The Food Hygiene Rating Scheme Staycation Toolkit

The Food Hygiene Rating Scheme ‘staycation’ toolkit ‘The recipe for a great meal out’

About this toolkit

This toolkit has been produced by the Food Standards Agency. It is designed to support local authorities in helping the FSA promote the Food Hygiene Rating Scheme (FHRS) at a local level over the ‘staycation’ season.

Aviation House 125 Kingsway London WC2B 6NH E: [email protected] What is a ‘staycation’? A ‘staycation’ is loosely defined as a vacation spent within the country, rather than traveling abroad. It includes people who, although staying within the UK, are travelling to different parts of the country and visiting new places that they are not familiar with, and therefore would be more likely to use the FHRS as a gauge of hygiene.

How the numbers add up

The ‘staycation’ market in Britain is becoming ever more popular with more holidaymakers choosing not to jet off to the sun but stay at home instead. According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), expenditure by UK residents on visits within the UK that include at least one overnight stay rose from £21 billion in 2008 to £25 billion in 2012 - an increase of 18%. ONS figures also indicated that food and beverage services had seen a positive rise between 2009 and 20131.

This trend provides an excellent opportunity:  to promote eateries with good hygiene standards by encouraging consumers to check the rating before booking, and to encourage them to choose a food business with a high rating  for food safety officers to work with local tourism officers to promote the scheme to both consumers and businesses

How to use this toolkit

This toolkit outlines ideas and suggestions for your communications, environmental health and tourism departments to work together to deliver an effective campaign. It includes:  a campaign poster and web banners  a template press release  advertorial and web copy to use in council publications and websites  suggested social media posts

Please take the time to look at the content and use it according to your needs. You can find the campaign artwork, poster, web banner, accompanying photography and copy available to download at www.food.gov.uk/staycation-toolkit-2014

1 http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/tourism/tourism-satellite-account/2010---the-economic-importance-of- tourism/sty-staycation.html

2 | w w w . f o o d . g o v . u k / s t a y c a t i o n - t o o k i t - 2 0 1 4 ‘The recipe for a great meal out’ campaign

The campaign is designed to encourage visitors to your area, as well as local residents, to keep food hygiene standards in front of mind when deciding where to eat out in unfamiliar surroundings during their staycation.

Who are your audience?

Your primary audience are visitors to your area. These could include families, couples, the elderly, groups of holiday makers and day trippers. Don’t forget your secondary audience, who are residents from your own local authority, who can be reminded to use the scheme when they visit other parts of the country.

Key messages

The key messages we want to communicate are:  incorporate hygiene ratings as part of the decision making process when choosing where to eat  Check the ratings before you book or visit a restaurant or takeaway. And if you can’t see the rating displayed, ask the manager/staff

Putting your stamp on it

We have developed a poster and web banner to promote the FHRS during the ‘staycation’ season. The poster has been provided electronically to enable you to co-brand it with your local authority logo.

You can find all the campaign collateral at www.food.gov.uk/staycation-toolkit-2014

Suggested activities

Getting your timing right

Staycations in the UK are generally taken around bank holidays and during school breaks so local promotional activities could be carried out with dates for these in mind – see below. Activities could also be planned to coincide with local holiday events and celebrations

Easter weekend 18th to 21st April May Bank Holiday weekends 3rd to 5th May and 24th to 26th May School summer break including August July to September bank holiday Local events As appropriate

3 | w w w . f o o d . g o v . u k / s t a y c a t i o n - t o o k i t - 2 0 1 4 0Display a poster or web banner

You can print off and distribute the poster to use around the council buildings. Tourist and travel centres and information points, GP surgeries, local halls, community centres and libraries, and other places where people often gather, are also good locations.

You can also use it as an advert in your local events guide, residents’ magazine, local paper or staff newsletter.

The web banners can be placed on your external website with a news story promoting the FHRS.

Press and PR

Press release template

You will find a template press release at Annex 1. This has been designed for you to personalise and issue to local media and use during the holiday season. The press release builds on the key messages urging consumers to choose eateries rated 3 or above in the scheme. It also reminds them that if they can’t see a sticker displayed, they should ask staff in the restaurant or check online at www.food.gov.uk/ratings.

The template provides a space for you to insert positive statistics on the percentage of food businesses in your area with a rating of 3 or above so making the information within the press release local and relevant to your audience.

It includes a suggested quote but do work with your local tourism or food safety officers to come up with a quote that is appropriate for your area.

The press release could also be used as the basis for a story in any newsletters or magazines that your authority produces for visitors to the area, local residents or businesses.

It may be possible to enlist food writers or restaurant critics on local papers to help spread the word in their columns and articles, or by including hygiene ratings in restaurant reviews, so consider sending it to them.

We have also had feedback from local authorities that inviting a member of the press to accompany officers on a food inspection can be a good way to inform the press about how the scheme works. Think about extending that invitation to food magazine writers as well.

Content for publications, advertorials and websites

As well as issuing the press release to your local press and radio stations, you could use it as content for your council’s website, publications which are aimed at visitors to the area, residents’ magazines, newsletters, e-bulletins and others.

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An accompanying image may increase the chance of your press release being published. Please feel free to use the images that we have supplied or think of simple ideas that are cost effective to create such as the picture of an FHRS sticker in a dinner plate with a local celebrity sitting down for a meal.

You can find the campaign artwork, poster, web banner, accompanying photography and copy available to download at www.food.gov.uk/staycation-toolkit-2014

Social media

Social media is growing in its popularity, if your local authority is using sites such as Facebook and Twitter; these provide a great opportunity to promote the scheme.

We will be actively promoting the FHRS through social media over the staycation season. We have developed a series of suggested Facebook and Twitter posts for you to use over the period. You can find these at Annex 4.

Here are more suggestions for how you can get involved: Facebook

The FSA Facebook page is at: www.facebook.com/FoodStandardsAgency

Try and encourage businesses in your area to post a picture of their FHRS sticker this summer on their official Facebook page as well as on your page. You could even run this as a competition, offering the first few businesses a prize for doing so. You can also encourage consumers to get involved by posting a picture of places they have eaten in with good FHRS ratings, describing their meals and the experience. Consider working with local restaurants that get photographed, to offer a free meal as a prize.

Twitter

If you are tweeting about FHRS over the ‘staycation’ period, please use the hashtag #FHRS in your tweet. We can use this to help us keep track of what Tweeters are saying about FHRS and how far the word is spreading

Please follow us at @foodgov and retweet any of our FHRS related tweets

5 | w w w . f o o d . g o v . u k / s t a y c a t i o n - t o o k i t - 2 0 1 4 Internal messages

If your council uses an intranet, you could run an internal awareness campaign over the coming months to encourage staff to check hygiene ratings before deciding where to eat when enjoying a day out. Use the suggested web copy at Annex 3 as a news story and upload the web banner to encourage colleagues to check out the ratings of their favourite restaurants before taking a vacation or even a day trip.

Partnerships

Working in partnership can add value to communications with both consumers and businesses. Partnerships can be beneficial as it enables more to be achieved using fewer resources and it can also extend the reach of the campaign.

Consider internal partnerships, for example working with the business development section within your local authority that is involved in promoting tourism and travel within your area.

Other types of organisations that may be fitting partners for the FHRS staycation campaign are:  regional tourism organisations  key local holiday destinations e.g. hotels, holiday parks  local restaurant guides and review sites  local newspapers and publications

Try to find out if they have websites, newsletters and leaflets that the staycation campaign can be incorporated into.

Work in partnership with local food businesses that can also play their part in communicating with consumers. Displaying their sticker is one of the main things they can do. They may well want to highlight their rating on promotional material and use your web banner on their website.

Evaluation

Do also consider evaluating the impact of your activities, so that you will have an idea of what has worked and what didn’t, for the next campaign planned.

6 | w w w . f o o d . g o v . u k / s t a y c a t i o n - t o o k i t - 2 0 1 4 Annex 1: Template press release

The recipe for a great meal out during your day out or holiday in [include name of place]

Staying in the UK for the holidays? Then throw away your passport and get planning. From romantic breaks and weekends away to family camping trips and tours, we all agree that good food is an integral part of a great holiday break or day out.

Whatever your recipe for eating out during your day trip or holiday – whether you’re grabbing a sandwich on the go, sitting down to a four-course meal or indulging in a local delight, make sure you choose one of the [XX number/%] of eateries in [name of area] with a food hygiene rating of 3 or more.

How the scheme works

The Food Hygiene Rating Scheme rates businesses on their hygiene standards, based on inspections carried out by [include name of local authority]. Businesses in the area are rated on a scale ranging from 0 (urgent improvement necessary) to a top rating of 5 (very good).

So, whether you’re reserving a table for a special meal out, eating at the local fish and chip shop, enjoying sandwiches at the beach or sampling some delights at a local deli, make sure you check the hygiene rating first.

Look out for the green and black food hygiene rating stickers displayed on windows and doors. If you can’t see a sticker, ask staff inside for the rating or check online at www.food.gov.uk/ratings [Include name of Elected member or Food Safety Officer} at [include name of local authority] said: “The holiday season is a busy time for our local restaurants, cafes and pubs, with [include number] of visitors expected in the area over the next [include number] of weeks. With the majority of food businesses here rated 3 or above, the Food Hygiene Rating Scheme makes it easier for everyone to choose to enjoy their meals in an eatery where food hygiene is taken seriously."

Catriona Stewart, Head of the Food Hygiene Ratings Team at the Food Standards Agency said: “The Food Hygiene Rating Scheme is a great tool when choosing where to eat out, particularly when in a place that you haven’t visited before. It tells you what’s going on in the kitchen and behind the scenes. A good rating will be good for business during the holiday period, so if you are local eatery, make sure you remember to display your sticker!”

When organising your holiday or day out, don’t forget to check out the food hygiene rating of the local eateries at www.food.gov.uk/ratings

- ENDS - 7 | w w w . f o o d . g o v . u k / s t a y c a t i o n - t o o k i t - 2 0 1 4 Notes to the Editor:

1. The Food Hygiene Rating Scheme is a local authority/FSA partnership initiative designed to provide consumers with information about hygiene standards in food businesses at the time they are inspected to check compliance with legal requirements – the rating given reflects the inspection finding

2. The FHRS rates the hygiene standards of the business rather than the quality of the food.

8 | w w w . f o o d . g o v . u k / s t a y c a t i o n - t o o k i t - 2 0 1 4 Annex 2: Suggested web/advertorial copy

The recipe for a great meal out

What’s your recipe for a great holiday or trip away: gourmet dinners, indulgent favourites or a taste of the local delights? Whatever your choice, make sure you choose one of the [XX number/%] of eateries in [name of area] with a food hygiene rating of 3 or above during your stay. The Food Hygiene Rating Scheme rates food businesses on their hygiene standards, based on inspections carried out by [name of local authority]. Food businesses in the area are rated on a scale ranging from 0 (urgent improvement necessary) to a top rating of 5 (very good). So, whether you’re reserving a table for a special meal out, eating at the local fish and chip shop, enjoying sandwiches at the beach or sampling some delights at a local deli, make sure you check the hygiene rating first! Look out for the green and black food hygiene rating stickers displayed on windows and doors. If you can’t see a sticker, then ask staff inside or check online at www.food.gov.uk/ratings Make sure your holiday or trip away is a memorable one – for all the right reasons and don’t forget a key ingredient – checking the food hygiene rating, before you book!

9 | w w w . f o o d . g o v . u k / s t a y c a t i o n - t o o k i t - 2 0 1 4 Annex 3: Suggested social media posts

Dates Audience Activity/attach April to August Businesses and Tweets and Facebook posts consumers Staycation FHRS images available from: www.food.gov.uk/staycation -toolkit-2014 Use suggested posts/ tweets below 18 – 21 April - Easter Businesses and Focus on businesses preparing for busy weekend consumer tourism period, day trippers and those 5 May - early May bank visiting for a long weekends holiday 26 May - Spring bank holiday 25 August - Summer bank holiday Mid July to early Businesses and Focus on businesses preparing for an September - school consumer increase in visitors during summer summer break holiday and families traveling during school summer holidays. Summer events Consumer Focus visitors that are attending the events.

Keep it relevant and tactical When putting your tweets, Facebook posts or any communication together, don’t forget to make it relevant and tactical. For example, if a weather report predicts a spot of good weather try and incorporate it into your posts: The sun is showing up this weekend so come out to play! If a good meal is part of your plans, check out www.food.gov.uk/ratings first before you book where to eat #FHRS

10 | w w w . f o o d . g o v . u k / s t a y c a t i o n - t o o k i t - 2 0 1 4 Suggested tweets for businesses 1. Are you ready for the holiday season? Make sure you’re displaying your #FHRS rating. 2. Yummy Easter eggs, pretty spring blooms, and a great #FHRS. That will get the guests coming in your doors! 3. In 2012 £19,548 mil was spent in England on eating and drinking while on day trips. Make the make the most of it by displaying your #FHRS2 4. In 2012 going out for a meal was the second most popular activity on day trips. Take advantage of this by displaying your #FHRS3 5. Make sure you get your fun in the sun, and attract your share of the crowd, by promoting your #FHRS 6. Proud of your #FHRS? It’s time to tell the world, so display it loud and clear! 7. Want to promote your great #FHRS rating? Check out www.food.gov.uk/policy- advice/hygieneratings/toolkit/ 8. Good hygiene is good for business! Don’t forget to display your #FHRS to get the punters through your doors! 9. The sun’s out! Make sure your #FHRS is out too and clear for all to see; because good hygiene is good for business!

Suggested tweets for consumers 1. Planning your day out in [Name of local authority or Twitter handle] this summer? Make sure you consider #FHRS before eating out. 2. Make your staycation a memorable one for the right reasons! Check out the food hygiene rating before eating out #FHRS 3. Enjoying a day out in [Name of local authority or Twitter handle]? Keep your holiday fun by checking out www.food.gov.uk/ratings first #FHRS 4. Sandy toes, ice cream and local dishes; ingredients for a perfect staycation but don’t forget to check the food hygiene rating first #FHRS 5. Can’t see the hygiene rating in the window, and it’s not because of the sunshine? Make sure you ask staff inside. 6. Visiting [Name of local authority or Twitter handle] this bank holiday weekend? Check www.food.gov.uk/ratings before eating out. 7. Schools out for the summer! Keep it fun by checking out the Food Hygiene Rating www.food.gov.uk/ratings before you eat out #FHRS 8. Rain again? Entertaining the kids with a meal out, remember to check the Food Hygiene Rating www.food.gov.uk/ratings 9. Making the most of your fun in the sun! Keep your holiday perfect by checking out www.food.gov.uk/ratings first #FHRS

2 http://www.visitengland.org/insight-statistics/major-tourism-surveys/dayvisitors/index.aspx 3 http://www.visitengland.org/insight-statistics/major-tourism-surveys/dayvisitors/index.aspx 11 | w w w . f o o d . g o v . u k / s t a y c a t i o n - t o o k i t - 2 0 1 4 Longer version for Facebook

(Don’t forget to include an appropriate image to increase engagement!)

1. Sand between your toes, yummy ice cream and a taste of the local delights… Whatever you’ve got on the menu to make your staycation special, make sure a good food hygiene rating is one of the ‘must have’ ingredients! Choose one of the [xx number/% eateries] in [name of council] area with a rating of 3 or above to make your staycation a memorable one.

2. Don’t put a damper on your holiday; make sure you eat at an outlet which takes food hygiene seriously. We’ve got [xx number/% eateries] in [name of council] with a rating of 3 or above. Make your staycation a memorable one for all the right reasons, by checking the Food Hygiene Rating at www.food.gov.uk/ratings before you eat out.

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