Hygiene is essential in catering. Especially during a pandemic, given the higher risk of infection, but a good hygiene concept matters regardless, both to prepare safe food and to present yourself as a reliable, safe partner to customers. Our catering experts have put together a concept to help you keep track of every important point, from preparation through execution and pickup of your catering.

Hygiene before the catering event

The most important points at a glance:

• Mandatory gloves
• Maintaining the cold chain
• Regularly cleaning and disinfecting kitchen equipment and work surfaces
• Quality control upon goods receipt
• Complying with storage and refrigeration temperatures

1. Personal hygiene

• Tie back long hair
• Remove jewelry or watches before your shift starts
• Always keep fingernails short and free of nail polish
• Cover wounds with bandages
• Wear a head covering, apron, and gloves
• Regularly clean and disinfect hands
• Never cough or sneeze near food
• Report illnesses like diarrhea or vomiting immediately
• Don't touch prepared food or dish surfaces with bare hands - wear gloves

2. Food hygiene

• Separate "clean" and "unclean" work
• Don't touch prepared food or the inside of dishes with bare hands
• Always cover food
• Cool food down as quickly as possible
• Heat food to at least 72°C for two minutes to kill microorganisms
• Keep food hot above 65°C for less than 3 minutes
• Chill cooked ingredients before further processing
• Always fully defrost meat and poultry
• Discard thawing liquid and protect other food from contact with it
• Taste food properly, without letting your own saliva touch the food

3. Kitchen hygiene

• No plants, no pets, no unauthorized people in the kitchen
• Keep the kitchen tidy and remove items that aren't needed
• Ventilate kitchen spaces
• Equip cold storage rooms with thermometers and check temperatures daily
• Don't overfill cold rooms, as this reduces cooling performance
• Disinfect work surfaces, especially after handling meat, poultry, egg, and fish
• Clean and disinfect equipment daily
• Store cleaning and disinfecting agents in sealed containers
• Empty and disinfect trash bins daily, and if possible, collect and store them outside the kitchen
• Replace dish towels daily (light-colored and boil-proof)
• Run the dishwasher's final rinse cycle at 80°C

4. Goods receiving

• Only accept food of impeccable quality during goods inspection (check visually and by taste/smell)
• Check food packaging for integrity and a sufficient best-before/use-by date
• Strictly maintain the cold chain
• Check and document food temperature with a thermometer

5. Storage

• Place newly delivered goods behind already stored goods, so older products get used first
• Use perishable food quickly
• Calculate stock levels precisely
• Regularly check best-before dates and use food before they expire
• Store chemicals separately from food
• Store food packaged or covered, and reseal opened packaging
• Comply with storage and refrigeration temperatures

Storage and refrigeration temperatures at a glance

• Meat: 0°C - 4°C
• Fish: 2°C
• Dairy products: below +10°C
• Egg products: 4°C
• Baked goods: below +7°C
• Salads: +7°C
• Sauces: +7°C
• Frozen goods: -12°C
• Deep-frozen goods: below -18°C

Hygiene during the catering event

The most important points at a glance:

• Complying with applicable temperature limits during transport
• Regularly washing and disinfecting hands

1. Transport

• Regularly clean and disinfect the vehicle used for transport
• The cargo area and transport containers must be closed, made of corrosion-resistant material, have smooth inner walls, and be easy to clean and disinfect
• Use insulated boxes for transporting chilled and frozen food
• Clearly and permanently label transport containers with "For food transport only"
• Physically separate the passenger and cargo areas
• Comply with applicable temperature limits during transport
• Protect meat from dust and insects during transport, and prevent liquid from leaking
• Strictly separate different food items and other goods

2. Hygiene measures at the customer's site

• Wear a head covering, apron, gloves, and clean work clothing
• Tie back long hair
• Remove jewelry or watches before your shift starts
• Always keep fingernails short and free of nail polish
• Wash hands thoroughly and disinfect if needed, especially before starting work, after cleaning, after touching objects, or before switching tasks
• Regularly change protective gloves
• Follow proper cough and sneeze etiquette
• Avoid unnecessary physical contact, and keep a safe distance if needed

Hygiene after the catering event

The most important points at a glance:

• Strict separation of waste
• Creating and maintaining cleaning and disinfection schedules

1. Waste disposal

• Regularly remove bio-waste and other waste from areas where food is handled
• Place trash bins where waste is generated
• Trash bins must have a lid, ideally with a foot pedal
• Trash bins must be made of suitable material, so they're easy to clean and disinfect if needed
• Design and maintain waste storage areas so they stay clean and free of animals and pests
• Strictly separate waste and label it according to the different waste types
• Dispose of broken drinking glasses in general waste, not in the glass container

2. Cleaning and disinfection

To maintain hygiene measures, it's advisable to create and post cleaning and disinfection schedules in all areas of operation. These should document the following:

• When? Which day should the respective areas be cleaned or disinfected? e.g., a specific date, daily, every Friday, once a month, or twice a year
• Who? Who's responsible in each case? e.g., chef, kitchen assistant, cleaning staff
• What? What's the name of the area to be cleaned? e.g., work surface, fridge, oven, or extractor hood
• With what? What tools should be used for the task? e.g., cleaning cloth, bucket, or spray bottle
• How? What type of cleaning is it, and how should it be carried out? e.g., sweeping floors, applying cleaning solution, rinsing with water

Hygiene when delivering catering

The most important points at a glance:

• Mandatory gloves
• Avoid physical contact and keep a minimum distance
• Bring enough disinfectant and gloves for the delivery route
• Wear a face mask
• Put on new gloves before each delivery
• Avoid physical contact
• Maintain a minimum distance of 1.5 meters and wait until the customer accepts the delivery

Hygiene in packaging

Remember that packaging material not only needs to transport your food or ingredients safely, but also needs to ensure maximum hygiene.

1. Protection and safety

• Packaging material must be handled and stored hygienically
• Packaging should provide comprehensive stability to ensure the safety and protection of food from the moment of packaging, through transport, to consumption
• Packaging should prevent contents from becoming contaminated or altered by environmental influences like light, oxygen, moisture, or mechanical impact
• Under legal requirements, packaging must not release components into food in amounts that pose a health risk, cause an unacceptable change in the food's composition, or affect its smell and taste
• Materials must be manufactured according to a defined process under a quality assurance and control system so they don't pose a risk to consumers

2. Material

• Packaging material should be functional, appealing, and environmentally friendly
• Packaging material should be waterproof and grease-resistant
• From an environmental standpoint, the material must increasingly be recyclable or able to be disposed of with minimal pollutants, ideally biodegradable too

Different materials at a glance:

Bagasse:

• Advantages: high stability, fully bio-based material
• Other properties: heat resistant, waterproof, grease resistant
• Suitable for: salad bowls, meal boxes, and other warm/cold dishes

Kraft board:

• Advantages: versatile use, recyclability
• Suitable for: salad boxes, soup containers, and other warm dishes

PLA:

• Advantages: high transparency and strength
• Suitable for: salads, bowls, desserts, and other cold dishes

3. Practicality and storage

• Packaging should be easily stackable, stable, lightweight, easy to handle, and practical
• Packaging should be optimally suited to the dish, warm food should be reheatable in the packaging
• Liquid foods like sauces or soups should be packaged separately from solid foods

By the way: as a heycater! partner, you can order climate-neutral single-use packaging at favorable rates through our Food Packaging shop.

More tips and bookings for your catering business with heycater!

We at heycater! support our catering partners in many ways: with us, you'll get plenty of tips and checklists for successfully running your catering or food truck business. You'll also benefit from our reach across Germany for all types of catering. Want to increase your revenue, win more new customers, and receive repeat bookings for better planning reliability? Sign up with us as a partner and list your menus in our Marketplace. We're happy to advise you on the next steps!