Popular food-ordering platform Just Eat was facing a reputational problem. In 2018 and early 2019, there was a sharp rise in the media scrutiny applied to food businesses and hygiene.
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A BBC News and Panorama investigation discovered more than 400 outlets on Just Eat and Deliveroo had a Food Safety Agency (FSA) food hygiene rating of 1, which means they are in need of “major improvement”.
The FSA said food delivery platforms were undermining public trust.
Just Eat tasked Headland with helping it to not only improve standards in the takeaway sector, but effectively communicate these changes to restaurants, customers, industry stakeholders and the media, and restore its reputation.
It did this through greater transparency and investing in improving food safety standards across the industry.
Just Eat became the first food delivery platform to display food hygiene ratings of all restaurants on its website and in-app.
It funded an improvement programme for restaurants with an FSA rating of 2 or lower, and removed all 0-rated restaurants from the platform.
It introduced a minimum standard food hygiene rating of 3 for new sign-ups and invested £1m in a food safety programme.
Just Eat’s approach changed attitudes within the business and across the takeaway industry. Nearly 1,000 restaurants have improved their scores since mid-2019, with 43 per cent of restaurants listed on the platform now boasting an FSA food hygiene rating of 5. Positive media coverage and reputation results followed.
Judge's comments
An excellent campaign that's made a measurable difference to the business, its customers and the wider industry.
Highly commended
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