Ease Culinary Healthcare Headaches

Between the widespread challenges of staff shortages, varying culinary skill sets and rising food prices, the healthcare sector could definitely use a few easy labor- and cost-saving solutions.¹ 

To ease the problem, some  have adjusted their services and food platforms. For instance, Memorial Hospital of Converse County in Douglass, Wyoming, no longer offers a sandwich bar station or handles catering orders and deliveries.² Meanwhile, earlier this year, OhioHealth Van Wert Hospital, in Van Wert, Ohio, opened an unstaffed Market Express platform with refrigerated cases of grab-and-go sandwiches, salads and more that customers pay for at self-checkout kiosks.³ 

Start with finished main ingredients

But other measures are available for hospital foodservice operators who are short-staffed as well as for the 75% who say that the culinary skill in their kitchens is only moderate.⁴ Some operators are adopting premade products, with 58% citing reduced culinary skill requirements for staff as the primary benefit.⁴

Distributors are in a prime position to help the sector elevate its entrees by offering and highlighting premade items that add a premium element to trendy and craveable dishes made simple. For example, Perdue offers PERDUE^® HARVESTLAND^® No Antibiotics Ever, Fully Cooked, Char-Grilled, Chicken Breast Strips. These oven-roasted strips of all-natural whole muscle grill-marked chicken are individually frozen for portion control. Adding to their value, the clean label chicken is raised on a 100% vegetarian diet with no animal by-products and no antibiotics ever. 

On the lean-protein side, Perdue offers PERDUE® SANDWICH BUILDERS^® No Antibiotics Ever Oven Roasted Sliced Turkey Breast. Each 2-pound package contains 48 slices from 100% vegetarian-fed turkey hatched, raised and harvested in the USA that are ideal for premium sandwiches, salads and wraps.  

Cut costs by maximizing ingredients

Lunch entrees with portion-controlled premade proteins like premium chicken strips and turkey slices provide the foundation for a plethora of dishes. The consistent quality of premade proteins is especially ideal for the 43% of operators who say they are maximizing ingredients as a cost-cutting method.⁴

Precooked proteins like chicken and turkey are especially appropriate for the quick-paced lunch daypart, which makes up 46% of hospital foodservice sales.⁴ 

For example, Perdue’s chicken breast strips make a hearty centerpiece for a Walnut Balsamic Glazed Chicken and Grilled Vegetable Salad or for a globally inspired Thai Chicken Grain Bowl. While breakfast ranks second at 25% of hospital foodservice sales,⁴ chicken strips can help transition avocado toast from the breakfast menu to the lunch line by turning it into Avocado Toast with Chicken.  Meanwhile, Perdue’s oven-roasted sliced turkey breast also travels well between breakfast, brunch and lunch, as well as across salad and sandwich lines, including this Turkey and Chive Bagel.

Distributors play a critical role in helping operators identify their easy premium-protein opportunities by offering these clean-label, 100% vegetarian fed no-antibiotics-ever poultry products to their hospital foodservice customers. Highlight labor-saving products by giving them their own category on the order list along with comprehensive product information and usage ideas. 

With the significant labor and cost-control challenges that hospitals face, premade product solutions from suppliers like Perdue can help lessen the headache, freeing hospital foodservice operators to work on menu innovation while simplifying the preparation process. 

Sources

1. Association for Healthcare Foodservice 2023 State of the Industry Report, Feb 28, 2024
2. Gingerella, Benita, “The State of Healthcare Foodservice: Navigating Staffing Shortages,” Foodservice Director, Nov. 16, 2022, https://www.foodservicedirector.com/workforce/state-healthcare-foodservice-navigating-staffing-shortages
3. Gingerella, Benita, “OhioHealth Van Wert Hospital Launches Automated To-go Market,” FoodService Director, May 15, 2024, https://www.foodservicedirector.com/technology-equipment/ohiohealth-van-wert-hospital-launches-automated-go-market
4. Datassential report Pulse Market Overview Hospital Chapter: Operator Motivators, Behavior, and Challenges, 2024