Code of practice developed for restaurants

In an effort to get restaurants and other food establishments to improve the quality of service offered to consumers, the Guyana National Bureau of Standards (GNBS) and tourism bodies are implementing a ‘code of practice for quality and management in the restaurant service.’

An agreement was reached between the GNBS, the Tourism Hospitality Association of Guyana (THAG) and the Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA) on Wednesday.

A statement from the GNBS noted that the Bureau will be embarking on a corporate marketing venture with GTA and THAG to promote and endorse the standard.

Head of the Marketing and Communication Department of the GNBS, Syeid Ibrahim stated that this will be done in a phased manner that will include reviewing the standard to fill the gaps and making the standards available to all sizes and categories of establishments.

The Bureau will be offering technical support to establishments based on stipulated requirements; and the evaluation and possible certification of conforming establishments.

Ibrahim admitted that usually, it takes time for society to incorporate standards into the culture and for the people to use them.

However, more restaurants in Guyana need to pay attention to standards if they intend to benefit from an economic revolution, he was quoted as saying in the statement.

Meanwhile, President of THAG, Mitra Ramkumar lauded the GNBS for the new initiative as he believes that conforming restaurants will benefit significantly from the Oil and Gas Industry.

He said it will yield the level of conformance businesses need to offer the best quality of service to their customers.

According to the statement, the President of THAG committed towards the implementation of the restaurant standard and declared that every member of the Association will be provided with a copy of the document. Eventually, this offer will be extended to non-members too.

The GNBS said it will be offering the restaurant standard for sale at a significantly reduced cost to encourage all categories of restaurants to get onboard the new initiative so that by the end of 2019 a large majority of these establishments will be in conformance.