The Food Hygiene Rating Scheme (FHRS) was launched in November 2010 by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) and ratings became digitally available in 2012. The impact on businesses has been significant:
Consumer Checking Behaviour:
The food standards agency carried out research on how the ratings affected consumer behaviour in relation to restaurants and how customers would choose a place to eat and spend money. The results found that a vast majority of British consumers were aware of food hygiene ratings and they did affect any spending positions. The FSA research found that:
- 43% of consumers in England, 56% in Wales and 39% in Northern Ireland said they check hygiene ratings either often or sometimes
- The online website accessibility has made checking easier, with 41% of people checking in the last 12 months either at premises or online
And what effect does a Hygiene rating have on a food business in the UK?
A poor rating can significantly affect turnover, with a report from food industry insurer, NFU Mutual shows that more than 52,000 businesses in England, Wales and Northern Ireland could be faced with losing over a third of business, as 34 percent of people would refuse to eat at restaurant premises displaying a food hygiene rating of three or less.
One of the reasons for this found I the report also suggested that public awareness of food-related illnesses is extremely high. 90 percent of consumers were aware of salmonella being an issue for food producers, 86 percent recognised E. coli and 68 percent recognised listeria. Six percent of respondents failed to identify any illnesses at all. NFU Mutual’s research also found that restaurants rated three and below could already be losing out on possible income, as the public are reportedly willing to spend on average £8 more (nearly double) on a meal at a restaurant rated five (£17.31 vs. £8.97). Perhaps Covid has also increased the public’s awareness and importance of health.
Further research by Ipsos UK shows that a Food Hygiene Rating of 4 or 5 (“good” or “very good”) gave customers confidence and could also help attract new customers. Food businesses in Wales felt FHRS ratings helped with customer engagement. Hospitality businesses argued strongly that the food hygiene ratings added real value to their customer engagement. They felt that customers made a conscious effort to consider, and look for, ratings, and if the restaurant food hygiene rating was low, customers would avoid using them. Some restaurants also discussed more generally how they felt that FHRS ratings helped to ensure customer confidence in their business. The Ipsos research also found a good food hygiene ratings affect Insurance cover, with small businesses being asked for their FHRS rating when applying for business insurance cover. These businesses did not know what role FHRS ratings might have played in influencing insurance cover or premiums.
Why have Food Hygiene Ratings become so important to Hospitality businesses?
Since 2013, displaying ratings became mandatory in Wales, and it’s also required in Northern Ireland. In England, it’s still voluntary, though two thirds of businesses do display their rating.
While there isn’t specific research putting an exact monetary value on different ratings, the evidence suggests that a low rating (especially 1-2 stars) can have a substantial negative impact on business performance. This is particularly true now that ratings are easily accessible online and consumers are increasingly aware of food hygiene standards.
The system has become more important for hospitality businesses because scientific research has shown that when ratings are available so consumers they can effectively change consumer behaviour.
This means that poor ratings do directly translate to lost customers and lower revenue.
And if a hospitality business were was to go from a Five Star rating to a Zero or One Star Rating what would the effect by on turnover?
Judging by the research above and our own experience we would estimate a restaurant that went from a Five star hygiene rating to a one or a zero would lose 50% of its turnover. It would also suffer brand and repetitional damage from being in the local newspapers and would take many months and years to repair the brand damage and rebuild the customer base. This is why it’s so important to have a robust Food Safety system in place such as GuardStar to make sure compliance to Food Safety laws are adhered to.