Sponsored Content by ComplianceMate
Food safety is an ongoing concern for foodservice operators across the globe. From international restaurant chain managers to those in charge of hospital food supplies to those serving meals at senior living centers, food safety and profitability are the key goals.
Protecting both the health of patrons and the reputation of an establishment continue to be the core objectives of all Food and Beverage professionals. That is why it is so important to have safeguards in place.
When it comes to reputation, a foodborne illness outbreak can cost an organization anywhere from thousands to millions of dollars, in legal fees as well as reputational damage.
Even a single incident of this nature could put an organization out of business. Consequently, many foodservice establishments have implemented advanced food safety management programs to prevent these kinds of disasters. But not all foodservice professionals realize the further benefits of having food safety technology in place. It extends far beyond merely forestalling lawsuits.
Did you know that an automated, end-to-end food safety management system (FSMS) can also drive measurable cash returns?
Conserving Resources with FSMS Technology
Utilizing an end-to-end food safety system provides cost-cutting benefits across an entire organization. All types of business expenses can be minimized significantly.
Food loss savings
On average, a refrigeration or cold-holding unit will experience catastrophic failure at least once every six years if not monitored. The result? Discarding thousands of dollars of temperature-sensitive food.
Numerous causes for this failure can be proactively monitored, such as equipment failure (e.g., a broken compressor), electrical failure (e.g., a power outage), or human error (e.g., a unit door is left open overnight). With an FSMS that monitors temperatures and generates alerts in real time—a cornerstone of any good food safety technology solution—operators can cut the risk of inventory loss to nearly zero.
Full-time monitoring of these incidents will reduce the amount of food product that must be thrown away when past the proper temperature compliance levels. The result is a substantial savings in overhead costs while ensuring risk mitigation and compliance. The cost of an FSMS is often equal to the amount of one lost freezer of protein.
It’s not only total food loss that operators need to consider. Storing food at improper temperatures can unnecessarily hasten spoilage and shorten the product lifespan. With a food safety system that offers ongoing, real-time insight into equipment performance and behavior, operators can adjust refrigeration settings, monitor equipment maintenance, view optimal operations, and ultimately reduce waste.
Labor savings
A food safety management system can also significantly reduce labor costs. Having digitized workflow checklists is more efficient than pen-and-paper logs. It can take 20 to 30 seconds per item on paper, and there is the potential for human error, while a digital system takes only a few seconds per item, reduces human error, and maintains a digital history. These systems can incorporate twice as many checks in nearly half the time.
An end-to-end food safety system will remove the need for human involvement in data storage and reporting while providing a hierarchical view of the entire operation. Automated temperature sensors wirelessly transmit readings to a gateway for secure upload into a cloud-based dashboard and reporting system. As with digital checklists, these devices allow a foodservice facility to dispense with manual logging procedures, which are vulnerable to accidental or deliberate falsification, and free up time for other tasks.
When the full range of high-tech FSMS tools are properly implemented, it’s not uncommon to see a 50% or greater reduction in labor expended on compliance-related paperwork.
Greater savings
Businesses that use FSMS technology will likely see a reduction in foodborne disease claims, due either to better safety practices or evidentiary documentation showing the incident was not caused by the negligence of the foodservice establishment. That alone can eliminate thousands of dollars in claims paid out annually.
It’s also often possible to realize significant power savings thanks to increased efficiency in refrigeration units resulting from temperature sensor data provided by the system. While investments in an end-to-end food safety system can be perceived as unrecoverable expenses, it’s imperative to consider the protection and direct savings generated over time.
The ComplianceMate™ Advantage
The ComplianceMate™ food safety management system gives your operations the tools needed to maintain HACCP compliance and reduce operational inefficiencies that cut into your budget.
LoRaWAN® IoT Technology
The ComplianceMate system incorporates LoRaWAN® IoT wireless sensors that continuously monitor temperatures of your food storage units. Additionally, the digital checklists ensure that all inspection tasks are completed properly and according to schedule and compliance mandates, while preserving relevant data for future internal and external audits, as needed. Checklists can always be customized for your particular compliance specifications.
Risk mitigation
The ComplianceMate system works proactively, detecting potentially serious issues as soon as they develop and instantly transmitting alerts to relevant personnel. That means it’s possible to take corrective action before it impacts your bottom line.
Because the system is designed to preserve temperature and other operational data over the long term, it’s possible to use this information to detect potential problems in their very early stages.
One example of using data in this way is analyzing temperature variations of storage units over time. If the average daily temperature of the unit is gradually decreasing, it could be a sign that the equipment, or a certain vital component connected to it, is wearing out. It’s certainly better to spend money fixing a malfunctioning unit before you find yourself with large amounts of spoiled food—and have an even bigger repair bill to pay.
Workflow efficiency
ComplianceMate’s digital checklists provide labor-saving aid with a variety of customizable workflow checklists containing built-in corrective actions for quick resolution. For new hires, these digital checklists are valuable onboarding and training tools, carefully leading inexperienced employees through each task needing to be completed. The automated checklists ensure faster, more efficient completion of all tasks within the required time frames.
Food safety technology isn’t just for preventing catastrophic incidents. It’s also powerfully effective in providing a wide range of data analytics to help streamline your entire operation to help increase profits and efficiency.
About ComplianceMate
Through a patented combination of wireless temperature sensors, mobile technologies, and easy-to-use tools built for the modern commercial kitchen, ComplianceMate gives its users total control over workflows, food safety, and compliance in all types of foodservice establishments. Clients can make evidence-based decisions about kitchen processes and staff training. Users see a rapid ROI from significant labor and food waste savings, as well as improved audit scores.
Come visit ComplianceMate at HRC 2022 in London!
