Consistency is everything
Blog #5 in a series of 6
Food consultant London
Food consultant London
The same every day
Food consultant London
Your business and its brand will gain a reputation amongst you customers as you grow. There’s little else that will hurt that reputation more than inconsistency. Food consultant London
You might sell a premium ready meal or a ‘value’ soup, either way, your products should be the same every day. That’s the same taste, texture, colour, packaging, etc. To do this you will have to be persistent, vigilant and set high standards for yourself whether you are manufacturing for yourself or you have a manufacturing partner.
How do you measure consistency?
Food consultant London
Set the parameters for your products, review and taste them as often as possible against predetermined measurements with as many people as feasible. I’ve met plenty of business owners who do not taste and review their products. I’m not sure why they don’t perform this fundamental task to make sure their business’s life blood stays within parameters and on track. Perhaps they are hiding from finding out bad news about their products, perhaps they are bored with their products. Either way, if a business owner is not tasting their own products on a frequent basis then that’s a business that is heading towards trouble.
By all means have an external laboratory to send you product results monthly but a threat to your sales is far more likely to come from poor quality product that pathogenic bacteria and let’s be honest, if the product has irregular consistency, the blame will be in production. If the product consistency is badly controlled, then poor food safety protocols may not be far behind!
It's not just product consistency?
It’s not just about product consistency though. Your customers will want the same service levels every time. They want a speedy response to emails, they will want to know that the phone is going to be answered, they will want accurate despatch notes and sales invoices. This all forms part of the customers perception of your brand. Food consultant London