Tuesday 2 June 2020

McDonald’s India paves the way for the new dining experience in the post COVID-19 world

The brand has implemented a stringent 42- point checklist to ensure the highest degree of safety and hygiene across its dine-in, delivery and take-out services
Mumbai, June 02 2020: As the country gears up to come out of the two-month long COVID-19 led lockdown, Westlife Development, the company that owns and operates McDonald’s restaurants in West and South India is all set to open its doors for its customers once again. The company has led the way for the industry by implementing a 42-pointer checklist across its dine-in, delivery and take-out services, to ensure that its employees and customers are safe every step of the way. So now, you can be rest assured while indulging in your cravings for the juiciest burgers and fries in town, while McDonald’s focuses on giving you a safe, hygienic and delightful dining experience. 
Speaking on the reopening of the restaurants, Smita Jatia, Director, Westlife Development Limited said, “We have been extremely cognizant of the anxieties and concerns of our customers and employees through the ongoing health crisis, and their safety has been our top-most priority. In the last two months, we have closely watched the evolving situation and have constantly taken learnings from other markets that are closer to the cycle of recovery, to ensure we are able to deliver a reassuring and safe experience. Our new restaurant experience has been created with utmost care to ensure that our customers and employees remain safe at every step.”
The QSR giant has leveraged technology in a big way to create a safe environment for its employees and customers – right from enabling contact-less dine-in and take-out for customers to training each member of their crew working across their 315 outlets on hygiene best-practices, to being able to trace all ingredients right to their source.
“Over the years, we have invested significantly to weave technology across our business and in these challenging times we have been able to leverage our strong digital backbone to enable convenience and safety for our customers.” Smita Jatia added.
What’s new in the McDonald’s restaurants?
To give you a safe and comfortable dining experience, McDonald’s India has created a restaurant that takes care of even the smallest of hygiene factors.  Additional safety processes have been added to the already stringent ones, which include thermal screening for all employees and customers along with ensuring social distancing every step of the way. So the next time you visit a McDonald’s outlet, you will see various social distancing markings in front of the self-ordering kiosks, front counter and washrooms, along with alternate table and chair seating arrangements in the dining area.
In addition to the above, customers and employees in the restaurant premises will have access to hand sanitizers at all touchpoints and crew members will always be seen wearing protective gears including masks and gloves. Moreover, in accordance with the government mandate, all staff members will mandatorily have the Aarogya Setu app on their phones.
To ensure the highest standards of food preparation and handling, the QSR giant is making sure that the food is prepared freshly once the order is placed and is served in a contactless manner without being touched by bare hands.
In addition to this, the restaurant leadership team is undergoing all mandated trainings on health and hygiene modules, conducted by FSSAI while each crew member is receiving specialized training on precautionary measures against COVID- 19.
McDonald’s is also ensuring increased sanitization checks at the supplier’s end to ascertain food safety from farm to plates. The brand already boasts of 100% traceability of all ingredients used in their food right to their source.
All McDonald’s restaurants in West and South India will be starting operation of dine-in, take-out and delivery services in a phased manner, in compliance with the local Government regulations.
Here is the 42-point checklist that McDonald’s India West and South is following across its operations
For All Crew Members 1. Thermal screening before the start of shifts 2. Regular and thorough hand washing for 20 seconds 3. Adequate social distancing in all areas within the restaurant and kitchens 4. Protective gear worn by all including masks and gloves 5. Aarogya Setu app downloaded on the phones 6. Mandatory FSSAI and McDonald’s trainings on prevention against COVID-19

DINE – IN
For Entrance Area 7. Regular sanitization of door handles 8. Mandatory temperature check and hand sanitizers for customers before entering the restaurants 9. Designated social distancing markings for all customers at self-ordering kiosks, front counter, takeaway window and McCafé counter

For Kitchen Area & Food related Hygiene 10. ‘Single use only’ policy to maintain food packaging hygiene and safe handling of condiments, tissues, stirrers etc. 11. Ensuring highest food preparation standards with extra attention to food hygiene including source tracking, kitchen sanitization and regular food safety audits 12. Sanitization of all kitchen equipments every 4 hours 13. Preparing and serving food without touching it with bare hands 14. Maintaining separate kitchens, equipment, utensils, and cleaning cloths for veg and non-veg food, as always

For Ordering & Payment Area 15. Sanitization of self-ordering kiosks after every use 16. Option of contactless ordering through digital menu cards sent on Whatsapp or through QR codes

For Dining Area 17. Cleaning and sanitization of restaurant lobbies at regular intervals 18. Option for customers to be served at the table or over the counter in a contactless manner, at select restaurants 19. Alternate table & chair seating arrangement to ensure social distancing while dining 20. Sanitization of all tables and chairs after every use 21. Sanitization of all table trackers after every use 22. Sanitization of all trash cans at regular intervals 23. Sanitization of all food trays after every use 24. Availability of hand sanitizers at all customer touchpoints, and in the dining area upon request 25. Sanitization of washrooms every 30 minutes
TAKE-OUT
For Ordering & Pickup Counter 27. Availability of contactless take-out to ensure zero-contact food pick-up 28. Packing and handing over food to customers in a completely contactless manner at the takeaway and drive-thru counter 29. Option of contactless and cashless payments available at ordering area, takeaway counters and drive-thru through UPI or Tap n Pay option
DELIVERY
For Delivery process 30. Social distancing markings at the delivery window for riders 31. Sanitization of delivery bag before the rider uses it 32. Ensuring contactless home deliveries 33. Sealing all delivery bags with tape with the bill stuck on the back of the bag for both McDelivery service & third-party orders

At Supplier’s End 34. Disinfection of trucks carrying goods before entering the premises 35. Mandatory hand-wash and sanitization across multiple touch-points 36. Temperature checks for all employees and visitors coming to the factory premises 37. Social distancing markings for all employees handling food in the kitchens 38. Full-cover body suits worn by all employees and visitors at the premises of select suppliers 39. Changing and disposing of PPE equipment as per guidelines 40. Disabling of bio-metric based attendance to avoid cross-contamination 41. Storing records of health and travel history of all employees and visitors 42. Regular assessment of suppliers and their food to ensure complete safety

About Westlife Development:
Westlife Development Limited (BSE: 505533) (WDL) focuses on putting up and operating Quick Service Restaurants (QSR) in India through its subsidiary Hardcastle Restaurants Pvt. Ltd. The Company operates a chain of McDonald’s restaurants in west and south India, having a master franchisee relationship with McDonald’s Corporation USA, through the latter’s Indian subsidiary.
About Hardcastle Restaurants:
Hardcastle Restaurants Pvt Ltd (HRPL) is a McDonald’s franchisee with rights to own and operate McDonald’s restaurants in India’s west and south markets. HRPL has been a franchisee in this part of India since its inception in 1996.
HRPL serves approximately 200 million customers, annually, at its 315 (as of December 31, 2019) McDonald’s restaurants across 42 cities in the states of Telangana, Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Goa and parts of Madhya Pradesh, and provides direct employment to over 10,000 employees. McDonald’s operates through various formats and brand extensions including standalone restaurants, drive- thru’s, 24/7, McDelivery and dessert Kiosks. The menu features Burgers, Finger Foods, Wraps and Hot and Cold Beverages besides a wide range of desserts. Several of the McDonald’s Restaurants feature an in-house McCafé.
The pillars of the McDonald's system – Quality, Service, Cleanliness and Value – are evident at each of the restaurants where HRPL operates.
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