I was very impressed by the state-of-the-art foodcourts in Shanghai during a recent trip, as well as those in several other parts of China.

Aside from their wide variety of international cuisine, cleanliness and bright cheery environment, what amazed me was the high standard of hygiene and the efficiency of the utensils logistics system implemented at the foodcourts.

Food Republic in Beijing, run by Singapore's BreadTalk group, operates in a similar fashion.

There is minimal handling of cash - transactions are cashless through the scanning of a QR code. Utensils and trays are clean and dry. Employees have mini-sanitising equipment strapped to their uniform for fast clearing of trays and sanitising of tables for the next customers.

To get utensils and crockery, customers go to a dispensing machine and press buttons to select the type and quantity of items they need - chopsticks, spoons or forks.

The utensils dispensed are clean and dry, unlike at foodcourts in Singapore, where the utensils and plastic trays are often wet after they have been wheeled out from the washing areas and thrown into the holders at individual stalls.

And in Singapore hawker centres, because these utensils are exposed, one sometimes finds strands of hair, sauce or bits of tissue paper on them.

Even the foodcourts in some Singapore hospitals are no better. Soiled food trays are left on the tables and attract houseflies.

Singapore foodcourt operators should consider engaging a consultant to look into ways to improve operations, and have periodic audits to identify potential problems.

Dawn Chen Wenhui