What do you get when two award-winning companies combine their passions? Something extraordinary!

Lithonia, GA (USA), October 09, 2012 — What do you get when two award-winning companies combine their passions? Something extraordinary! At a time when some organizations are beginning to question should employees be required to go through food safety training just like management; This Is It BBQ and Seafood is ahead of the game with the implementation of their employee level training program conducted by the award-winning food safety firm, The Benson Mills Group ( http://www.BensonMillsGroup.com ).

This Is It BBQ and Seafood founded in 1983 is one of Atlanta’s most emerging restaurant chains. The chain and its owners have been locally and nationally recognized for their exceptional hospitality and authentic, home-style recipes; which are never short on down-home southern flavor. In what can be described as a “dynamic duo,” The Benson Mills Group and This Is It came together to embark on a food safety training and auditing program at its six locations with a single, mutual goal in mind: serving safe and delicious food. The program began with six-weeks of training; which had a two-fold approach: classroom training that focused on theory and in-unit training that focused on application. At the inception of the training program an assessment was conducted to determine the employees’ food safety knowledge followed by in-depth food safety training. At the conclusion of the training program a final assessment was conducted to more thoroughly assess the retention of the information presented throughout the entire program. Two-weeks after the final assessment an unannounced training visit was conducted; which allowed Benson Mills Group to engage employees in verbal articulation and demonstration of the food safety knowledge gained through the training program. As an incentive, an individual winner who exhibited the best display of knowledge and demonstration was selected from each location and awarded a $25 gift card.

The training was recognized by This Is It’s management as being very detailed and informative. Management admired the fact that Benson Mills Group ( http://www.BensonMillsGroup.com ) listened to and captured the needs of their organization. What This Is It’s management valued most was Benson Mills Group took their time and worked with the employees and sometimes if needed they worked one-on-one them; the level of interaction the employees received kept them engaged and excited about attending the training sessions each week.

The next program phase for This Is It BBQ and Seafood is the auditing phase. This phase involves several focus areas:
1) Acclimating employees to auditing; which is designed to reduce their anxiety during inspections by local regulatory personnel;
2) Encouraging staff to develop a habit of doing things right the first time
3) Conducting audits that are solution-driven; and
4) Reviewing and revising (if necessary) operating procedures to ensure maximum effectiveness.

The Benson Mills Group is an award-winning food safety firm specializing in food safety training, food safety auditing and commercial cleaning. For more information, call (404) 451-4468 or visit: http://www.BensonMillsGroup.com

Press & Media Contact:
Terri R. Waller, MPA, CFSM, HACCP
Benson Mills Group, LLC
P.O. Box 1238
Redan, GA 30074 – USA
404-451-4468
Terri@BensonMillsGroup.com
http://www.BensonMillsGroup.com