Group of friends eating and drinking at barbecue

Summer is coming and that means your target audience are looking for establishments where they can enjoy the limited British summer. They want beer gardens, ice cold drinks, delicious salads, cooling desserts, barbecues and alfresco dining.

So can you give your customers what they want, or will they need to go to your competition?

If you are planning on introducing summer barbecues you need to make sure you are prepared. Make sure health and safety risk assessments are carried out on all equipment, access points to the barbecue and the dangers to customers near the barbecue.

A HACCP risk assessment will also need to be carried out to ensure that the highest food safety standards are maintained when serving food to customers. We aren’t just talking about serving raw chicken, but also your salads too. If salads are being served outside you need to make sure the salad items and salad dressings are kept cool and chilled.

Remember that summer is a very popular time for hay-fever too. This means some of your customers may be suffering with sneezes so food needs to be covered so it is protected from potential germs.

If customers are helping themselves to your salad items next to the barbecue consider smaller amounts put out. This will help keep the products fresh and protected; it will also reduce food wastage too.

Make sure the employees serving, preparing and cooking the outdoor food have an adequate supply of clean water. They will need to wash equipment and their own hands regularly, so hand sanitiser, towels and cloths will be useful too.

Barbecue food is often very popular, and as soon as the smell of the freshly barbecued food gets around you’ll have customers queuing up. We would recommend that you pre-cook the food first to reduce the risk of serving undercooked foods. This is often the case when there is a lot of pressure, with queues and fast service.

Summer could be a great time for your business, make sure you can give your customers what they want so they spend lighter summer evenings with you, instead of round the corner at your competitors.