Both consumers and foodservice professionals alike share concerns over food-borne illness and preventing such outbreaks. The cleanliness of food preparation areas, surfaces, and wares used to prepare and serve food are of utmost importance. In fact, food safety compliance was the single most important issue among over 700 foodservice professional respondents surveyed recently by Kline. Employee training was a close second in terms of importance with other trends, such as minimum wage increases, Internet of Things (IoT), green cleaning, labor-saving devices, the impact of social media on their business, and online reviews, being of secondary importance.
Value-added services ranging from employee training assistance to information on the latest regulations of food safety to technology-enabled efficiency and labor-saving devices are also valued by foodservice establishments. End users in restaurants, hotels, and other foodservice settings are challenged to remain efficient, compliant, and profitable on a regular basis. Distributors or chemical suppliers that offer cleaning chemicals, tools, or machinery to help end users with these issues are seen as valued partners, and loyalty is developed as a result. Technology-enabled efficiency and labor-saving devices also have applications in foodservice. Although such devices are still in nascent stages, industrial IoT where things are connected to the Internet and are able to communicate and react to other things could have significant impacts on foodservice efficiency and food safety. IoT can be beneficial if used in commercial kitchen equipment, such as warewash machines, cleaning chemical dispensers, and cooking equipment, such as refrigerators, ovens, fryers, and cooling/prep tables, as it can help reduce unplanned downtime by predicting when service is needed and providing alerts to users.
In December 2017, Kline published the 8th edition of Foodservice Cleaning Products USA study. After extensive research on Janitorial Cleaning Products in Europe, published in 2015, Kline has just launched extensive research on the Foodservice Cleaning Products in Europe market, including France, Germany, and the United Kingdom. The report will be published in Q3 2019. As part of Kline’s Foodservice Cleaning Products in Europe: Market Analysis and Opportunities study, we will survey hundreds of end users and conduct in-depth interviews with suppliers and distributors in each country in their native language. Based on these inputs, the study will assess these and other important issues impacting the market. This study provides an in-depth analysis of major product categories, distribution channels, warewash machinery, and the critical issues affecting the market, including food safety compliance, online sales, minimum wage increases, and technology-enabled efficiency and automation. For more information, contact us.
