The modernisation of the food industry | The Tool Shed

The modernisation of the food industry

Running a busy and successful restaurant business certainly has its challenges. It’s a fast paced and high pressured environment without much room for error. Thankfully there have been advances over the years to make things easier, and we’re not just talking about our sous vide machines which give perfection on a plate every time!

Government set safety standards and guidelines ensure the safety of customers and staff alike, and are a vital part of the food industry. They give a benchmark of standard for businesses to aim for, and give a clear framework for those working in the food industry, in businesses from restaurants to hotels and catering firms. However, due to a reliance on old fashioned methods of documentation (pen and paper), some businesses could be doing themselves a disservice when it comes to inspections.

Any business operating within the food industry has to demonstrate that it has an appropriate HACCP-based food safety management system in place, which sounds simple enough and whilst you may be following strictly to the rules and checking everything is as it should be, not documenting this correctly can be detrimental. The majority of the general public will be unaware of the fact that a lack of documentation, a few misplaced papers or an incorrectly filled out form can actually result in food establishments being given poor food hygiene ratings when visited by representatives from official food standard bodies. A public perception that a restaurant is dirty, even when the reality is that they simply could not find the relevant documents when asked by food standards officers, can be a death knell for a business – so how can those in the industry reduce the chance of this happening?

Let’s say you’re a small restaurant. Statistics suggest that you’ll have a paper system in place for your required SFBB (safer food, better businesses) packs. It’s no surprise as to why when you see that this is the suggested protocol on the official food.gov.uk guidelines but is pen and paper really the best way for your business? Is that piece of paper that you have filled in diligently going to be misplaced, knocked from the counter onto the floor and thrown away? We store so much of our lives electronically now, so it makes sense to do the same with documentation that can make a world of difference to a business.

A good solution could be to go paperless, and this could be easier than you think. Solutions from businesses including SAFAS can help you to meet your legal obligations on food safety and show you the way to achieving a top score under the current government hygiene assessment programmes. All documentation is kept online with no print outs necessary, meaning when a government agency call to do an inspection you will be well prepared to demonstrate you’ve been keeping to the rules. Online providers of this kind of service can often offer everything in one place, so you can complete the whole health and safety process simply. Your business will be checked for compliance, and its current standards scrutinised, and then you’ll be given easy instructions on how to improve your compliance levels before assessment – and with everything stored digitally, you don’t need to worry about a misplaced folder or papers being thrown away with food waste.

Post by Chris Holland

Our Chef Director Chris Holland worked as Head Chef at the prestigious Alderley Edge hotel before joining us. He has a passion for using the best produce and never compromises on quality. Author of our best selling book Sous Vide The Art of Precision Cooking, Chris is a expert on the sous vide technique.During the later part of my school days at Wardle High School Rochdale I always wanted to be a chef . I knew from the very start that my path to work was never going to be academic it was always going to be something practical and hands on.

As a young boy growing up I was inspired to cook with my Grandma who was and still is an inspiration to me . I have memories of helping make the cakes that she always had made for visitors and family alike . She made the most amazing cakes and I loved nothing more than eating the sweet raw cake batter straight from the bowl . We used to fight over who got to lick the bowl/spoon after the cakes were made. My grandma’s philosophy for cooking even on a shoe string budget was always to use fresh and seasonal ingredients either home grown or bought from the market.

School was somewhat of a drag for me as I was itching to learn to become a chef.

I started at Hopwood Hall college as a chef and instantly fell in love with it .To me it was the only real time I excelled in something and this inspired me to really get my head down and put in the hard work. College was the first time I really excelled in something and gave me the opportunity to laugh at the teachers who said I would never make something of my life!!!!

During the three years at college I also took on a part time position in a local hotel working the bar and restaurant first and then the kitchen. These were great days and gave me the opportunity to see how the industry ticks. I learnt a lot from those days both good and bad !! But I have to say I was itching to work only in the kitchen but it was a good insight into the catering world .

After completing college I moved away from Rochdale for a full time roll at one of Cheshire’s most talked about Hotel restaurants The Stanneylands Hotel. This was the school of hard knocks for me as I quickly realised that although excelling at college meant nothing in “The Real World”.

I loved every minute of the 18 hour days 6 days a week on minimum wage . Although difficult I feel that without this grounding I wouldn’t have achieved what I have today. After 18 months of hard graft I left Stanneylands and went with the Head chef to open a fine dining restaurant at Mere Golf and Country Club. The opportunity to work alongside Matthew Barrett was too good to turn down. I learnt so much from the ex-Ritz chef and working in a much slower paced role helped me develop a much better understanding of how to organise and run a kitchen. We were a very small team and teamwork was and still is the only way to go for me.

After 2 years at Mere I got the opportunity to go into The Alderley Edge Hotel as Junior Souschef. The Early days at the Edge were all about learning new styles of cuising which is invaluable in any role as a chef. I got the opportunity to grow and learn all aspects of every section which was inspiring . I was offered the opportunity at the age of 29 (2004) to take the role of head chef. For me this was when I really started to develop my own style of food.

After 9 years at the top winning Cheshire restaurant of the year , Chef of the Year and appearing on GBM amongst many highlights including cooking for many celebrities and famous people I decided to move on into development with Sousvidetools.

The main inspiration for this was to train and educate people . I always had a great passion for education but could never really see myself at a college . The job is super rewarding and I am proud to say we have become the leading light in sous-vide education in the UK . This is something I am very proud of . Food is my biggest passion and this is what keeps me interested the most . I love to travel and try out other countries cuisines. I am constantly inspired by ingredients and the pursuit of getting the best out of them without destroying their natural flavour .It is super important to me to continue to try and be at the forefront of the food scene this is what inspire me and the team to keep driving forward .

Technology is now widely used in the industry and I am super proud to say we have been a big part of spreading that message.

I am very lucky to be in the position I am and the drive to constantly improve our training and links to the next generation of young budding hospitality chefs.

TI feel that my experience over the last 25 years really enables me to get close and educate the “next generation” of chefs .

The industry which I love is really struggling to bring through new recruits and if I can help that process I will be immensely proud.

The food seen in the Uk has improved dramatically over the last ten years and I feel this will continue with the correct education. What happens next only fate will tell us...

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