Areas successfully deployed Eezytrace across its 550 outlets, improving food safety for the whole network.

"Our challenge was to ensure the proper completion of self-checks in order to enhance control"

Areas is an international catering company operating in airports, train stations, highway rest stops, and leisure facilities. To ensure quality management for the customers of its 550 outlets, the company aims for operational excellence and relies on innovative tools to do so.

"Our network is composed of a large number of outlets spread across the country, in different environments. Our main issue was to establish uniformity in all our processes and record-keeping. We were also looking for central visibility:  we, at HQ, need to know what is done on-site," Food Safety & CSR Manager Mickaël Pactat shares.

In networks this spread out, and including different markets with their own history and practices, digital tools have become essential in maintaining common practices and consistent evolution across all sites. 

"Even with common SOPs, we sometimes had different self-checks from one location to the next. The integration of a digital solution allowed us to standardize our practices. Before, new self-checks were not necessarily implemented and complied with  by all. Now, everyone uses the same recording modules and adapts more easily to new processes. Our company is more agile," 

Pre-set information and limits configured in the tool, as well as the assistance provided by Eezytrace, lead and support operational teams in their daily tasks.

"The external audit is an important measurement element but, for a network like ours, it does not fully meet our needs. We needed to follow in real time the registrations made, or not made, on each of our points of sale. Thanks to Eezytrace, this consultation is now possible and allows us to be much more reactive.

Eezytrace enables Food Safety Managers like me to greatly limit business trips. With easy access to real-time data, I can remotely analyze monitoring indicators of each site, and define action plans for those concerned to correct any discrepancies.

We get to save a considerable amount of time. Time that can now be devoted to monitoring, on-site checks, team support, and customer care.

Gone are the days of printing, binding, updating, filing, and storing documents... About 8 hours a month per site can now be dedicated to our customers and teams."

And thanks to the use of a digital solution, Areas teams no longer have to print and store various paper-based documents.

"By eliminating paper-based hygiene logs and cleaning schedules, we now save more than 25,000 sheets of paper a month across our full network."

"We needed a truly bespoke digital solution"

Choosing a digital solution represents a challenge for large companies. They operate in different markets and sectors, where habits are difficult to change, etc. To find the most fitting solution, Areas pitted several solutions against each other. 

"Eezytrace came out as the front-runner in our study. Some of the reasons are purely technical, like the ability to work offline, while others, such as flexibility, bring huge benefits to a structure like ours. The solution can be fully customized, so Eezytrace currently meets our food-related needs to a T, and I know that I can ask for new modules at any time to cover other topics, such as CSR issues. Also, a few sites had already been using Eezytrace, which confirmed that we could truly rely on the solution and the company as a whole."

550 outlets deployed 

Rolling out also represented a challenge. The goal was to make a change in the daily operations of a company that serves 121 million meals a year in France. 

"Eezytrace has been able to adapt to our environment. By gradually deploying the solution, Eezytrace's implementation was a success."

First, we opted to launch a dozen sites. This first phase allowed us to rectify and fine-tune our self-checks to make them even more effective. This ensured faster and greater adoption among the rest of the sites afterward. The rollout was then done by market: highway rests areas, then leisure centers, and finally train stations and airports, which also facilitated the implementation of the tool in every location."

The training phase was another key challenge for Areas, which, thanks to Eezytrace, could benefit from a tailor-made format and train 112 managers: site managers, regional directors, market directors, and quality experts.

"We wanted remote training sessions for managers, who would in turn train their on-site teams. For our pilot sites deployed in advance, we asked for training in several stages (a training session followed by a Q&A session). Then, for the rest of the sites, we offered single sessions (on the app + web portal...) with the inclusion of questions that could be raised before the session."

"In addition, the application itself is fun and easy to use. The solution has received very positive reviews from our teams." Mickaël Pactat mentions.

"EEWORX knew how to manage such a large-scale rollout"

According to Mickaël Pactat, human relations play a fundamental part in the success of such a project. A single member of the Eezytrace Customer Success team is dedicated to supporting him in the use of the solution by his teams.

"We touch base with our Customer Success Manager regularly. There is a genuine sense of service and real responsiveness. If we wanted the project to win our teams' approval, the solution had to be carried out by competent, human individuals. Even though we were initially dealing with the implementation of a digital solution, we were still able to build close ties. I feel confident and happy working with Eezytrace."

The implementation of Eezytrace is considered one of Area's greatest achievements this year, for both employees and the company itself. The latter can now benefit from a risk detection tool, which site visits just couldn't provide before. 

"It is obvious that we have completely improved our risk management. Using Eezytrace feels reassuring. The next step for us is to implement the automated monitoring of our network with the Eezytrace Score module that we are setting up."