CCB announces alliance with Panache Consultancy

Catering Consultancy Bureau has recently announced a new alliance with its educational counterparts, Panache Consultancy.

The alliance has already introduced new ideas and methods to food service consultancy to the benefit of both companies and their clients. So, just what is different about the association between Catering Consultancy Bureau and Panache? CCB Managing Director, Peter, explains: “We are offering a progressive, forward thinking consultancy, that is performance and results driven. Our alliance with Panache has allowed our clients the benefit of significant resource and a wealth of experience gained from a combined 90 years in the food service industry. This in turn allows us to fully deliver our promise. We will not take on a consultancy unless we can prove the operational and financial benefits we will bring to our client”.

In just a short period of time, the combined resource of both organisations has already led to the completion of 4 large scale projects, and the pipeline for the future is looking extremely healthy.

Visit the Panache website

Food focus on safety

Now that the sun is threatening to show up this year, your attention is no doubt focusing on the long hot sunny days in the garden and inviting friends over for a barbeque. Well don’t forget that one of the easiest ways of getting food poisoning is undercooking food on the barbeque, and there are one or two bugs to help you! Bugs such as E.coli O157, salmonella and campylobacter can cause serious illness. But you can steer clear of food poisoning by taking some simple steps. When you’re barbecuing, always make sure you cook chicken, pork, burgers, sausages and kebabs until they’re piping hot all the way through, none of the meat is pink and any juices run clear. If you’re barbecuing for lots of people, you could cook meat indoors and finish it off on the barbeque for added flavour.

How can I make sure barbequed food is cooked properly?

• Wait until the charcoal is glowing red, with a powdery grey surface, before you start to cook.
• Make sure frozen food is properly thawed before you cook it.
• Turn the food regularly, and move it around the barbeque, to cook it evenly.
• Check that the centre of the food is piping hot.
• Don’t assume that if meat is charred on the outside that it will be cooked properly on the inside.

FSA Safety Tip for Pregnant Women:

Pregnant and breastfeeding women, and those who intend to become pregnant, should eat no more than two medium-size cans of tuna, or one fresh tuna steak per week, according to updated Food Standards Agency advice. These women are also advised to avoid eating shark, swordfish and marlin. This is because mercury can harm an unborn child’s developing nervous system.

Additional reading can be found at The FSA Website

CCB Joins Foodservice Consultants Society International

Catering Consultancy Bureau Ltd is delighted to have been accepted as a full member to the FCSI.

The FCSI is the world's premier association of food service consultants. The society acts as a vital link to the industry's foremost professionals and specialises in catering consulting. The FCSI is a totally impartial body whose function is to represent the best in foodservice and catering consulting throughout the world.

To achieve membership of the society, you must meet strict criteria assuring skill, knowledge, experience and overall professionalism. What this means is that as a client you can have total confidence and can be sure of the highest standards of quality and impartiality whatever your requirement.

Ongoing educational, accreditation and networking activities ensure that society members are at the cutting edge of foodservice and catering development and trends, bringing fresh, innovative thinking to projects, providing you with the professional advantage.

It is difficult to make a decision about what consultant to choose regarding foodservice consultancy, as they all “promise” a service. Catering Consultancy Bureau’s membership of the FCSI takes away any difficulty.

Employment Law - “All change”

And just when you thought that it was safe to print the staff hand book!

There are a number of employment changes as a result of the Employment Act 2002, that take effect as from April 2003.

These include;
· TUPE (Transfer of Undertaking Protection of Employment)
· Statutory disciplinary and grievance procedures
· Tribunal reform
· Family friendly rights
· Equal treatment

Training
Anyone running a catering business has a legal obligation to train their staff in the basics of food hygiene. This obligation is detailed in the Food Safety (General Food Hygiene) Regulations 1995. The amount of training depends on the job each individual member of staff does and whether they are classified as "high" or "low" risk.
Are you sure that all your staff are adequately trained?

Catering Consultancy Bureau provide the following services:

Market Testing / Tendering
Quality Audits
Health & Hygiene services
Catering Review
Purchasing Review
Benchmarking
Design & Planning
Marketing & Merchandising
Menu Planning
Contract Monitoring
Financial Advice

Contact us today on 01322 280 060 to discover what is right for you.

As part of the FCSI continuing requirement for professional development, Peter recently sat a 4 hour exam in Barcelona.

“I though that it would never end, and as people got up after only a couple of hours, I started to get a complex as to how long I was taking”.

He shouldn’t have worried as there are 5 parts to the exam, and members have the opportunity to sit them several at a time. Peter, however, decided to sit them all in one go, but wasn’t aware that other members had decided just to sit two!

Stop Press:

He passed all the modules, and now can't get through the door!