Catering Consultants

Improving Efficiencies and Maximising Profitability

Does your catering operation meet the needs of your customers, patients or pupils and clients?

Do you have the most cost-effective ‘business’ strategy that provides the highest quality end product?

Will your current services meet future demand?

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Our catering appraisals and reviews provide our Clients with a position statement in terms of operational efficiencies, productivity, turnover, profitability and legal compliance.

The depth and contents of the review are determined by the size of the organisation, the sector of the market and the scope of the services.  These cover operations in both the Public and Private Sectors and include but are not limited to the following:

Healthcare

• Patient profile
• Management structures
• Style of meal service systems
• Menu compilation, cycle, diversity
• Ward & departmental issues
• Labour divisions & structures
• Dietetics; cultural, religious & therapeutic
• Staff & visitor catering provision
• Facilities
• Legal compliance

Education

• Menu composition
• Quality and Providence of ingredients
• Procurement
• Labour input hours
• Catering v other school activities
• Throughput
• Food Safety

Restaurants & Staff Catering

• Concept
• Competition
• Targeted market / Uptake figures
• Subsidy / profitability
• Quality / value for money

The information collated from a strategic review of an operation enables our Clients to look at opportunities for the way forward.

Change is inevitable

Do you need to establish different options for developing a new or existing concept?

Is it time to re-evaluate your meal service delivery systems?

What works well and where are there opportunities for improvement?

What is the feasibility for change within the parameters and constraints of the project?

KEG Consultants have undertaken many feasibility studies and option appraisals.

Having established the current status of the operation by undertaking a catering review the option appraisal will provide our client with a number of feasible options for the way forward.

The detail of the options will be dependant upon the Market Sector and scope of services and will include, but not be limited to the following:

• A detailed analysis of the operational activities
• Financial models to support each option
• Implications of each option on the delivery of the services
• Identification of benefits and risks
• Potential capital investment and changes to existing facilities
• Recommendations for the way forward

Our feasibility studies have been the foundation of business cases to support large capital projects as well as provide direction for the future delivery of catering services.

There is nothing more important than the planning and design processes when it comes to making sure you have adequate space for your service model. You need a design that provides working flows that eliminate the risk of cross-contamination.

Do you have a catering strategy? This is the foundation of the design development process.

Are you refurbishing an existing facility or providing catering services within a new build? What are the building constraints?

How will you maximise the use of space whilst creating the most efficient operational flows from goods received through to the point of consumption?

We follow the RIBA design stages from concept appraisal through to post-completion evaluations.

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Whether you are refurbishing an existing catering facility or developing a catering operation within a new building, we will look at the concept, the space that is available, your life-cycle costs and of course your budgetary restraints.

The Concept, menu composition and style of service will all be major influencing factors on the choice of equipment and design of the facility. This in turn will influence the ratio of space allocated to goods in, storage, preparation, production and foodservice.

Our design strategy follows the RIBA Plan of Work Stages 1 – 7*

Stage 1    Preparation & Brief
Stage 2    Concept Design
Stage 3    Developed Design
Stage 4    Technical Design
Stage 5    Construction
Stage 6    Handover & Close Out
Stage 7    Post Occupancy Evaluations

We are fully aware of and involved in the development of industry standards for the Building Information Management (BIM) systems and BREEAM.

Our portfolio ranges from designing kitchens with a floor area of 9m to a fully equipped central production unit of 1000m2.

The design of the catering facilities must provide ergonomic and efficient operational and customer flows to reduce potential health and safety risks and enable the operators to meet with current food safety legislation.

* Superseding Stages A – M

To measure efficiencies and implement a proactive improvement plan a baseline for energy consumption must be established.

Do you know how efficient your catering equipment is and where you could make potential savings?

Do you know the lifecycle cost of your catering facilities?

What is the Carbon footprint of your catering facilities and can you meet your Net Carbon Commitments?

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KEG helps Clients to save energy, reduce their carbon footprint and make ongoing operational cost savings.

It is imperative that Clients understand the efficiency of their existing catering facilities in order to make informative decisions to achieve progressive and positive change. To this end our services include:

Providing an assessment of existing catering equipment.

Developing a catering equipment replacement plan based on operational requirements, potential future demand and knowledge of new equipment technologies.

Producing an equipment replacement strategy to reduce carbon and lifecycle costs projected over 3, 5 or 10 years.

Assess how operational practices influence the lifecycle cost of the facility.

Energy efficiency is addressed in every element of our services and we provide advice on how to implement energy-saving initiatives:

• Identification of energy-deficient equipment
• Information on new energy-saving technologies
• Capital investment vs Operational expenditure
• Changing operational practices
• Implementation of improved cooking methods
• Environmentally friendly designs

We are well known for being actively engaged in energy-saving initiatives, which include:

• Net Zero Carbon Forum
• CIBSE Guide T90 – Energy Efficiency in Commercial Kitchens – Co-author First Edition
• Energy Efficiency Accelerator Guide – Representative for FCSI on DEFRA Working Group
• Carbon Trust Calculator – Representative for FCSI on Carbon Trust Working Group
• Executive member of the Catering for a Sustainable Future Group (CFSFG)

Statistics show that a production kitchen can use as much as 40% of the energy consumption in a commercial building!

It is imperative that energy usage is calculated effectively taking everything into account from the complexity of the menu through to the lifecycle of the facility. This is something we can help you with!

An ergonomic design, efficient working flows and clear management systems eliminate risk and provide a food-safe operation.

Do you have a Food Safety plan in place with complete HACCP practices and procedures?

Can you demonstrate due diligence in the event of a system failure?

Would an independent audit help you achieve full compliance and meet current legislation?

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Operating a totally safe working environment can be challenging when streamlining your business. Implementing the correct working practices and food safety management systems will improve efficiency and be financially beneficial to your organisation.

We offer a range of services that will provide you with the tools you need to meet your statutory obligations and prove due diligence.

Quality and Safety Audits

KEG can give you the assurances that you need to operate a safe, hygienically clean catering environment.  We assist clients who need to review their Food Safety systems in line with changes in legislation as well as providing advice where health and hygiene standards have slowly declined.

Our services range from compliance audits to managing our clients Operational and Food Safety Systems.

Compliance Audit

• Observation of daily routines from receipt of Goods In through to Service
• Review of reporting procedures
• Report on current status, HACCP & Improvement Plan

Food Safety Management Systems

• Food Safety Policies and Procedures
• Production of bespoke Food Safety & Health & Safety Documents
• Legal Compliance HACCP, reporting and monitoring
• Cleaning Schedules
• On-site Training

On-going Monitoring

• Unannounced audits
• Traffic light monitoring systems
• Condition survey of equipment
• Developing Food Safety Systems

These services enable our Clients to prove due diligence and it also assists them in monitoring third party contracts.