Keep it clean!

Keep it Clean

Cleaning is something most people would add to the con side of a pros and cons list. However, we’ve found that making incremental changes to your café cleaning routine will make a monumental difference in service during shifts and in the after-hours wind-down.

Set the Standard
Organization of the workspace is a crucial step to efficient service and effective cleanup. “No one should be scrambling to find the milk” as PDG puts it. Designate a place for everything from menus and drink-making instructions to steam wands and coffee grinders to fresh cleaning cloths and used cleaning cloths. Knowing where every item belongs—and immediately returning, discarding or sanitizing following use—will eliminate frustration, create a cleanly working environment and ensure customers receive a quality product made in a timely manner.

Know Your Equipment
Familiarize yourself with every piece of equipment. When you understand what each tool does and how many uses it undergoes in a single day, you will be able to outline cleaning tasks based on their frequency. Common cleaning and maintenance routines [https://baristawarehouse.com.au/blogs/learn/the-complete-guide-to-cleaning-and-maintaining-cafe-equipment – Has a ton of great sections about cleaning strategies] can be broken down into daily, weekly, monthly and annual tasks as well as one-and-done tools, which need cleaning after every use. This is applicable to specific equipment—some of which may need a combination of daily, weekly, monthly and/or yearly attention—as well as to the general practice to keep the café clean and prepped for whoever walks in the door.

Time Management
It would be unrealistic to believe your baristas have time to clean and organize the workspace or specific tools immediately after use every single time. That’s why we recommend efficient cleaning techniques implemented into each barista’s training to teach them to utilize downtime to re-establish order and to “get ahead” of the next rush by preparing/sanitizing frequently used tools and pieces of equipment. Creating pockets of time to prep workspaces and keep tools, ingredients and equipment organized will also reduce the time and workload involved in the closing cleanup.

These are small but powerful ways to set your café up for success. Customers can see and feel the chaos and react accordingly, so creating a culture of calmness will pay dividends in customer and employee satisfaction.