Prolonged COVID-19 Phase... Nationwide Interest in Hygiene and Cleanliness
Paris Croissant to Implement 1,000 Additional Hygiene Ratings Within the Year
Pizza Hut Leads Industry with 'All Stores Implementation'... Burger King Leads in Hamburger Industry
[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Seon-ae] "Hygiene grade signs have become more important than restaurant signs."
The dining franchise industry is putting all its efforts into obtaining food hygiene grade certification as interest in hygiene and cleanliness has increased due to the impact of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
Paris Croissant Goes All Out to Secure Hygiene Grade Certification
According to the industry on the 2nd, Paris Croissant under SPC Group is accelerating efforts to complete the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety's hygiene grade certification for more than half of its approximately 4,000 stores nationwide, including Paris Baguette, Pascucci, and Shake Shack, within this year. So far, about 1,000 stores have been certified, and they plan to add certification for another 1,000 stores over the next two months.
A representative from Paris Croissant said, "We will raise the hygiene standards of each store to ensure consumers' right to choose restaurants and to create a safe dining culture," adding, "We are pushing to introduce certification for an additional 1,000 stores within this year." Paris Croissant's ultimate goal is to secure hygiene grade certification for all its stores. To this end, in 2019, they held a certification plaque ceremony and a resolution meeting with the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety to demonstrate their commitment.
The hygiene grade system was introduced and implemented by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety in May 2017. After evaluating the hygiene management level of restaurants, the ministry assigns one of three grades: "Very Excellent" (3 stars), "Excellent" (2 stars), or "Good" (1 star). By publicly disclosing these grades, the system aims to improve restaurant hygiene levels and guarantee consumers' right to choose.
Pizza Hut currently leads the pizza industry with 26 out of 365 stores certified under the hygiene grade system. Pizza Hut focuses on hygiene grade certification to build trust with customers. Accordingly, they plan to continuously expand the number of certified stores with the goal of certifying all their stores.
In the pizza industry, Pizza Alvolo has 5 certified stores, Domino's Pizza has 2, and Mr. Pizza and Papa John's Pizza each have 1 certified store. In the hamburger industry, Burger King leads with a total of 129 stores certified under the hygiene grade system. Following are Lotteria with 106 stores, Mom's Touch with 14 stores, McDonald's with 9 stores, and KFC with 7 stores.
New Solutions for the Dining Industry in the COVID-19 Era
The reason the industry is focusing on securing hygiene grade certified stores is that it is directly linked to sales and is seen as a factor that will determine future growth. In fact, Bondo Lunch analyzed nationwide store sales from February to April this year and reported that the average sales of stores certified under the hygiene grade system increased by about 25% compared to the same period last year. This trend is similar across other brands. Although the figures vary by brand, on average, hygiene grade certified stores tend to have higher sales.
A representative from the dining franchise industry said, "In the COVID-19 era, hygiene and cleanliness are determining factors for industry competitiveness," adding, "Since the hygiene grade system certified by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety directly translates into a store image that gives customers confidence, efforts to strengthen hygiene and communicate this will continue steadily, including obtaining hygiene grade certification."
McDonald's invites customers to its stores to disclose ingredient and kitchen management status through a "Kitchen Open Day" event, which is held regularly at stores nationwide and expanded to a nationwide scale once every six months. Lotteria also focuses on hygiene inspections by having supervisors who manage franchises and the company's quality team conduct unannounced inspections. Burger King is fully committed to food hygiene through compliance with the Food Sanitation Act, regular internal food safety system checks, and team member training.
BHC Chicken has established a QCS (Quality Control and Safety) department within its franchise CS team to systematically manage hygiene. The QCS department conducts overall hygiene inspections and training related to personal and store hygiene, including raw material storage methods, refrigerator and freezer temperatures, uniform wearing, and cleanliness inside and outside the store and kitchen.
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