The Georgia Restaurant Association has been spearheading the development and implementation of the new Food Code for over two years. Until the GRA stepped in, there wasn't any input from actual restaurant professionals. The code had been written by members of the DHR and if passed into law, could of had a disastrous effect on FoodService Operators in the State. There is also a Georgia Food Code Resource Center where you can ask questions and get answers from the Staff and Director of the DHR.

To quote Nancy Oswald (Ruth's Chris Steak House) past Chairwoman of the Georgia Restaurant Association:
"... 2006 was no doubt a year of accomplishments for the GRA, perhaps none more important than our work on the Georgia Food Code. For those of you who missed the front page of the AJC on January 18th and the editorial in today’s paper, the DHR Board just last week approved the third revised version of the Rules and Regulations for Food Service. What the AJC article did not mention is the tireless hours spent by MANY of our GRA members to reach this conclusion and insure a smooth implementation by year’s end. Please allow me to publicly thank those who worked on the front line and those behind the scenes who helped achieve this goal. First and foremost, I will forever be indebted to Frank Ferko of Rare Hospitality (who led the charge and guided us all as we navigated through what was sometimes very unfamiliar regulatory territory), Todd Burrowes and Tammi Stigger also of Rare Hospitality, Niko Karatassos of Buckhead Life, Neel Sengupta, Eric Holm and Don Adkkison of Golden Corral, Pam Williams of YUM Brands, Board member Jaime Gonzalez, GRA Executive Director Ron Wolf, Hal Noakof Hal’s, our Governmental Affairs Committee Chair Guy Thomson, Senator Don Balfour, Mike Vaquer and Jean McRae of the Vaquer Firm, our 2006 GRA Vice Chair and Incoming 2007 Chair Lenore Krentz, and last but certainly not least -- our esteemed General Counsel Charles Hoff who spent tireless hours crafting our message, researching and advising.

The results of each and everyone’s diligent efforts are clear. We will now have a Food Code that is more closely aligned with the most current version of the national Model Food Code – the most scientifically sound food safety technical guidance document available today. The GRA’s continued advocacy of the Model Code is largely responsible for this result. Other positive revisions to the code that the GRA played an integral role in securing are a reconfigured scoring mechanism where risk factor values are weighted according to severity, a true 100 point scoring scale, and revisions to the original plan calling for the displaying of letter grades on our restaurants’ front doors."

You can find more Health and Safety information on our website FoodServiceResource.com

FoodService Resources: Using Web 2 as an information gathering and business generating tool.

FoodService Resources: Using Web 2 as an information gathering and business generating tool.

Using Web 2 as an information gathering and business generating tool.

One thing that I have learned in this business is that trying to get a group of FoodService Industry Professionals together in one room, is like trying to herd cats! I have created a private domain where we can share information about what is going on in our area. Who's opening, closing, moving, selling, etc. I have also learned that several salespeople can hold one piece of the puzzle when it comes to a single business unit. In a group of 15 - 25 people, chances are that someone knows an address, another a name, another a phone number, and another may have had a previous relationship with the operator. The fact that our community is on-line allows everyone to participate at their convenience and add to the puzzle when ever they have a piece. They can get or place information where ever they have a connection to the internet. We also produce a marketing piece for our group that allows us to cross-promote. Because we get instantaneous information from our domain, we only meet once a month instead of 2-4 times a month like other groups! Another bonus is that members of our group (in many cases) beat their competition to the punch. I have attached a copy of our Monthly Market Report from last October as an example.

Have Fun!
Be #1,
Carl Muth
FoodServiceResource.com

Restaurant Equipment Maintenance and Repair

http://www.foodserviceresource.com/ServiceAgents/service_agents.htm

Like they say; an ounce of preparation is worth more than a pound of cure. I was an E & S salesman for 12 years, and invariably I would get that call around 3 or 4 in the afternoon from a customer who had a piece of equipment that had broken down. So they call me (even though I may not of sold them the piece of equipment) to find out who the authorized service agent is for that manufacturer. Now (because they are a good customer) I have to stop making sales calls, get some one from the office that can look up the information on the phone, then get some one on the phone at the mfg to give me the information, then get the restaurant operator (the person that called me in the first place) on the phone to answer his question. This whole process could take up to an hour or longer, so the rest of your day is shot just trying to take care of a simple problem.The good news is that I have created a solution to this problem. On my website (FoodServiceResource.com), I have created a Service Agent & Repair Page where the Sales Person or End User can quickly get the information that they need. If you're a salesman out in the field, all you have to do is tell your customer to go to FoodServiceResource.com, look for the Service Agent & Repair Page., and get the information that they need. One phone call, no follow up calls, Zero Cost, and off to the next customer. Brilliant!!

Restaurant Start-Up Resources

I'm not that great of a writer, but I am very good at research. So please excuse any bad grammar or spelling errors. I have created a FoodService Resource Website based on my experience opening, operating and selling E&S to restaurants. In the old days when we opened up a restaurant we had to run all over town picking up applications, permits, rules and regulations, inspection requests and tons of other paperwork. We went through 100's of catalogs setting specifications for equipment, furniture, tabletop, smallwares, etc. As a salesperson I spent 100's of hours helping end-users specify equipment, smallwares, furniture, tabletop, etc. With the advent of the internet, it has become ever easier to find all the things that you need on-line. The only problem is that all that stuff is all over the place and can be difficult to locate quickly and efficiently. Search engines return millions of links and it's easy to wind up at a dead end. Also, the companies that come up at the top of the search lists are not always the most qualified to provide the goods or services that you need. Pay-per click advertising and other crafty means of manipulating the search engines often put the worst companies at the top. My Website is a no frills, meat and potato site that offers tools and resources for the Restaurant Owner/Manager/Worker. The website actually started as a way to help a friend of mine open her Catering/Special Events Facility in Alpharetta Georgia (http://www.themetropolitanclub.net/). I started finding and aggregating all the information, documents, links, and requirements that I could find from the internet. The easiest way to organize all the information available was to create a navigatable website that categorized and linked all the different documents. I sell space on my web to reputable companies that sell to the restaurant market. Eventually, I would like to bring some manufacturers (ones that I have used and trust) on board as sponsors. So far, I have collected information on 22 States, and we are adding more all the time. If you are in a State that I have not started, please Email Me and I will get to work on it. I have a Research Page specifically designed for people that are “thinking about” getting into the “Restaurant Business”. The page has some rudimentary steps about what you have to do and think about when getting started, along with articles on what it is like to run a restaurant. I especially like the advice given to people with no experience in the biz, which suggests working as a dishwasher in a restaurant that has the volume of business that you would like to achieve. If you can work at that job for a month, you will have a better understanding of what it takes to be an owner. The page also contains a sample P&L, a Smallwares Requirements List, a Pre-Opening Checklist (Both-Downloadable below), a Restaurant Market Analysis Tool, and many other resources that describe the colossal task of opening and operating a restaurant.

Have Fun!
Be #1,
Carl Muth
FoodServiceResource.com