Hygiene as a pillar for Eetgemak

According to meal supplier Eetgemak, everyone deserves a fresh, healthy and tasty meal. The basis is good ingredients and the right recipe, but optimal hygiene during preparation is just as indispensable.

Many Dutch people have already eaten a meal of Eetgemak. Every day, this company, with its own energy-efficient fleet filled with 50,000 meals, drives across the country on its way to hospitals and care institutions (the core business), nurseries, table-top services and the hospitality industry.

Different dietary requirements

The various target groups on the one hand and trends and developments in food on the other make it necessary to continuously innovate. In any case, the recipes need to be innovated, says manager Eldert Meerkerk. "A meal for a nursery looks different from a meal for a rehabilitation center. Our dietetics department tailors the composition of the meals entirely to the needs of our customers. With different dietary requirements, we have to respond to physical recovery. If we cook for a Geriatrics department, we have to adapt our use of herbs in the preparation of the meals so that they trigger the taste buds. We also see that the demand for vegetarian meals has increased considerably. Nutrition is always evolving. We, too, are taking it one step further. Eetgemak is located in Katwijk and has existed since 2006.

© Christeyns

Hygiene

Every meal - low in sodium, high in protein or vegetarian - requires preparation under the right conditions. According to Eldert, impeccable hygiene on the production floor is at the top of the list. "You can't get to work without proper cleaning. That applies to our company halls, for example. And certainly for our four kitchens with pots and pans. The boilers in which we prepare the meals, for example, undergo a deep cleaning twice a day. Our dishwasher installation is absolutely indispensable. It cleans all the gastronomy pots and pans in which we store all the prepared food. Eetgemak has its own quality service that takes swabs from different parts of the production floor on a weekly basis, thus checking whether the cleaning is still at the right level".

Hygiene help

Little imagination is needed to consider the consequences of even the slightest glitch in hygiene. An immaculate kitchen and ditto tools contribute to food safety and security and help prevent infections and recalls. Eetgemak therefore engaged Christeyns (formerly Qlean-tec), a manufacturer of cleaning agents and disinfectants that supplies products to more than 50 countries. In addition to products for the food industry and professional kitchens, the company also produces for laundry, retail and the automotive sector. The collaboration with Eetgemak started in 2013, when the manufacturer installed two dosing systems in the much-needed dishwasher installation. Eldert: "Before that time, we used a simple dosing system, meaning that the dosage and also the washing results were not constant. Christeyns' dosing system works on the basis of inductive conductivity, so the dosage is always constant. Even with a dirty washing bath and dirty feelers. The concentration of soap in the water and the washing result therefore remain stable".

Christeyns Pro dishwasher dosing unit

Service

Since then, the manufacturer has also supplied other hygiene solutions to the Katwijk meal supplier. "We always start from a total hygiene concept", says Maik van Leijden, sales manager food hygiene. "An A-to-Z approach in which we combine the right products with service and advice. We function as a one-stop-shop and therefore provide Eetgemak with cleaning products and materials such as paper disposables, brushes, residue strips, buckets and sponges, but we think it's just as important to always be there when needed", he says. 

The service includes four service visits a year. For example, the concentrations of soap in the supplied mobile foam unit and the dishwasher dosing unit are checked and adjusted where necessary. The dishwasher dosing unit is supplied on loan free of charge. Christeyns' technical service department takes care of the maintenance and replaces the dosing tubes of the dosing installation preventively twice a year, so that it continues to run optimally. In addition, the service jumps in in case of technical calamities.

Reporting for audits

The cooperation ensures good hygiene and has other advantages, according to Eldert. "After each visit, the technical department draws up a report with the results of the measurements. We then use that in our quality consultation. In addition, we can submit the reports during inspections such as the FSSC 22000 audits. In the person of Maik, we also have a permanent contact with a lot of expertise to whom our employees can turn with all their questions. Whether it concerns information about a cleaning agent, or how best to remove dirt or a stain; it's all important. Hygiene is and will remain one of the most important pillars of our company".

www.eetgemak.nl 
www.christeynsfoodhygiene.nl 

Photo truck: © Eetgemak