McDonald’s India’s new dining rules for post Covid operation of restaurants

As the country gears up to come out of the two-month long COVID-19 led lockdown, Westlife Development, the company that owns and operates McDonald’s restaurants in West and South India is all set to reopen its doors for customers. The company is implementing a 42-pointer checklist across its dine-in, delivery and take-out services, to ensure safety of its employees and customers. So now, you can be rest assured while indulging in your cravings for the juiciest burgers and fries in town, while McDonald’s focuses on giving you a safe, hygienic and delightful dining experience.

Speaking on the reopening of the restaurants, Smita Jatia, Director, Westlife Development said, “We have been extremely cognizant of the anxieties and concerns of our customers and employees through the ongoing health crisis, and their safety has been our top-most priority. In the last two months, we have closely watched the evolving situation and have constantly taken learnings from other markets that are closer to the cycle of recovery, to ensure we are able to deliver a reassuring and safe experience. Our new restaurant experience has been created with utmost care to ensure that our customers and employees remain safe at every step.”

The QSR giant has leveraged technology to create a safe environment for its employees and customers – right from enabling contact-less dine-in and take-out for customers to training each member of their crew working across their 315 outlets on hygiene best-practices, to being able to trace all ingredients right to their source.

“Over the years, we have invested significantly to weave technology across our business and in these challenging times we have been able to leverage our strong digital backbone to enable convenience and safety for our customers,” Smita Jatia added.

What’s new in the McDonald’s restaurants?

Apart from thermal screening for all employees and customers along with ensuring social distancing, there will be social distancing markings in front of the self-ordering kiosks, front counter and washrooms, along with alternate table and chair seating arrangements in the dining area.

Customers and employees in the restaurant premises will have access to hand sanitizers at all touchpoints and crew members will always be seen wearing protective gears including masks and gloves. Moreover, in accordance with the government mandate, all staff members will mandatorily have the Aarogya Setu app on their phones.

To ensure the highest standards of food preparation and handling, the QSR giant is making sure that the food is prepared freshly once the order is placed and is served in a contactless manner without being touched by bare hands.

In addition to this, the restaurant leadership team is undergoing all mandated training on health and hygiene modules, conducted by FSSAI while each crew member is receiving specialized training on precautionary measures against COVID-19.

McDonald’s is also ensuring increased sanitisation checks at the supplier’s end to ascertain food safety from farm to plates. The brand already boasts of 100 per cent traceability of all ingredients used in their food right to their source.