RoyalMnandi, an outsourced catering company, and Wits University worked in partnership for six years to achieve HACCP accreditation in four Wits campus kitchens. 'Wits University is renowned for being the first on many occasions,' says Theresa Main, director of services at Wits University, 'and I'm proud to say Wits is now the first and only HACCP accredited university in SA.'
With the increasing number of consumers purchasing convenience foods, together with the ongoing innovation in packaging, storage, preparation and cooking technologies, there is a greater need to combat the increasing incidences of food related deaths and diseases by implementing a food safety system like HACCP. 'I have peace of mind,' says Main, 'If there's any food complaint coming in we can manage it with due diligence.'
'Achieving HACCP certification is an outstanding achievement and it has taken complete commitment and teamwork from all management and staff involved to get to this point,' says Analene Coetzer, project manager for RoyalMnandi.
Graham McGregor, CEO of RoyalMnandi adds, 'We set a goal to ensure that 100 per cent of our contracts comply with HACCP. People are the most important part of the process, this includes all stakeholders. Training is an ongoing and evolving process and everyone must work with a deep sense of purpose and be true to the core values. Always be more concerned with what is right than being right. It takes passion, hard work, consistency and discipline and partnership is critical to success.'
Describing the change seen in the kitchens at Wits, Coetzer explains a scene she witnessed when visiting recently. 'The kitchen staff often do weird things when the head of catering comes to visit, things they would never normally do. I saw a staff member singing Happy Birthday whilst washing her hands and thought it was just one of those weird things, but she told me that she was trained to wash her hands for one minute and had worked out that singing Happy Birthday four times was exactly one minute. The HACCP system enables us to be thinkers, not just doers!'
HACCP has made it easier for RoyalMnandi to provide a safe product to the students. HACCP produces paper trails which can be used in litigation and with the advent of the Consumer Protection Act, having this safety net is a bonus.
Main, a key driver of the project internally says, 'As a part of the catering division's strategic objectives and from a continual improvement point of view, the primary focus over the last few years has been to ensure an environment where students can consumer safe food at all times.'
HACCP is not a once-off exercise or one person's responsibility, but rather an ongoing commitment to ensuring each aspect of the system is adhered to by everyone in the food supply chain.
