Certified Food Protection Manager Archives

January 3, 2022December 9, 2021

How Certified Food Managers Can Deal with Supply Shortages

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?

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?

December 27, 2021December 9, 2021

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

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. — *Image credit: pxhere*

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?

December 13, 2021December 9, 2021

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

2022 Resolutions Every Food Safety Manager

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.

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:

Handwashing Procedures
Time and Temperature Control
Bare Hand Contact Rules

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?

November 22, 2021November 6, 2021

Private Onsite Food Safety Management Training Revisited

For the past year and a half, food production businesses have relied on online food safety management classes as a primary source of training. Now that we can return to normal activities, we’re seeing food safety manager candidates return to the classroom and the opportunity to bring certification classes to your local food business can be expanded through private onsite food safety management training.

Private Food Safety Management Training Onsite

While making sure you have certified f ood protection manager coverage for your facility via online or classroom training meets the standards and provides a wealth of knowledge to students who take the courses, many food businesses can gain even more benefits through a customized food safety management class. Some perks include:

Training multiple CFPMs at the same time
Saves travel time by having the course at your location
Scheduling on your time
Unique training tailored to your business

Convenience is one of the biggest benefits of customized training. If you can provide the site for food safety management training, the staff that attends will know the location well and you’ll be able to schedule around their training accordingly. With remote classes, you may have to work around an already set class schedule, limiting your flexibility to send employees who require certification. Onsite customized food management training works on your timetable giving you the scheduling advantage.

At an in-person food training session, you learn everything you need to know to pass the certification test to become a CFPM and keep the food you serve safe, but a customized training session can offer a more directed training session. With a customized training session, your staff will not only be able to pass the certified food protection manager exam, but they’ll also learn how to directly apply the knowledge they’ve learned to the type of food business you operate.

Finally, private food safety management training offers large food businesses the opportunity to prepare multiple candidates for the CFPM exam. If you have multiple locations or require several CFPMs, an onsite class can train them all at the same time.

Are you interested in private food safety management training at your facility? Get more about Safe Food Training customized training classes here.