bhc Chicken to Implement Restaurant Hygiene Ratings Across All Stores

[Asia Economy Reporter Seungjin Lee] bhc Chicken is strengthening hygiene management in stores together with its franchisees.

bhc Chicken announced on the 5th that it is promoting the acquisition of restaurant hygiene grades, supervised by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, for all stores including directly operated and franchise stores. Since November last year, bhc Chicken has been promoting restaurant hygiene grades for each franchise to provide safer and cleaner chicken to customers.

All 1,500 franchise stores nationwide are participating, with headquarters and franchisees united in managing store hygiene. So far, about 270 stores have passed the evaluation and received grades such as "Very Excellent" and "Excellent." The grading evaluations are being conducted sequentially and take about 2 weeks to 3 months. It is expected that the remaining stores will complete their applications soon.

Since chicken uses a lot of oil, acquiring hygiene grades is very challenging. Considering the industry's trend of low applications for hygiene grades, bhc Chicken's push to acquire hygiene grades for all stores is very unusual. Especially, the fact that about 270 stores have received grades, which is rare in the industry, reflects bhc Chicken's continuous efforts and strong will for hygiene management.

The restaurant hygiene grading system, supervised by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, designates grades only to establishments with excellent hygiene levels. It was implemented in May 2017 to improve restaurant hygiene levels and guarantee consumer choice. Evaluation agencies assess a total of 63 items including compliance with the Food Sanitation Act, facility standards, hygiene management, and operator awareness. Based on the results, grades are assigned in three levels: "Very Excellent," "Excellent," and "Good."

Since last year, bhc Chicken has been strengthening customer-centered management and quality management under the slogan "More Delicious, Cleaner, and Kinder." It operates a call center directly at headquarters to collect two-way feedback from customers and franchise owners, focusing on strengthening hygiene and quality management. This hygiene grade promotion is an extension of the quality management efforts steadily practiced so far, and bhc Chicken expects a positive effect on increasing franchise sales by enhancing customer trust in store hygiene and cleanliness.

A bhc Chicken official said, "Due to the nature of the business, it is difficult for chicken to receive hygiene grades compared to other industries, but both franchisees and headquarters agree on strengthening hygiene management through acquiring the grades," adding, "We will continue to strive to provide the best quality and service in line with the heightened consumer standards for food safety."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.