Kitchen Porter meaning in hospitality

A Kitchen Porter, or KP, is the person who keeps the kitchen clean and tidy. They wash dishes, pots and utensils, clean work surfaces and help with basic food prep. KPs take out the bins, mop the floors and make sure the kitchen is hygienic.

KPs are vital in hospitality. They keep the kitchen running by keeping it clean and tidy. Without KPs the chefs and cooks would be spending valuable time on cleaning instead of cooking. KPs prevent cross contamination and ensure food safety.

Making sure that a Kitchen Porter focusses on the correct tasks and has the correct skills to do that is key to their success. Here's some useful links:

• •Deciding on Kitchen Porter tasks and skills required for a job description
• •A Kitchen Porter job description template you can use in Pilla

Imagine you’re the head chef at a busy restaurant on a Friday night. Your Kitchen Porter Tom is off sick. As the evening goes on, dirty pots and pans are piling up, work surfaces are getting cluttered and the floor is getting slippery. You realise how much you rely on Tom to keep everything tidy and safe. You might say to your sous chef, 'We really need to find cover for our KP. Without Tom here we’re struggling to keep up with the cleaning and it’s slowing down the service.'