Ferguson Plarre Bakehouses reduces risk of cross contamination

"We run lean management systems at our bakery, which Vikan's products fit in with perfectly. With the Vikan colour-coded products, we are able to control tool use in each area and, in this way, reduce the risk of cross contamination. Vikan's system has helped us progress even further towards our hygienic cleaning goal, which is of extreme importance to us as we put great effort into maintaining the highest standards of product quality."
Raymond Holder, Food Safety Manager at the Ferguson Plarre Bakehouses production facility.

Established in 1901, Ferguson Plarre Bakehouses remains a 100% Australian family owned and operated business. The company produces quality desserts, pasties, cakes and pies in one central baking facility in Victoria daily and dispatches products to approximately 50 franchised stores all over Australia.

The Ferguson Plarre Bakehouses business model focuses on ensuring commercial viability, preserving brand and image awareness, and on delivering amazing quality and taste. Ferguson Plarre Bakehouses stresses the need to maintain the highest of standards across all its franchised stores focusing on culture, customer service, modern design, recognizable brand and products of the highest quality. The company continues to expand and aims to have another 25 store franchises by the end of 2014.

Challenge

Like every other food business, Ferguson Plarre Bakehouses is under pressure to maintain cleanliness in the production facility at all times - even during production hours. As the company deals with a range of ingredients that includes eggs and raw meats, such as beef and chicken, the avoidance of cross contamination and bacterial control is a key business driver.

However, Ferguson Plarre Bakehouses has firmly set of its sights on being one of the most hygienically clean and professional working bakeries in the world. One of the company's most challenging tasks is to continuously keep the bakery so clean and organized that health inspections are welcomed, without notice, at any time of the day or night. 

Solution

Ferguson Plarre Bakehouses has implemented Vikan's colour-coded cleaning hygiene system in the production facility. The system fully supports HACCP requirements by making it easier to ensure product safety and to document the company's internal hygiene control, which in turn ensures greater customer loyalty.

Vikan has put considerable research and development into developing hygienic cleaning tools that elevate the cleaning performance in the food industry. Vikan's wide tool range is made from FDA-approved raw materials for use in the food industry. Their smooth fully moulded components make them easy to clean and prevent bacteria buildup, while quick drying plastic types have been chosen to be further resistant to bacterial growth.

The Ferguson Plarre Bakehouses facility has been colour zoned by Vikan so that each production zone uses a different colour, and currently has six colours of tools in use. Tools are stored within the zoned areas on brackets of the same colour, ensuring staff always have the right tools to hand. In this way the bakery removes the risk of transferring microorganisms from one part of the facility to another through the use of cleaning tools.