Kang Seung-woo is the Business Desk editor at The Korea Times. Prior to this position, he covered politics, national affairs, finance and sports.
Jung-gu, Shinsegae Chosun Hotel committed to culinary startups, hygiene
Choi Su-young, a project manager of the Corporate Social Responsibility Team at Shinsegae Chosun Hotel, gives a hygiene class at the Westin Chosun Seoul, Tuesday. / Courtesy of Shinsegae Chosun Hotel
By Kang Seung-woo
By Kang Seung-woo
Kim Neung-hyun was recently stressed out over opening a restaurant because he had already failed twice in the restaurant business.
However, the 29-year-old, who is scheduled to start his third eatery in Gwanak-gu, southwestern Seoul on April 30, now has had such concerns eased to a large extent because of a mentoring program, jointly promoted by Jung-gu Office and Shinsegae Chosun Hotel.
“I could only get information and advice on opening a restaurant from other owners in the past,” Kim said.
“While preparing for a new restaurant, I learned about the mentoring program and applied for it. I think it is obvious what I have to do.”
Last month, the district office and the hotel chain operator signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU), under which the two sides will operate a program to mentor young adults who plan to do business in the restaurant industry.
According to Shinsegae, 12 trainees aged from 19 to 39 are learning about hygiene management, recipes, customer reception and management until May 3.
Among its training sessions, the hotel operator's bragging rights is their hygiene education, the importance of which is being stressed as one of the most crucial factors in running a restaurant.
“Our sanitary system has received positive responses from sanitarians,” Choi Su-young, a project manager of Corporate Social Responsibility Team, told The Korea Times. He is in charge of hygiene training.
“When it comes to hygiene, many think it is dull and hard to understand. However, I am set to provide them with a practical education, including legal requirements.”
According to him, legal requirements include indicating where ingredients come from and taking hygiene education before getting a business license.
“For example, when marking the origin of kimchi, we have to say where each ingredient, such as cabbage or pepper powder, is from, but not many people are aware of it,” Choi said.
Kim was also satisfied with Choi's hygiene training.
“I learned many things from the class such as what I need to pay attention to in the kitchen and what the kitchen should have. My vague knowledge about hygiene has become much clearer,” he said.
With the importance of hygiene being highlighted more and more, Shinsegae Chosun Hotel invented an industry-first mobile application pertaining to hygiene in April 2017. It is now used in its four hotels ― the Westin Chosun hotels in Seoul and Busan, the Four Points by Sheraton Seoul Namsan and the L'Escape Hotel ― and some Shinsegae-run restaurants.
“The app enables us to manage past hygiene records effectively and get fast feedback about our instructions,” Choi said.
He added that the app has raised awareness about hygiene in the kitchen, as evidenced by many employees from the hotels and restaurants actively requesting relevant education.
“Having knowledge of hygiene myself is not enough. This knowledge needs to be shared with others. That's my focus in the class,” Choi said.