Colombo Courtyard, the hidden gem of Colombo, was presented with the coveted Grade ‘A+’ at the ‘Food and Safety Excellence Awards 2014’, the annual Food and Safety Management Systems awards organised by the Colombo Municipal Council, which was held at The Kingsbury Hotel, recently.

The award was presented taking into account the food hygiene and internal management systems into consideration. Prior to the award ceremony, a thorough audit was conducted by the CMC among most of the five star hotels and restaurants in Colombo. The winning criteria covered various aspects of hygiene such as receiving, storing, freezing and serving, The ‘A+’ grade which Colombo Courtyard was presented with, is the highest grade under the category.

Chief Executive Officer of Colombo Courtyard stated that the hotel met each criteria of the audit by adhering to the stringent measures in hygiene. “The hotel does not use frozen food at any occasion. Fresh and clean food is always selected for preparation and food is not stored for more than 48 hours after receiving. Food is prepared daily according to the exact number of guests thereby reducing food wastage,” he said.Being an Italian and Mediterranean food themed hotel in Sri Lanka, Colombo Courtyard focuses on serving a variety of different food at each of their specialty restaurants. The hotel is also very particular about the ingredients they use and along with some of the best ingredients from Europe they also import a lot of their ingredients from India.

“Every activity in the kitchen is thoroughly inspected by Malindu Jayasuriya, Executive Chef and once the dishes are prepared, they are tested individually by line chefs before serving. This is an important factor to ensure the 100% authenticity of dishes. These food hygiene practices are implemented strategically to ensure that every member of the staff follows them,” he added. “This award is very important for us as we have just stepped in to this industry and it shows that we are gradually drawing the attention of the public. Winning this award is a great achievement and it is the result of our continued efforts towards reaching the highest standards in food hygiene and food safety,” the CEO added. Having won a highly recognised award for food hygiene, Colombo Courtyard is looking forward to obtain the ISO 22000 quality standard based on the achievements the hotel has gained so far.

Source: http://www.ft.lk/2014/08/09/colombo-courtyard-bags-an-a-for-food-safety-management/