This guide provides a roadmap to help restaurants prepare their application for the Food Elite Program focusing on the expected outcomes for each section. By presenting clear, detailed responses, you can demonstrate your commitment to delivering safe, healthy, sustainable, and inclusive business operations.
Food Safety Culture
Objective: Highlight a robust food safety framework and culture, supported by engaged leadership and a skilled team, in line with Dubai’s stringent safety standards.
- Certified Food Safety Management System
Showcase your adherence to Dubai’s food safety expectations by confirming whether your restaurant operates under a recognized certification standard, such as ISO 22000 or HACCP. If certified, specifying the standard demonstrates your alignment with the Food Code as well as global and local safety protocols. - Internal Audits for Food Safety
Demonstrate proactive compliance with Dubai’s regulations by detailing your internal audit process. If audits are conducted, describe their frequency (e.g., monthly or quarterly) and key areas covered, such as hygiene or storage, to show your commitment to maintaining high standards. Highlighting the competency of the auditor would be useful as well. - Allergen Management System
Emphasize customer safety in Dubai’s diverse dining scene by explaining how you identify and manage allergens. If you have a system in place, describe how you identify, control, and communicate allergen information to staff and customers, ensuring safe dining for residents and visitors with allergies. - Employee Learning and Upskilling Programs
Highlight your investment in your team by outlining training initiatives tailored to Dubai’s food safety requirements. If applicable, describe how these programs are designed and delivered to keep staff skilled in food safety and operational excellence. - Employee Recognition and Reward Programs
Showcase a positive workplace culture by detailing how you recognize and reward employees for upholding food safety standards. If such programs exist, provide examples of how they motivate staff and enhance safety practices. - Display of Food Safety Ratings
Reflect emphasis on transparency by confirming whether food safety ratings are visible to customers, building trust in your commitment to safety. - Communication of Food Safety Incidents
Demonstrate accountability by explaining how you keep employees informed about food safety incidents. If applicable, describe methods, such as team briefings or reports, to share lessons learned and implement preventative measures in line with local regulations. - Owner/Top Management Involvement
Illustrate leadership commitment, a key expectation in Dubai, by detailing how owners or top management drive food safety initiatives. If involved, highlight specific programs they’ve championed to empower staff and prioritize food safety culture and other relevant aspects. - HACCP Plan Submission
Submit your HACCP plan to showcase a systematic approach to controlling food safety hazards, aligning with Dubai Municipality’s rigorous requirements.
Nutritional Information & Healthy Initiatives
Objective: Demonstrate transparency in providing nutritional information and commitment to Dubai’s public health goals.
- Nutritional and Allergen Information
Show accessibility for Dubai’s multicultural population and visitors by explaining how and where you share nutritional and allergen details, such as on menus, notice boards, or via QR codes, and in which languages to ensure inclusivity. Highlight how you communicate this with customers. - Healthy Meal Options
Showcase alignment with Dubai’s health initiatives by detailing whether customers can choose healthy options from the menu if they wish to. - Participation in Salt/Sugar/Trans-fat Reduction Initiatives
Demonstrate commitment to Dubai Municipality’s public health campaigns by confirming participation in salt, sugar, or trans- fat reduction initiatives. If involved, describe your contributions to healthier dining. - Healthy Food Initiatives
Highlight your role in Dubai’s health-focused programs by detailing participation in Dubai Municipality or global healthy food initiatives. If applicable, describe the programs and your contributions to fostering healthier dining.
Sustainability & Environmental Practices
Objective: Showcase alignment with Dubai’s sustainability goals, emphasizing climate-friendly practices
- Sustainability Initiatives
Demonstrate commitment to sustainability vision by confirming participation in sustainability programs. If involved, describe your contributions to advancing environmental goals. - Sustainable Food Sourcing Program
Highlight eco-conscious sourcing by detailing any sustainability programs for food procurement. - Energy and Water Conservation
Show alignment with resource conservation goals by explaining how you track and conserve energy and water. If applicable, describe measures, recent improvements, and their measurable impact, such as reduced consumption. - Plastic Reduction, Reuse, and Recycling
Demonstrate compliance with Dubai’s plastic reduction efforts by detailing programs to manage plastic materials. If in place, describe the program and its impact, such as reduced plastic waste. - Food Waste Reduction Measures
Showcase proactive waste management, a priority in Dubai, by detailing specific measures to track and reduce food waste and their measurable impact. Highlight alignment with food waste reduction goals by confirming collaboration with organizations like the UAE Food Bank. If involved, describe your efforts and their impact on minimizing waste. - Climate Change Policies
Highlight environmental stewardship, in line with Dubai’s climate goals, by detailing initiatives or programs your restaurant has implemented to address climate change.
Innovation, Technology & Data Utilization
Objective: Illustrate how the restaurant is constantly innovating, using technology and data to enhance food safety and efficiency, supporting Dubai’s vision to be the smartest city.
Innovation
To highlight your restaurant’s innovation, focus on what makes you unique—whether it’s a new culinary technique to enhance food safety or sustainability, use of advanced technology for a specific purpose, sustainable practice, or unique customer experience. Try to explain the problem your innovation solves, how you achieved it, and its tangible impact, always tailoring your story to the award’s specific criteria. Innovation should not be a separate piece and must be embedded in the organizations culture.
- Data for Food Safety Risk Prevention
Showcase proactive risk management by explaining how you use data trends, such as from audits or customer feedback, to prevent food safety risks. Provide examples to demonstrate impact. Emphasize if AI is used and specify what type of AI is used and for what. - Ingredient Traceability System
Demonstrate transparency, a key focus in Dubai, by detailing your ingredient traceability system, if in place. Explain how it tracks ingredients from source to customer. - Customer Access to Traceability Information
Highlight customer trust by confirming whether ingredient traceability details are shared with consumers. If available, describe what specific information is provided. - Sensor/IoT Monitoring Tools
Showcase alignment with smart technology adoption by detailing the use of sensor or IoT tools. If used, explain how collected data informs operations, with examples of trends like temperature fluctuations.
Accessibility, Inclusion & Customer Relations
Objective: Highlight efforts to create an inclusive, accessible, and customer-centric environment, reflecting Dubai’s diverse community.
- Accessibility and Inclusion Measures
Showcase inclusivity, vital in Dubai’s multicultural society, by detailing measures to enhance accessibility for customers and staff, such as physical or service accommodations. - Social Responsibility and Inclusion Programs
Demonstrate alignment with social values by confirming participation in social responsibility or inclusion programs. If involved, describe your role in promoting inclusivity. - Employee and Customer Contributions
Highlight team work and collaboration by explaining how employees and customers can contribute ideas. If applicable, describe processes for collecting feedback and examples of implemented suggestions. - Handling Customer Complaints
Showcase customer focus, essential in Dubai’s competitive market, by outlining your process for handling complaints, from receiving and documenting to resolving and using feedback for improvement.
