How Certified Food Managers can Deal with Supply Shortages

How Certified Food Managers Can Deal with Supply Shortages

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During certified food manager training, we have time to discuss general food service issues beyond food safety, and we’re hearing a lot of students vent their frustrations with supply chain issues. It seems that many suppliers are having a hard time getting certain ingredients, cleaning supplies and other essentials to restaurants and other food service businesses that need them. What should certified food managers do in the wake of our recent supply shortages?

How Certified Food Managers can Deal with Supply Shortages
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Solutions for Supply Chain Shortages for Certified Food Managers

Supply shortages resulting in not receiving all the ingredients necessary in order to produce every item on your menu disappoints not only certified food managers, but your loyal customers who attempt to order a menu item only to be told that it is unavailable or will be altered in some way that doesn’t quite resemble their expectations. In order to prevent customer frustration, it might be wise to:

  • Inform guests of substituted or unavailable items when seated
  • Include a printed list of unavailable ingredients in menu
  • Design specials out of items in stock to create more choices
  • Reduce menu size to compensate for commonly out of stock ingredients

Most of our patrons have been to the grocery store and been unable to find certain food items they commonly use at home, so they’ll usually be pretty understanding if they are aware of the situation ahead of time. Frustrations will start to arise when they place their order only to find they have to make another selection. It even gets worse when they’ve already ordered and a server informs them their dish is unavailable after time has passed, so make sure all of your staff is up to date on shortages in the kitchen.

When it comes to cleaning supply shortages, it’s vital that certified food managers have everything you need in order to sanitize, stock handwashing stations and clean your facilities. While you may be able to 86 mozzarella sticks or braised sea bass, you cannot 86 hand soap or sanitizer solutions. If your supplier is unable to provide essential cleaning supplies, a certified food manager should do their due diligence by searching warehouse clubs, other restaurant suppliers or even grocery stores in order to ensure your facility can still produce food safely without risk of contamination from bacteria, viruses or raw protein products.

Have you been affected by recent supply shortages?

Certified Food Protection Managers can Improve Morale

How Certified Food Protection Managers can Improve Morale in the New Year

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It’s been a tough couple of years for the food industry. Many have lost their jobs due to the pandemic and some have moved to other sectors leaving a strain on food business to find adequate staffing. With food service workers taking on longer hours or working in short staffed kitchens, it may be hard to keep a high level of morale in your establishment. Let’s look at a few ways certified food protection managers can improve morale and keep your employees happy under stressful circumstances.

How Certified Food Protection Managers can Improve Morale by visiting another restaurant or lounge for games, darts, pool or simply hanging out as a team.
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Tips for Certified Food Protection Managers to Improve Morale

Most of our nation’s food businesses are struggling to hire and maintain employees due to a number of issues as a result of the recent pandemic, and Minnesota is no exception. Food cost is on the rise, many customers are still avoiding public settings and profit margins are falling for the average food business, so many eating establishments are struggling with morale issue at every level. Just what can certified food protection managers do to improve the morale in the work environment?

There’s a few very simple thing managers can do to boost the morale of overworked employees or those that simply cannot find enough hours:

  • Shift meals
  • Extended break times
  • Fun group activities before or after shifts
  • Vouchers for family discounts on meals

Hungry employees are generally unhappy employees, especially when under the duress of a long or short-staffed shift. Providing a staff meal can go a long way to keeping your staffs stomachs full and morale high. Shift meals can also often help with reducing waste. Serving outgoing specials or menu items to the staff will keep product from rotting in the walk-in or ending up in the dumpster. There are also many cost effective meals you can exclusively provide to your staff that won’t take a toll on food costs using common ingredients already in your inventory. We’ve also seen many restaurants extend in-person dining coupons or family discounts to their employees to give them an opportunity to visit when they’re off the clock and support their place of business.

It may also be a good idea to schedule optional group activities with your staff before or after work shifts. Not only will these activities help with team building, but they’ll also boost morale as a whole among your staff. Try visiting another restaurant or lounge for games, darts, pool or simply hanging out as a team.

Certified food protection managers at understaffed kitchens may want to consider improving morale by extending break times by a few minutes or scheduling an extra 10 minutes for stressed and exhausted workers to step away from the line for a few moments. It doesn’t have to be much, but a few extra minutes can work wonders.

Do you have other suggestions for ways certified food protection managers can improve morale in your kitchen during trying times?

Deck the Halls with protocols

Deck The Halls With Protocols

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By Tim Niles, Safe Food Training Lead Trainer and Poet Laureate

It’s late in December
Santa is loading his slay
But he is still concerned
COVID will ruin the day

This crazy year
Has come with a twist
Santa had to create
A much different list

Image credit: lacheev via 123rf

Daily COVID testing
For both Santa and elves
Has disrupted the supply chain
For stocking the shelves

The reindeer are practicing
Takeoffs and landings
But they are all wearing masks
And it has proved quite demanding

If we run into fog
While pulling the sleigh
A mask covered Rudolph
Will not save the day

Image credit: tom19275 via 123rf

And entering countries
Is getting quite hard
Some want a negative test
And a vaccination card

All of the rituals
Are getting too weird
You try to eat cookies
Through a mask covered beard

How about the mistletoe
A cherished tradition…
It’s just not quite the same
With a plastic partition

Being dressed up in a mall
With a child in my lap
Has been replaced with a Zoom call
Where I look like crap

With the polar ice cap
That is currently cracking
I should skip the whole thing
And get started packing

But just when you think
That Santa might quit
Mrs. Claus rescues the day
By throwing a fit

Think of the kids
And all they’ve been through
They all had to adapt
And be flexible too

So eat a big dinner
And get on the suit
Or else your behind
Will find my foot with a boot

Santa came to his senses
Put a smile on his face
And let his kindness make the world
A much better place

The presents are coming
So no need to fret
But with backorders everywhere
You’ll get what you get

So enjoy all you can
With no more complaining
Happy Holiday to you all
From Safe Food Training

2022 Resolutions Every Food Safety Manager

New Year’s Training Resolutions Every Food Safety Manager Should Make

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2022 is almost upon us, and the time has come to reflect on the past year and set goals for the next one. With that in mind, we feel that 2022 should be the year that every every food safety manager focuses on staff food safety training as part of their New Year’s Resolution. We can join together with other MN certified food protection Managers in an effort to make our food service community the most knowledgeable and safest in the country.

2022 Resolutions Every Food Safety Manager
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Simple Resolutions Every Food Safety Manager can Use to Improve Food Safety Training

When it comes to food safety training, January is a great time commit to a focus on training and the best way to start the new year is to start with the basics. Basic food safety training can go by the wayside over time, so make sure you and your staff review:

It may sound like basic common sense in the food industry, but these three things are the most effective tools we have to prevent foodborne illness. Resolve to not let food safety basics fall by the wayside in 2022.

Another very simple way to resolve to improve your staff’s food safety training knowledge base is to take advantage of food code fact sheets. The Minnesota Department of Health has a fact sheet for nearly any food safety rule that applies to your establishment. Print off copies and post them where appropriate for a quick reminder or store them in a readily available notebook for easy reference.

Finally, nothing beats food safety training from an industry expert. Rather than rely on your previous training, resolve to bring in an expert for a custom training session or send additional staff members to gain their certified food protection manager’s certificate. Nothing will prepare your establishment to protect your guests like training from industry leaders.

Do you have any New Year’s resolutions for 2022?