your kitchen safer, and more efficient, today.
Always Food Safe food safety training videos
Proper food safety training starts on day one. With comprehensive, multilingual, and ANSI-accredited food safety videos, restaurant staff will have the knowledge they need to treat the kitchen, and everything in it, with the respect and attention it deserves.
This also helps the kitchen ensure that everything is in order should health inspectors come calling. Your staff at the frontlines against foodborne illness after all. The Always Food Safe video program for Food Manager, Food Handler, and Allergen Awareness licensing means your restaurant will always meet state and federal standards for safety.