Cover story – advertising feature


Balancing budgets and nutrition: transforming kitchen operations


Balancing budgets and nutrition: transforming


Richard Woodward, general manager of apetito’s care home division, looks at how care homes can navigate rising costs


With recent news that the UK economy entered recession at the end of 2023, it is becoming clear that the turbulent times care homes have been facing for the last few years are a long way from over. From Brexit to COVID, to soaring energy bills and skyrocketing prices and inflation, the last few years have been some of the most unsettled ever for the care sector. A recent CQC report found that a combination of the cost-of-living crisis and workforce pressures have had a significant impact. It details how adult social care providers are struggling to pay staff in line with inflation, as well as facing increased running costs, including electricity and the cost of quality food ingredients.1 We recently hosted a brand-new episode


of our Lunch With… webinar series. Clare Hunt from the apetito care homes team sat down with Martin Green OBE, CEO of Care England, to discuss the current challenges facing care homes. One of the most eye-opening parts of their conversation was about the impact and significance of the economic and


workforce crisis facing care homes. Martin discussed how, in the face of rising costs, some care homes are having to consider whether they can continue operating, as the sector faces 152,000 vacancies and staff turnover continues to rise. Over the course of the webinar, it became clear that care homes need to re-think their approach to workforce and must consider change alongside innovative solutions to reduce the impact of the labour crisis. While we know there is no simple fix, for so many care homes where budgets are tight and resources are often stretched thin, the efficiency of kitchen operations is paramount. There are changes care homes can make, specifically around their catering provision, which can help to alleviate cost and labour pressures, while still delivering consistently great tasting, nutritionally balanced menus that supports residents’ health and wellbeing.


We hear from many of our customers that switching to apetito’s pre-prepared meals service made it easier than ever for kitchen staff to deliver high quality


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Volume 9 Issue 3 March 2024 www.thecarehomeenvironment.com


meals for residents and cater for different numbers with minimal notice, while also managing portion control, producing less food waste, and streamlining efficiency. One of the key benefits of our service is that care homes can streamline their kitchen operations when moving over to us. Our pre-prepared meals model requires 50 per cent less staff to deliver high quality, nutritious meals. It means staffing requirements are simplified and streamlined with ease. Unlike traditional kitchen setups that demand a team of skilled chefs and kitchen staff to source ingredients and prepare meals from scratch for residents with increasingly diverse dietary requirements, apetito’s pre-prepared meals service eliminates much of this labour-intensive work.


This is because, at apetito, we do the heavy lifting for you. Our team of chefs, dietitians, and nutritionists have developed a huge range of delicious and nutritious meals that meet the specific dietary requirements of care home residents. Nutritional values are clearly shown in all our meals, and we offer specialist nutrition for residents living with dysphagia (swallowing difficulties) and world-leading solutions for residents with dementia. We know how important it is to ensure that residents requiring free-from meals are served meals that are safe and give peace of mind.


All our meals are carefully portioned, packaged, and frozen to preserve freshness and flavour, ready to be reheated and served.


With apetito, care home kitchens no 6 www.thecarehomeenvironment.com March 2024


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