How Restaurants can handle Food Allergies, Keep Customers Aware

Approximately, 25 per cent of the India’s population is now having at least one food allergies. People have always thought that food allergies or being allergic to a certain ingredient or raw material was a norm in western worlds, too much surprise Indians are not far from it.

The allergies can happen from ingredients like peanut, dairy or certain fruits which may spoil the experience one had at the restaurant and often allergies can be so serious with emergency medical conditions.  Hence, restaurants these days are working hard to know about their guests and explain them what each ingredient would do to them if they are an allergen to few ingredients.

Be Precise

“The success and failure of a restaurant is tied to its food accuracy. As much as good food can make restaurant it can also very much stop them from visiting ever again,” shares Vikrant Batra, Co-Founder, Nueva and Café Delhi Heights. What happens generally that when a restaurant goes through a change in menu or some changes it often forget to update changes to the servers and that’s where the problem starts. Customers not only want food that is beautifully plated but also something that is fresh and tastefully prepared. For the trust which the patrons bestow while dining out, the restaurants must make sure to serve them nothing but the best.  In that case whenever there is a new update in the menu all related information should be updated in the system. “To ensure food accuracy scanning of supplies, vendors, ingredients, recipes, preparations, internal meetings and regular food trials all are very important. From the moment the ingredient reaches the storehouse till the time it is on the table of the guest, every intricacy is important,” adds Batra. Thus, the highlight to ensure the accuracy is maintaining the recipe, quality of ingredients, preparation and customer feedback along with other pivotal details.

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“Food Allergy has become very common in the recent past, over the last three decades a high rise in people who have food allergies have been identified. Since I started working and till now the number of guest who report allergens while checking in a hotel have risen,” points Amit Dash, Executive Chef, The Westin Pune Koregaon Park. 

It’s Important to Educate Staff

“A strong brick never lets a building fall”. Staff is the biggest asset for a brand without which nothing is possible. The key to happy and productive employees is to make sure they feel important in their role. “Empowerment when it comes to handling customer’s likes and dislikes is very Important as we believe to delight every customer in the shortest timeframe,” says Sharad Singh-Director F&B, Sheraton Grand Pune. Educating restaurant staff helps in avoiding multiple levels of approvals so that the staff can freely focus on guest needs and delight them.

Providing Guests with enough Information

“We have always envisioned to plate nothing but the best. Our cuisine is a reflection of our well-travelled chefs in the form of Indian and World’s finest cuisines. At unplugged courtyard you’ll always find the chef taking routinely rounds, answering guest’s queries and enriching them about the food that we serve. With well-trained servers and elaborate menu we make sure our guests are well informed about what they are being served,” shares Dinesh Arora of Unplugged Courtyard.

Diners today are hungry for food and knowledge both and hence restaurants should provide them with adequate knowledge and information. Customer education being an important aspect, restaurant food menus are created and designed keeping in mind the comfort and understanding of guests . The restaurants should attach and provide a brief description next to every dish on the menu so that the guest makes an informed decision. Restaurants should also make sure that servers taking the order to the chefs should personally attend tables to enlighten the guests, and provide guests with proper information. From knowledgeable and well informed servers to chefs themselves introducing cuisines and dishes at tables, the restaurants should make it a practice to avoid any incident.