MUMBAI: As the country gears up to come out of the two-month long Covid2019-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 implementinga 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 craving for the juiciest burgers and fries in town, while McDonald’s focuses on giving you a safe, hygienic and delightful dining experience. 

Westlife Development Limited director Smita Jatia 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 served in a contactless manner, untouched 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 Covid2019.

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 per cent 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 washingfor 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.    AarogyaSetu app downloaded on the phones
6.    Mandatory FSSAI and McDonald’s trainings on prevention against Covid2019

For Entrance Area
7.    Regular sanitization of door handles
8.    Mandatory temperature checkand 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 equipment every four 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 

19.    Alternate table and chair seating arrangementto ensure social distancing while dining
20.    Sanitization of all tables and chairs after every use
21.    Sanitization ofall table trackers after every use
22.    Sanitization ofall trash cans at regular intervals
23.    Sanitization ofall food trays after every use
24.    Availability of hand sanitizers at all customer touchpoints, and in the dining area upon request
25.    Sanitization ofwashrooms every 30 minutes

For Ordering & Pickup Counter
27.    Availability of contactlesstake-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

For Delivery process
30.    Social distancing markings at the delivery window for riders 
31.    Sanitization ofdelivery 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 and 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 visitorsat 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 historyof all employees and visitors
42.    Regular assessment of suppliers and their food to ensure complete safety

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