In recent years, there is a rising safety concern on food products and growing quality expectation from the market under the ever-changing external environment, which generate opportunities and challenges for food practitioners. Effective food audit and food test in advice can help minimize the risk and increase customers’ confidence with strong competitive edge.
The “Monitored Caterer” Scheme (hereafter as “The Scheme”) is developed by CMA Testing to recognize and encourage those catering service providers meeting a satisfactory food hygiene standard. CMA Testing shall conduct an on-site inspection and a microbiological testing of food and swab samples to verify the performance of a caterer applicant.
Benefits of the scheme for applicant enterprises:
- Aligning with Core Consumer Needs and Driving Customer Conversion: Certification labels and certificates can be prominently displayed in restaurants, directly signaling hygiene compliance to the public. Since safety and hygiene are primary factors for consumers when choosing dining establishments, this quickly builds consumer trust and serves as a powerful attraction tool, pulling in customer traffic.
- Low Barrier to Entry and Easy Implementation, Reducing Management Difficulty: The program’s reference standards feature optimized inspection checklists with precise and easy-to-understand wording, offering a low entry threshold and reasonable technical requirements without the need for complex document reviews. Quarterly routine inspections combined with on-site guidance help staff easily master hygiene practices, addressing the common pain point of “knowing how to cook but not how to manage.”
- Continuously Optimizing Hygiene Systems and Reducing Safety Risks: Inspections cover core areas such as contamination prevention, cleaning and disinfection, cold storage, and personnel hygiene, and involve on-site collection of food and surface swab samples for testing. This process promptly identifies common hygiene management issues in restaurants. Through reminders and experience sharing during inspections, it helps establishments establish standardized hygiene management systems, lowering the risks of food safety complaints and mandatory rectifications.
- A Competitive Differentiator and Enhancer of Brand Reputation: Through graded certifications like “Excellent (≥90 points)” and “Good (80%-90%)”, restaurants can highlight their hygiene advantages and distinguish themselves from uncertified competitors. Backed by the endorsement of CMA Testing, the certification not only enhances the restaurant’s reputation within the Hong Kong catering market but also adds a trust factor for securing contracts such as group catering and business collaborations.
