A diary with gaps
The diary is on the shelf above the sink. The morning fridge check should be done at opening, but opening is chaos: the bread delivery, the first customers, the milk. By ten someone remembers, and writes down a temperature from the display on the fridge. The afternoon check is often skipped. Closing checks get ticked at 5:05 by whoever is last out, sometimes before they are done.
When you look back through the diary, there are days with nothing, and weeks where every entry is in the same handwriting and the same pen. You know the fridges are fine and the team works hard, but the paper does not show it.
Why the records have gaps
- The diary is in one place, and the check needs doing somewhere else.
- Nobody is reminded at the right time.
- Checks are shared by a small team, and each assumes someone else did them.
- When a reading is out of range, what was done about it is rarely written down.
- Paper records are hard to review, so gaps are found weeks later.
What patchy records cost
Gaps in records are stressful when an inspection comes, even if the food was always safe. More importantly, a fridge that is running warm might not be noticed for days if nobody is checking properly, and the stock inside has to be thrown away. Owners spend time checking diaries instead of running the cafe. And new staff learn that the diary is something you fill in later.
How we move the checks onto a phone
What you check and what the limits are is set by your own food safety procedures and any advice you take. We build the tool that makes it easy for your team to follow them.
- Your checks are set up as tasks at the times they should happen: opening checks, fridge temperatures, delivery checks, cleaning tasks and closing checks.
- A reminder pops up on the cafe tablet or staff phones when each check is due.
- Staff record readings or tick tasks with their name, and the time is recorded automatically.
- If a reading is outside the limits you set, the app asks what was done, such as moving stock or calling the engineer, and records it.
- Missed checks alert you or the manager on shift, the same day.
- Where you want it, wireless probes can record fridge temperatures automatically, so staff only confirm.
- You can see every check for any day in seconds, and print or export records if asked.
| Check | When | Prompt if missed |
|---|---|---|
| Opening checks | Before opening | Owner or manager on shift |
| Fridge temperatures | Times set in your procedures | Shift lead |
| Deliveries | On arrival | Whoever received it |
| Cleaning and closing | At close | Closing staff, then you |
A day with the checklist
At 7:15 the tablet chimes: opening checks. The barista does them between setting up the grinder and the first customer, with a few taps. At 2pm the fridge reminder comes up, and one fridge is reading a little high. The app asks what was done; she notes that the door was left ajar during a delivery and she rechecked twenty minutes later. At close, the last person works through the checklist and cannot finish until each item is done. You see it all from home.
Does this sound like your diary?
- Checks are recorded in a paper diary.
- Entries are often filled in later.
- Afternoon checks are regularly missed.
- What was done about a warm fridge is not recorded.
- You only find gaps when you flick back through the book.