Throughout urban Guyana, restaurants, Creole shops, and fast food services are being established daily and these food establishments are quickly spreading to the rural areas. The general purpose of these businesses is to fulfill the need for “quick foods” by consumers who avoid the hassle of preparing such foods themselves.
The sporadic establishment of restaurants and fast food services locally has created the need for the implementation of standards into the operation of these businesses which would ensure that the foods prepared and services provided to consumers are wholesome, safe and reliable. Over time, this would widen the gamut of reputable restaurants and fast food establishments available to consumers.
The implementation of the Code of Practice for Quality management in the restaurant service (GCP 17:2003) into the operations of restaurants and other fast food businesses is a major step towards the efficiency and a commitment to satisfying customers’ needs, wants and expectations.
This code of practice specifies the managerial requirements necessary to ensure the efficient running of any restaurant establishment which seeks to ensure quality in the sight of its customers. As such, restaurants implementing this standard will consistently satisfy theirs customers, have high productivity and their service would become more competitive at the local and international levels.
As a requirement in the standard, businesses must establish a quality system which mainly focuses on marketing to understand customers’ wants and expectations, design and preparation of the product, and service delivery to customers.
The Code of Practice also addresses many other requirements which can prevent service inefficiency and unreliability, and foods that are undesirable and unsafe for consumption. These requirements include personnel, material resources, internal and external communication, system of checking, contractual arrangements, advertising, design and development of new products, quality control, documentation and data control, purchasing, process control, corrective and preventive actions and handling, storage, packaging and delivery.
Restaurants and other food establishments are encouraged to acquire a copy of this Code of Practice from the Guyana National Bureau of Standards and implement the requirements therein to ensure that they have viable and sustainable businesses that meet their customers’ requirements. For further information on this subject, please contact the GNBS on Telephone Numbers: 219-0065, 219-0066
