Toyota Kirloskar Motor Get the ISO 22000:2005 Certification for Food Quality & Safety Management System

Toyota Kirloskar Motor [TKM] has become the first Automobile Company in India to be awarded ISO 22000:2005 certification for canteen operations. An international food safety management system, in acknowledgement to the highest quality of food and hygiene standards maintained at the plant. The facility in Bidadi [Karnataka] houses a centralized kitchen which covers 14,500 meals per day in various shifts. The award, which evidently underpins Toyota’s unrelenting HR framework that aims at creating a positive working environment for employees, was handed over by Bureau Veritas. This certification demonstrates Toyota’s commitment on food safety enhancing customer satisfaction while duly adhering to relevant legal compliance [FSSAI – Food Safety & Standards Authority of India].

Speaking on the unique feat, Sailesh Shetty, Vice President of Toyota Kirloskar Motor said, “We at Toyota are constantly focused on our employees’ well-being by creating a conducive work environment that boosts their productivity and performance.  Besides several unique human resource programs, we have also recurrently ensured that our employees get the best nourishment for an overall development. Therefore, we take extra efforts in providing consistent, safe, quality and hygienic food, as essentially, YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT. Healthy being ensures healthy workplace.

Our canteen operations are based on a well-crafted module that puts hygiene and quality on top of its priorities. All our perishables like vegetables are sourced from farms through local famers in and around the plant, thus ensuring uncompromised quality. The rest of items like food grains are sourced from the best of places with ZERO tolerance for Quality deviations.  We also have formed a canteen committee working relentlessly to serve the healthiest and most hygienic spread to our employees, and ensure that they are invigorated enough to perform to their best capacities.” he added.

At Toyota, daily set food menu is consciously been planned in consultation with the in-house medical advisory, ensuring both the desirable taste & health requirements of the team members. Basic exercises at regular intervals in factory premises are also practiced amongst the employees to de-stress & support their stamina at work place.

The canteen is strictly managed under a comprehensive and effective food safety management system under the declared scope of “Preparation and Service of Cooked Food and Beverages within the Organization”.

Some of the key highlights are: 

Infrastructure - Centralized kitchen with well-equipped facilities follows a scheduled menu. All vessels and equipment are made of food safe stainless steel of 304 Grade, which is capable of enduring high levels of temperature for long intervals.

Raw Materials - Are of the best quality and ensures robust Quality Management System implementation. This system further consists of a range of examination processes like Supplier Selection, Supplier Qualification, and Supplier Rating to ensure that the right and best raw materials are procured.

Storage, Handling, Preservation of raw materials - Fresh vegetables are procured on daily basis from a local organic producer. After procurement, sorting of vegetables is done to retain the best quality.  Toyota follows the FIFO (First in First Out) and FEFO (First Expiry First Out) methods while issuing the raw material for production in order to properly identify, store and retrieve the raw materials in an appropriate manner.

Hygiene - In order to make sure that none of the personal hygiene practices are missed out before the cooking begins, each staff member follows a routine hygiene chart. Daily shower, use of clean uniforms, caps to cover the hair, face masks to cover the mouth and nose area, gloves, gumboots, other protective gears and hand sanitization are mandatory.

Recipes -Standardization is an important factor while maintaining high levels of nutrition along with taste. In order to achieve these levels, a well-structured Quality Assurance is implemented at all stages of Operations— Pre-Production, Production and Post-Production of food & beverages.

Quality Control- Process in the kitchen accepts raw materials only after thorough Quality Inspection to meet all the requirements of our Raw Material Specifications, which are generally adapted from Food Safety Standards Act 2006 (FSSA).

Quality and Safety during cooking - TKM kitchen follows Standard Operation Process system. This process is charted out to ensure hygiene and quality of the cooked meal and to adhere to the food safety standards.  The kitchen has well trained Chefs, Food Service Staff and Production Supervisors to manage and supervise the food preparations. Critical Control Points (CCPs) like cooking temperature are checked and recorded at periodic intervals to ensure the right quality of meals so prepared.

To ensure high food quality, all food preparations has to pass through Quality Gate before it is served to Team Members.

Food Packing and Transportation - The plant uses specially designed and customized transport vehicles to deliver food. These vehicles are cleaned on a daily basis and undergo weekly fumigation. These vehicles use an insulated body to ensure food temperature delivery freshness.

Customer Feedback and Next action In order to consistently maintain the quality of the meal, Toyota takes feedbacks from team members on a weekly basis. The Canteen team reviews the feedback and initiates or triggers appropriate corrective or improvement actions to further enhance the quality and delivery of food.

Toyota outlines a systematic food preparation & servings considering various factors which impactfully covers the good health of its employees. The structured choices of food, calorie combinations, timely meal servings, good flavor & taste, appropriate portions of nutrients, etc., plays a key role to ensure the desirable food consumption & required amount of stamina in its employees considerably to live a balanced work & personal healthy life.

We, at TKM, promote ‘Eat Healthy & Live Healthy” amongst the employees by offering a well-balanced food for the employees at office premises. We offer appropriate foods for all ages and at life stages of our employees to cater to their meal consumption needs holistically. Toyota’s continuous healthy food practices amongst our employees at office has contributed towards adopting such good food habits to their personal lives & their families/friends circles, thus adding immense value to our positive efforts in such direction.

Apart from standard canteen food services, the plant has also set-up an exclusive diet food counter to cater to the right eating habits for a calorie conscious food consumption, to ensure healthy living. Such food service supports those team members who have been advised to stay on strict diet regime to control their food intake considering their individual health conditions, even at office premises.

Audit & Review mechanisms play a key role in monitoring the key processes & systems and their performance. Toyota Kirloskar Motor have institutionalized Good Manufacturing Process (GMP) Monthly Audits, Surprise Audits on Food Safety & Quality, to name a few, to ensure hygienic & nutritious food to its employees for their individual well-being, thus an healthy society. Customer satisfaction survey performance is reviewed on a monthly basis. Detailed Customer Satisfaction surveys are done at periodic intervals apart from the day-to-day feedback taken during the food service.

Toyota believes in continuous improvement of each & every standards set in the company. Toyota’s canteen facility service also follows such stringent practices in its set food systems & processes to achieve the desired standards for the overall good health of its employees. Toyota brings smiles to its customers through quality products, but first to its team members through quality employee services. Needless to mention, we at Toyota strongly believe that our employees’ good health is of utmost importance for us, over the set standards being followed by any corporates.