Mark Jessop owner ofPrime Waterfront Restaurantin Queenstown, needed a solution to bring together the efforts of his kitchen staff when following food safety practices. They were previously reliant on a paper-based Food Control Plan, but Mark and his Head Chef needed a system which would allow them greater visibility of what was being maintained and recorded in their kitchen. Mark decided to implement Chomp into their daily practices, and hasn’t looked back since.
What were your challenges / issues that lead you to discover Chomp?
I knew I would have to rely on my chefs to enable me to comply with new regulations and get a grade that reflected an ‘A’ rating for our kitchen operations. Without a system, I was reliant on the variable efforts of the kitchen staff.
What was it that appealed to you about the Chomp app?
I gave me a structure and some daily evidential accountability to confirm to me (and the auditors) that my staff were in fact doing what they were supposed to be doing. We also had to cope with the new 2014 Food Act requirements which means a lot more than just the old ‘fridge temperatures’.
Now you are using Chomp tell us your thoughts - how are you finding it?
Its great! It has already saved me a fridgeful of food - we started to see temperatures increasing based on our daily recordings, so I called in my fridgie who told me if I had waited a few more days and I would have lost the lot.
What improvements / results have you experienced now working with Chomp?
As well as being regulation compliant, I can be proactive. It gives an operational structure to the kitchen team.
What do you like most about Chomp?
It’s like an insurance policy; I can sleep easier.
What do you think of the developments Chomp has made to the app and back office programme?
As a new system there were some teething issues, but these were very quickly fixed. The Chomp team are enhancing the app by continually bringing in both cosmetic improvements to make it look better, and operational improvements to make is easier to use with their promised functionality add-ons.
Describe your experience working with Chomp.
It’s been evolutionary, with the Head Chef taking time to migrate from the old paper system. Now he can tell after his two days off how things have been going (or he can even check it himself from home).
Do you believe Chomp is value for money? And how do you justify the cost to your business?
Yes, it works for me; it reduces the council imposed inspection costs for a start. It's also an example of the system running the people and therefore insisting on compliance, rather than the people running (or ruining) the system or what in practice was even worse - not even using the old paper based methods, and cheating ourselves.
