Briefing Session

Restaurants that would like to acquire the Red Star status by providing “3 Less” dishes must nominate at least two staff members (such as managers and chefs) who are responsible for daily menu design to attend a two-hour briefing session. The DH will explain the nutritional criteria of “3 Less” dishes and “More Fruit and Vegetables” dishes and recommend ways to prepare these kinds of healthy dishes in the actual business settings. Nominated staff who have attended the briefing and passed the assessment will be regarded as “qualified” personnel.

After the staff members have attended the briefing session and attained the “qualified” qualification, the participating restaurants must apply the knowledge learnt from the briefing session. They are required to prepare at least five “EatSmart Dishes” including “3 Less” dishes according to the nutritional criteria set out in this Guidebook. These dishes can either be completely new or modified from existing dishes. Once the DH is satisfied that such recipes have met the relevant nutritional criteria, these restaurants will be awarded the Red Star status.

The participating restaurants can submit the recipes of “3 Less” dishes to the Secretariat at least five working days before the briefing session for pre-approval. They can immediately acquire the Red Star status once the DH is satisfied that their recipes have met the relevant nutritional criteria and at least two of their staff acquired the “qualified” qualification after attending the briefing session.

If the participating restaurants are unable to submit recipes before the briefing session for pre-approval, they should submit the recipes within ten days after the briefing session. Recipe feedback by the Secretariat may generally take up to ten working days from receipt of the recipes.

Ongoing Support

The Secretariat shall organise briefing sessions periodically. In order to ensure that the staff of participating restaurants bear relevant nutritional knowledge, participating restaurants are welcome to arrange for their staff to attend the briefing session in the following situations:

1. the participating restaurants are interested in providing “3 Less” dishes;
2. the participating restaurants want more of their staff to receive pertaining training; and
3. the staff who had previously attended the briefing want refreshment.

Please visit the thematic website of the ESR Star+ Campaign for details of briefing sessions.