Whyte & Brown’s ‘game-changing’ HACCP food monitoring and reporting system
FoodCheck from CST “does it all for us,” says chair of new restaurant chain
“In terms of food safety, it’s a game-changer,” says Kevin Bacon, chair of Whyte & Brown, about the FoodCheck temperature monitoring system the restaurant has installed. “It helps us comply with HACCP and massively reduces the time staff spend on temperature monitoring and paperwork.”
Whyte & Brown is the upmarket, casual dining restaurant specialising in free-range chicken and eggs. It’s based in Carnaby, Central London. The team is passionate about food and provenance. “We invest a lot of time and money in sourcing our produce,” says Kevin. “We find the very best ingredients, and ensure our suppliers get them from the farm to our door in top condition. But provenance is also about how food is stored after it’s delivered. FoodCheck ensures it stays in top condition all the way to the plate.”
The system, supplied by Call Systems Technology in the UK, has wireless sensors that record the temperature of fridges and freezers. Small, unobtrusive and movable, they are located in all nine of Whyte & Brown’s refrigerators. The sensors’ readings are automatically transmitted to the FoodCheck central panel, which is tailored to the restaurant’s HACCP requirements. It has a simple menu where staff can also record events and activities, such as goods received, cleaning tasks and random food temperature checks.
“It’s our eyes and ears in terms of checking the fridges’ temperatures,” says head chef Paul Fletcher. “If there’s anything wrong, we get a text message right away.” The system can also send a warning alert by email or to a local alarm beacon.
“It saves an enormous amount of time, it frees me up and it’s very easy to use,” he adds. “We used to spend at least 30 minutes a day checking the fridges manually, and that’s before you get on to the HACCP paperwork.
“I remember when we installed the system and showed the chefs how to use it, they high fived each other!”
HACCP data and records are stored on the FoodCheck web server. Reports can be emailed or faxed on a regular basis, or they can be downloaded at the touch of a button. The report includes all recordings, tasks, events and readings, laid out in a simple, clear format. More detailed information, such as the performance of individual refrigerators, can also be accessed easily.
Kevin says the way the system automatically fills in forms and prepares reports is not just a huge time-saver: “Paperwork is a big vulnerability for restaurants – you’re only as good as the person filling it in. And these days, there’s so much of it.
“HACCP monitoring and paperwork takes up so much time, which chefs could spend getting on with producing food and profits. FoodCheck is transparent, tamper proof and gives us full traceability. It does it all for us.”
For details, Freephone Call Systems Technology on 0800 389 5642 or call 020 8381 1338, email the company at solutions@call-systems.com or visit the CST website www.call-systems.com
LINKS:
Whyte & Brown: whyteandbrown.com
CST Foodcheck: www.foodcheck.co.uk
CST: www.call-systems.com
Whyte & Brown was founded by Fiona Gale, Justin Beavis, Kevin Bacon and Mark Ferrer Brown. A restaurant that is passionate about food, it works hard to source ethically sound suppliers providing the best quality produce available in the UK. Its free-range chickens can get outside as much as they like for natural daylight, fresh air and vegetation. They have plenty of space and tend to be slow growers, so they enjoy good health and long lives.