Food Hygiene Rating Scheme (FHRS) Audit of Display and Business Survey 2021
Reported Display of Stickers and reasons for non-display
This chapter covers businesses’ reported display of their Food Hygiene Rating Scheme (FHRS) sticker, specifically whether those with a food hygiene rating displayed their sticker somewhere clearly visible to customers.
It also focuses on whether their sticker can be seen from outside, as well as if they have stickers at their entrance(s) (Northern Ireland and Wales only). Finally, businesses’ reasons for not displaying their FHRS sticker are covered, as well as possible actions that could motivate businesses to start displaying their sticker in England where display is not mandatory.
Stated display of ratings
Most businesses in each country said they displayed their FHRS sticker somewhere that was visible to customers, although this was higher for businesses in Northern Ireland (99%) and Wales (97%) compared to England (86%), where it is not a legal requirement to display the FHRS sticker.
As shown in Figure 5.1, reported displaying of their food hygiene rating sticker has remained consistently high for businesses across all three countries. In Northern Ireland and Wales, this figure has stayed within 1-2 percentage points since 2017. Whereas English businesses are more likely to report displaying their FHRS sticker in 2021 (86%) compared to 2019 (80%), with the current proportion in line with the levels of display seen in 2017 and 2018.
Figure 5.1 Proportion of food businesses reporting display of an FHRS sticker in a clearly visible location
B10. Is your Food Hygiene Rating sticker on display on your premises? – Yes – Somewhere it is clearly visible; Base: Where have FHRS certificate/sticker rating 2021/2019/2018/2017 (England 469/475/462/438; NI 486/495/491/476; Wales 479/494/500/487). ↑ Denotes a significant increase from 2019.
As nearly all businesses in Northern Ireland and Wales reported display of an FHRS sticker somewhere that was clearly visible to customers, there was little variation between subgroups within these countries. However, businesses in England with a higher food hygiene rating were more likely to report that they displayed their sticker (91% of those with a rating of five compared to 86% average).
In total, 272 food businesses that participated in the telephone survey were also audited. There was a 78% match rate between data that was self-reported in the telephone survey and data collected in the audit. The majority of food businesses (77%) self-reported displaying their FHRS rating which was confirmed in the audit. Of the remainder, 13% reported displaying their FHRS rating but were found not to be displaying when audited, 9% were unsure if they displayed an FHRS rating (of which 6% were found to not be displaying when audited) and 1% self-reported non-display of their FHRS rating.
Stated location of display
Businesses who stated that they displayed their food hygiene rating sticker on their premises in a clearly visible location were also asked whether their FHRS sticker could be seen by customers from outside their premises. The majority of these business stated that customers can clearly see their FHRS sticker from outside of their premises (England 91%; Northern Ireland 94%; Wales 97%). As shown in Figure 5.2, this has remained consistently high across all three countries. There has been a small but statistically significant decrease in Wales since 2019, however the 2021 figure is still in line with figures reported pre-2019. There were no significant differences by FHRS rating across countries.
Figure 5.2 Proportion of food businesses reporting display of an FHRS sticker in a clearly visible location outside the premises
B11. Can I just check, can customers clearly see your Food Hygiene Rating sticker from the outside of your premises, in other words, without having to enter your premises? – Yes; Base: Where food hygiene rating sticker is clearly on display 2021/2019/2018/2017 (England 408/402/415/400; NI 483/490/486/473; Wales 465/489/495/479). ↓ Denotes a significant decrease from 2019.
Due to nearly all businesses who claimed that they displayed their sticker in Wales stating that their sticker was visible from outside of their premises, there are no compelling differences in the behaviour of different types of business. However, there are some small differences in England and Northern Ireland by business type:
- takeaways and sandwich shops in England (100%) were more likely than other businesses (91%) to report displaying their FHRS sticker somewhere visible from outside
- accommodation businesses and pubs, bars and nightclubs in Northern Ireland (85%) were less likely than average (94%) to have reported displaying their FHRS sticker somewhere visible from outside
Businesses in Northern Ireland and Wales who stated that they displayed their food hygiene rating sticker on their premises in a clearly visible location were also asked whether they had FHRS stickers at the entrances to their premises, providing they had a customer entrance. As shown in 4.3, most of these businesses (88%) reported having an FHRS sticker in their entrance(s). A further 10% of these businesses, in both Northern Ireland and Wales, stated they had a food hygiene rating sticker in some of their entrances but not all, whilst 2% did not have FHRS stickers in their entrances.
Figure 5.3 Proportion of Northern Irish and Welsh food businesses reporting display of an FHRS sticker at entrances
B13. Do you have the sticker displayed at your customer entrance? B14. At how many customer entrances do you have the sticker displayed? Base: Where business premises has at least one customer entrance and food hygiene rating sticker is clearly on display, by outlet type Total/Retail/Take-away/Catering/ Accommodation and bars (NI 454/126/66/197/65; Wales 450/116/57/172/105). ↑ Denotes significantly higher than total. ↓ Denotes significantly lower than total.
In both Northern Ireland and Wales, accommodation businesses and pubs, bars and nightclubs were less likely to display their sticker at every customer entrance (76% and 79% respectively), whereas retail businesses were more likely (94% and 97% respectively).
Reasons for not displaying
Businesses in England who stated that they did not display their food hygiene rating sticker at all or so that customers could clearly see it from outside were asked why they did not, as well as what might convince them to start displaying their sticker.
Overall, the most common reasons for English businesses not displaying food hygiene rating stickers consisted of: similar businesses in the area not displaying their stickers (16%), not being a legal requirement to display it (15%), not having their FHRS sticker (either due to never receiving it or having lost it, 8% and 6% respectively), or due to problems with locating somewhere to display the sticker (nowhere suitable to show it outdoors or does not suit the surroundings, 10% and 8% respectively).
Figure 5.4 Reasons for not displaying an FHRS sticker, England
B15. Why is your Food Hygiene Rating not on display where your customers can clearly see it? Base: Where does not display food hygiene rating sticker (England 86); Please note that responses under 2% have not been displayed.
As shown in Table 53.1, there has been some change over time in the types of reasons given for not displaying FHRS stickers. Specifically, fewer businesses in 2021 stated that the rating itself is the reason, either because they received a poor rating (6%, down from 17% in 2019) or did not agree with the rating / thought it was unfair (2%, down from 10% in 2019). Conversely, more businesses self-reported that they did not display their FHRS sticker as similar businesses in their area were not displaying their rating (16%, up from 4% in 2019). This data is based on the self-reported survey only and thus not directly comparable to the audit findings presented in chapter three.
Table 5.1 Reasons for not displaying an FHRS sticker, England by year
| Reasons | 2021 (n=86) | 2019 (n=74) | 2018 (n=39) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Poor/low food hygiene rating | 6%** | 17% | 10% |
| I do not agree with the rating/the rating is unfair | 2%** | 10% | 8% |
| Similar business in this area do not display their stickers | 16%* | 4% | 0% |
B15. Why is your Food Hygiene Rating not on display where your customers can clearly see it? Base: Where does not display food hygiene rating sticker (see table). * Denotes a significant increase since 2019. ** Denotes a significant decrease since 2019.
Actions to encourage display
Although having a low food hygiene rating was not frequently mentioned as a reason for not displaying their sticker (6%), having a better rating was the most common action stated by businesses in England that would encourage them to display their sticker (18%). Furthermore, having their sticker reissued was another common reason given (11%), which makes sense given the number of businesses who claimed that not having a sticker was the reason they were not displaying it.
As shown in Figure 5.5, there were a wide range of actions that could be taken to encourage display of the FHRS sticker, whilst just around one in six (17%) claimed nothing would encourage them.
Changes since 2019 were minimal, with just one statistically significant change. Compared to 2019, fewer businesses said that a fairer food hygiene rating scheme would encourage them to start displaying their rating sticker (3%, down from 12% in 2019). Please note that subgroup analysis is not feasible given the low base size for this question.
B16. What would encourage you to display your Food Hygiene Rating where customers could clearly see it? Base: Where does not display food hygiene rating sticker (England 93).