Food labeling is the top priority in QSRs' evolving food safety standards

PREPsafe founder George Walton explains how their products also contribute to a better customer experience.

The current pandemic is seeing customers become keener to know the hygiene and safety standards employed by QSRs. This means health and cleanliness are some of the top priorities that customers are looking for and in turn, those in the food industry want to ensure this as well. If your business cannot ensure quality and safety in every food item, people are not going to trust you and will go elsewhere. This is where PREPsafe comes in.

What is PREPsafe?
Thirteen years ago, George Walton and his two partners who were Subway franchisees at the time met one morning and had been discussing problems they were having in their restaurants.

“Subway and many franchisors [of QSRs] require labeling as part of their operations. The pain point [was] manually writing these labels and getting staff to write them legibly and accurately every time. This coupled with the amount of time it took to train and employees how to label manually was a never-ending battle. We thought there had to be a better way than this.” Walton explains.

After much discussion, PREPsafe was born - with the first version of PREPPY Console going on sale within six months. In time, new technologies have become available leading to the creation of the current PREPPY App, a mobile software-based system using Apple IOS or Android with a cloud-based server and Bluetooth technology to print out the labels needed by restaurant kitchens.

How PREPsafe stands out in the food labeling scene 
At the time of its creation, Walton says no other company offered a food labeling system that was not only inexpensive but easy to set up for restauranteurs, it simply did not exist. The ones that could potentially work he says were cumbersome to set up and cost thousands of dollars which is way above the budget of most business owners. The PREPPY Console and eventually the PREPPY App was the answer to all of that.

“PREPsafe differentiates itself largely in that it strips out [the complicated parts] and makes it easy. It has no frills and gets to the point quickly and easily. The first Preppy systems were under a thousand dollars and very reliable. You could pull it out of the box and it would just work,” Walton explains.

From the ground up, Preppy is designed to be easy to use and simple enough that anyone can operate it. Staff training takes just minutes not hours in order to meet the operational demands and safety standards required for correct food labeling. Walton says the PREPsafe system was designed and built with the restaurateur and kitchen staff user experience top of mind and not from a programmer’s point of view making the software super intuitive.

With no up-front or software subscription fees, consumable labels are the only ongoing cost. Every PREPsafe customer uses licensed PREPsafe labels. This gives huge peace of mind to franchisors ensuring each outlet will only use approved labels that meet the quality standards required for safe use on food containers and around the food itself.

How PREPsafe contributes to a better customer experience
PREPsafe’s efficient model for food labeling allows restaurants and QSRs to offer a premier customer experience by raising the bar on food labeling practices, standardizing the process, and ensuring that all food is prepared and labeled accurately and safely. When customers, field staff, and Council health inspectors see a PREPsafe food safety labeling system being used in a restaurant it unequivocally sends the message that the restaurant is using best practices in food safety.

“What we’re seeing is a large number of inquiries coming from non franchised food businesses, with many of them each week purchasing and starting to use the PREPPY App. This is certainly getting away from where we were a year or two ago where our customers were mainly only from large franchises like Subway, Domino’s, Pizza Hut, Red Rooster, etc. We are now assisting customers from large Mining sites to small Outback stores in aboriginal communities,” Walton shares as he discusses the wide range of customers benefiting from PREPsafe.

Why is food safety so important?
There are strict regulations and guidelines concerning food safety standards in Australia which are regulated by the Food Standards Australia New Zealand or FSANZ. They are a statutory authority in the Australian Government’s Health profile and it is their responsibility to develop food standards for Australia and New Zealand.

Proper food labeling is a key component of ensuring food safety and PREPsafe takes care of this by automating the process for your business easily and inexpensively without resorting to masking tape or sticky tape with paper on it for the labeling. Not only are the materials not food-grade but can also be ineligible and inaccurate much of the time.

“Due to COVID-19, a lot of restaurants are concerned over customer opinions including the internal hygiene policies and customer care, and how to create better experiences for customers and even employees as well. Food hygiene has certainly come to the forefront,” Walton adds.

Towards an automated labeling system
Whether you are running a simple Food Truck, Café, Club, Pub, Day Care center, or even a large QSR group, you need to ensure that your business is up to scratch on food safety standards and part of that is the way you label your food items.

“PREPsafe aims to create a system that will suit as many restaurants as possible without overcomplicating things and without being overpriced. Our customers are looking for something economical, easy to use and Preppy App is suitable for 99% of restaurants,” Walton says.

With PREPsafe’s Preppy App you can get you set up in a matter of minutes at a price that you never thought possible a few years ago. The printer and all label materials are food safe and meet all regulations so now there is simply no reason for manual labeling in 2020.

If you’re a restaurant owner and are looking for a way to standardize your food labeling process, make sure to check out PREPsafe by clicking here.