Ezelna Jones, group marketing executive at Burger King, says that the health and safety of restaurant staff and customers are the top priority during this initial phase of reopening which will see 33 Burger King restaurants offering delivery services between the hours of 9am and 7pm.
“In line with global hygiene best practice, we will be ensuring that all managers on duty conduct regular wellness checks, including temperature taking for each team member before every shift. To ensure good personal hygiene habits, all Burger King team members are now required to wash hands every 30 minutes at a minimum, as per coronavirus (Covid-19) spread prevention guidelines.”
Additional safeguards, such as all Burger King restaurant managers using a unique Covid-19 Prevention Checklist and implementing associated contactless processes to ensure all team members continue to adhere to the new procedures, have also been introduced, explains Jones.
“Unfortunately, due to the poor financial viability of only offering a home delivery service, coupled with the 8pm (level four) curfew, only a few Burger King restaurants will be open for deliveries at this time,” notes Jones, who says that the list of select restaurants available to offer home deliveries can be viewed on the company’s website and social media platforms.
“At this time, we would also like to praise our government for the inspiring leadership it has demonstrated to date in the face of this global pandemic. As a responsible fast food outlet (FFO), we too are fully committed to minimising the spread of Covid-19 in our country.
“We firmly believe that, from a safe food service and supply perspective, FFOs are best placed to observe social distancing guidelines, while still playing a key role in ‘kick-starting’ economic activity. Over a gradual phased approach, in partnership with the government, we hope to soon announce options such as drive-thru and take-away at all Burger King restaurants, delivering contactless fast food options to our customers - especially frontline workers such as medical emergency, security and law enforcement.”
Jones continues: “We were overwhelmed and humbled by the thousands of South Africans that queued at our restaurants and drive-thrus on the days preceding the official lockdown, as well as our countless social media fans that have kept our brand alive during this challenging and unprecedented time in our country’s (and world’s) history.
“We believe this is the first step towards our ‘new normal’ at Burger King, as we get back to business, but echo our government’s message that health and safety remain the priority for us all as we continue to battle Covid-19 together,” concludes Jones.
