Food for Thought: Solving Hard Problems with Foodservice Management Software

If you’re overseeing a senior living or skilled nursing foodservice program for one or several communities, you’re aware of the many challenges before meals even reach the table: staffing shortages, tight food budgets, increased costs, quality control, and more. You may also have to consider nutrition regulations and, since you have the same returning diners, there needs to be an emphasis on providing variety and choice.

PointClickCare Mealtime Solutions, powered by MealSuite^®, can help your senior living and skilled nursing facility (SNF) foodservice program thrive without compromising senior care nutrition.

Good Food is Good for Business

Residents and their families choose a care facility based on many considerations, including care and services offered, location, room features, and common areas. However, the one question that consistently ranks at the top is “How’s the food?” When visitors ask that question, what they’re really asking is, “Is the food appealing? Does it taste good? Do I have a choice at meals?” Having an excellent quality foodservice program is not only good for your current residents, but it’s also effective in attracting and retaining future residents.

Food for Thought #1:
It’s no secret that a personalized experience is a better experience. When your needs and preferences are considered, you’re more likely to enjoy your meal. Having an easy way to share residents’ special requests, likes, and dislikes to every member of your team, whether they’ve worked at your community for two days or 10 years, can help create a highly individualized and quality dining experience. Outstanding meal services can ultimately help increase your occupancy rates.

Ensuring Food Safety

Communities provide nourishment to a vulnerable population with smaller appetites and weakened immune systems who need health-based dietary interventions. Ensuring the safety of what you’re serving is more than necessary, it’s vital.

Food for Thought #2:
Proper food safety involves following guidelines including monitoring and documenting fridge, freezer, and food temperatures. Any break in the chain can result in unsafe food or having to dispose of items that haven’t been properly prepared. Having a way to easily track all your protocols can ensure better food safety while helping to reduce waste. Tools to help you avoid F-tag deficiencies, which have detrimental consequences to your communities’ reputation, are of the utmost importance.

The High Price of Food Waste

The price of everything is up, in particular grocery prices. With unexpected delivery shortages, supply chain issues, and increased expectations, setting your menu is a constant struggle. Knowing what’s popular and currently available can help ensure your food budget is going somewhere besides the trash.

Food for Thought #3:
To build a menu that keeps your food budget under control, it’s important to know what residents like to eat, what your distributors have on hand, and what it costs. In addition, having access to new menus and recipes can provide inspiration to freshen things up.

Don’t Let Staffing Challenges Impact the Dining Experience

The ongoing challenge of finding qualified staff shows little sign of changing. In order to provide quality service, it is critical to streamline workflows and create efficiency, so that your staff can focus on their talents.

Food for Thought #4:
Everything in your kitchen’s back of house has a big impact on the dining experience front of house and vice versa. Getting it right is the difference between a beautiful dance and scattered chaos. You used to be able to overcome shortfalls with very experienced or more staff, but if you’re trying to do more with less, wasting energy with inefficiencies has the potential to add more confusion and compound the problems.

Streamlining your foodservice program by getting information about residents’ requests and needs can cut down the learning curve, increase efficiency in the kitchen, and minimize the risk of errors during the meal service.

Keep Ahead of Residents’ Rising Expectations

As younger generations move into community settings, the trend of increased meal expectations is clear. More variety and culinary diversity is desired, as well as being able to make the choice at “point of service,” not days in advance.  

Food for Thought #5:
In senior living communities, it’s important to respect the autonomy of your community members. Giving residents, or their families, the ability to conveniently order from a menu on their mobile devices ensures unique requests are captured. Plus, giving residents the ability to reserve a table for a certain time allows you to provide a higher level of hospitality and a true restaurant-like experience.

Be Flexible for the Future

It’s not breaking news that the only constant in the world is change. What’s key to handling change, especially in foodservice, is resiliency and flexibility. Being able to adapt to changing needs and expectations, while being able to easily bring new communities online is also a big plus.

Food for Thought #6:
Finding a way to capitalize on consistency while maximizing flexibility is a difficult balancing act. The key is finding an option that allows you to deliver personalized dining experiences and streamline foodservice operations with a single, integrated system with the capabilities to grow into the future.

PointClickCare Can Help Solve Mealtime Confusion

See how PointClickCare’s new Mealtime Solutions foodservice management technology easily wrangles the moving parts to help you coordinate operations while providing a superior staff and resident experience and helping you reduce your costs.