4HE OF - Rockynol

ES segment spotlight
4HE'OLDEN!GE
OF3ENIOR#ARE&OODSERVICE
As the senior care business becomes more
competitive, a growing number of providers
are investing in their foodservice operations
to provide an edge over their peers.
Lisa White, Contributing Editor
enior care facilities are a growing and evolving
segment in the foodservice industry. Today’s residents have high expectations when it comes to food.
Offering only a couple of meal choices won’t satisfy
most seniors. Rather, they seek communities with full-service
restaurants and a variety of dining options.
Senior living retail sales (the amount residents spend)
totaled close to $5.7 billion in 2012, an increase of approximately 5.5 percent from 2011, according to Technomic, a
Chicago-based market research firm. Technomic expects
sales in this area to increase another 5.6 percent this year.
Food purchases for the senior living segment (the amount
foodservice providers spend to feed residents) were projected
to total almost $3.2 billion in 2012.
According to the Alexandria, Va.-based Assisted Living
Federation of America (ALFA), the United States has an
estimated 31,100 residential care communities, with a total
of 971,900 residents. And the majority of those residents live
in large or extra-large residential care communities. The
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average food cost per resident
+%9%15)0-%.4
per day in senior living communities ranges between $5 and
O Convection ovens
$7, ALFA reports.
O Combi ovens
ALFA describes assisted
O Ranges
living as a long-term residence
O Steam kettles
option that provides residentO Braising pans
centered care in a residential
O Panini grills
setting. It is designed for those
O Food processors
who need extra help in their
O Steam tables
day-to-day lives but who do not
O Refrigerators
require the 24-hour skilled care
O Freezers
of a nursing home.
Assisted living residences
are also called residential care communities, adult congregate
living communities, continuing care retirement communities
(CCRCs), personal care homes, retirement homes for adults
or community residences.
“As our nation sees a growing population of seniors
living longer lives and seeking more active lifestyles, senior
living is booming,” says Jamison Gosselin, ALFA’s senior vice
president of marketing and communications. “While today’s
seniors are living longer, many require services and support
senior living communities offer.”
Roughly 10,000 professionally managed senior living
communities of 25 apartments or more, charging market
rates, currently operate in the United States, according to
e&s segment spotlight
ALFA. These facilities serve more than 1 million seniors.
The 10 largest independent living providers comprise only
26 percent of the independent living market, while the 10
largest providers of assisted living companies comprise 25
percent of the assisted living market.
“Greater demand for senior living communities is spurring growth in new construction and investment in existing
properties,” Gosselin says. “Senior living companies are
investing in long-term infrastructure as well as day-to-day
Q&A
products and services that further differentiate their
communities from the many competing options available.
And dining in senior living communities is one of the most
important services offered to residents each day. One of
many reasons seniors will choose a community is because of
the food and menu options available.”
In terms of foodservice equipment, senior living operations
tend to be about three to five years behind the hospitality
industry. “Equipment that has been popular in restaurants for
Daphne K. Gulick, Senior Director of Food Services,
Masonic Village at Elizabethtown, Elizabethtown, Pa.
these kitchen and dining areas and will finish the
remaining three this year. In these new country
kitchens, residents dine together in a homey,
comfortable and warm atmosphere with the goal
being to have a relaxed dining experience. Food is
distributed from a central kitchen and commissary
to each individual neighborhood.
Masonic Village’s 13,380-square-foot central
kitchen and commissary is a combination of cookchill/cook tank and conventional production.
When the Masonic Village at Elizabethtown
opened its doors 102 years ago, the facility was a
self-sustaining community for the frail and elderly.
Over the years, it evolved into a skilled nursing,
memory support, personal care and independent
living community for seniors. The village now has
more than 1,800 residents, 576 skilled nursing and
personal care accommodations and 940 retirement living homes.
The foodservice operation includes six restaurants in the independent living area of campus and
newly renovated kitchen and dining areas in the
healthcare center to serve skilled nursing residents.
FE&S spoke with Gulick to learn more about
foodservice operations in the health care center
and its goals for accommodating the changing
senior care segment.
FE&S: Please describe your foodservice
operations.
DG: The trend for today’s skilled nursing facilities
is about creating smaller environments. In the
healthcare center, 450 residents live in 10 separate
neighborhoods, each with its own kitchen and
dining area. Last January, we renovated seven of
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FE&S: What recent changes have you made?
DG: In the past, we were a plate-retherm operation with a cook-chill facility. Food was shipped to
the tray line cold and then rethermalized, before
being transported on a cart to each neighborhood. The country kitchens have built-in rethermalization equipment and a dishwasher. This has
changed our residents’ dining experience.
FE&S: Describe your menus in the healthcare
center.
DG: Our operation is about the overall environment and dining experience. We feel that, in any
type of environment, it’s important to create a dining experience according to our residents’ needs.
We have three seasonal menus, and each season
is five weeks. We have one entrée option at each
meal, as well as staples including grilled chicken
breast, soup made from scratch and a variety of
sandwiches and salads. This has helped decrease
our food costs. Staff will label and refrigerate unused portions for those who wish to eat between
meal times. We have been able to forecast production, which puts supply back into the rotation.
FE&S: What equipment is used in the country
kitchens?
DG: We have a counter with toasters, hot and cold
wells and ice cream dipper wells for self-service
use. A self-service beverage station also is part
of the lineup, with the exception of the memory
• FOODSERVICE EQUIPMENT & SUPPLIES • FEBRUARY 2013
support neighborhood, where it is behind the
counter. Dining attendants are available to assist
and serve residents, as well. The back of the country
kitchens include roll-in refrigeration and sandwich
units, combi ovens to rethermalize food and dish
machines. The central kitchen and commissary has
an advanced meal preparation system, and food
is dispatched on a cart to a separate staging area.
This section houses the cold tray line and is where
dishes are redistributed to each neighborhood.
FE&S: Tell us about the setup of the central
kitchen and commissary.
DG: The 13,380-square-foot central kitchen and
commissary is a combination of cook-chill/cook
tank and conventional production. The cook-chill
side includes a cook tank/tumble chiller, a pair
of 100-gallon kettles and a pump station. This
is where bag items like muscle meats, soup and
sauces are produced. On the conventional side,
there is a large charbroiler, large griddle, four
combi ovens, braising pan and food processor.
There also is a separate ingredient room, where
everything is premeasured. It is a cook-to-inventory environment. Dining attendants are responsible for bringing food to each country kitchen
from the staging area for every meal.
FE&S: Do you have meal programs for residents
with specific needs?
DG: We offer menus for four different diets, including regular house, carb control, low cholesterol and
low sodium. The puree program is on a 12-day rotation, and menu items at this station are prepared
from scratch and formed. These items can be frozen
and rethermalized in combi ovens, maintaining
nutritional value, flavor and plate presentation. We
also alter recipes to make sure they work. e&s segment spotlight
many years is finally getting a
E&S CONSIDERATIONS
second glance in senior living,”
●● FLEXIBILITY: Because senior care foodservice operations cater to residents with various dietary
says Brit Gala-Ploeckelmann,
needs, the kitchens and equipment need to adapt to different menus and eating occasions.
foodservice equipment consul●● FOOD SAFETY: Foodborne illness is a big concern in the senior segment. Consequently,
tant at Milwaukee-based Direct
equipment should be easy to clean and maintain. Also, cooking and holding temperatures
Supply Healthcare, which
must be closely monitored.
provides equipment and services
●● EASE OF USE: More often than not, these facilities utilize unskilled labor, so simple operation
to senior care operations. “More
and automatic features are important factors with equipment specified for this segment.
operations are incorporating
combi and speed ovens.”
Accelerated cooking capabilities, for example, can help
ditures, these operators seek high-quality equipment at
meet the needs of short-term rehab residents, who have high
reasonable price points.”
expectations for food quality and service but tend not to
Energy efficiency also has become more important in
mingle with other residents at mealtimes.
terms of equipment. “This equates to huge savings,” GalaLimited budgets are a challenge in this segment,
Ploeckelmann says.
and the foodservice operations typically do not generate
In older, established senior living communities, inderevenue. “Some operations rely on government funding
pendent restaurants still tend to be a rarity. This has made it
and have to make do with very little disbursement,” Galadifficult for these operations to compete with newer facilities
Ploeckelmann says. “To better plan for capital expenthat better accommodate seniors’ ever-changing tastes.
Case Study: Ohio Presbyterian Retirement Services
Although 90 years old, Ohio Presbyterian Retirement
Services (OPRS), which serves 95,000 people in 38 counties, is a good example of an organization that is redefining
its foodservice program for residents seeking more flexible
dining options. The state’s largest not-for-profit provider of
continuing care retirement communities (CCRCs) and services, OPRS is renovating its kitchens by replacing tray lines
and outdated service models with a restaurant-style design.
“In the past, most of our kitchens were set up as strictly
production-style operations,” says John Andrews, OPRS corporate director of culinary and nutritional services. “A decade
ago, we were producing just two to three entrees per meal that
were distributed via tray line or small batches to each service
area and dining room. Now we are focused on à la carte meals
in our assisted living, healthcare and rehabilitation centers in
addition to our independent living restaurants.”
Stone Bridge Grille, a new dining option in the assisted
living area of Rockynol, one of OPRS’ CCRCs in Akron, is
an example of the direction of the operation’s foodservice
program. Last year, both its kitchen and dining room received an overhaul, which included creating an 1,800-squarefoot round display kitchen and back of house where cookedto-order dishes are produced.
Rather than the two entrée choices previously offered, the
new operation’s à la carte menu provides six to eight options, in
addition to daily specials. An added bonus is that the menu expansion has not increased food costs. “We’ve been tracking food
costs for years, and there was a [slight increase] in the beginning, but as time goes on, it has [leveled off],” Andrews says.
Because Stone Bridge Grille’s kitchen has no corners,
equipment placement was a challenge. “We have load-
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• FOODSERVICE EQUIPMENT & SUPPLIES • FEBRUARY 2013
OPRS’ new main cookline in its Rockynol location supports its à la carte menu.
bearing walls that couldn’t be torn down, so this necessitated
being creative in structuring the kitchen,” says executive
chef Brian Lippiatt. “Overall, we did a good job utilizing the
space creatively.”
As part of the renovation efforts, Stone Bridge Grille
converted a dining room server’s station into a small cooking
area complete with a hood. This area includes a small grill
system, four burners for sautéing, a panini grill and a hot
line with cool cabinets underneath to store meats. “It took a
lot of engineering to make this work, but the result is a very
efficient cook’s line,” Lippiatt says. “We were fortunate to
be able to avoid installing a separate hood system by routing
duct work around load-bearing walls and connecting to the
main kitchen hood system.”
e&s segment spotlight
A highlight of the new
kitchen design is a cook station
that includes a steam table, cold
deli prep table, panini grill, flattop grill and a rapid cook oven to
accommodate the larger menu.
This section was created by
cutting a hole in the wall, which
provided a pass-through window
in an area that was previously the
beverage center. Next to this line
is an action station that includes
induction cooking equipment.
A year ago, the restaurant
added combi ovens, which have
helped increase food quality and
consistency. Another combi will
replace one of two convection
ovens this year. Smoker features
on this equipment have helped
expand the menu to include different flavor profiles for items
like ribs and salmon. Combis also
have been beneficial in communities that have been retrofitted with ventless equipment. A
SENIOR DINING TRENDS
Many senior living communities offer robust menus of specials each day plus daily options for breakfast, lunch
and dinner. These meals are available in dining rooms with restaurant-style service, which encourages a social
atmosphere.
ALFA reports these trends in senior living dining service:
1. More focus is on from scratch cooking methods, which enable communities to control use of
ingredients such as sodium and high-fructose corn syrup.
2. Fast-casual bistro service formats similar to Panera Bread are prevalent. Senior living community dining
services often take cues from the restaurant industry, and the fast-casual experience is of interest to seniors.
Open-kitchen dining environments are also making an appearance in newly built communities.
3. More companies now use menu-planning systems to ensure a good rotation of options for residents as
well as proper nutrition planning across all meals.
4. Many senior living communities are replacing salt on the table with special flavoring packets to
help reduce residents’ sodium intake. Some senior living communities go as far as offering fresh and highantioxidant options that address certain health issues often found in seniors.
5. Senior living communities now serve the parents of the baby boom generation who still enjoy
traditional comfort food items.
6. The debate continues in the senior living business about whether to self-operate or outsource dining
service programs. Each option comes with its own pros and cons, but as senior living companies get larger,
many opt to invest greater resources at the corporate level into professional dining service executives.
7. One fact that surprises many new residents and the public alike is that senior living communities serve
wine, beer and spirits. With respect to wines, seniors enjoy bolder qualities due to the more powerful tastes;
merlot and oak barrel-aged chardonnay are two popular wine options.
Rather than the two entrée choices previously offered, OPRS’ updated à la carte
menu provides six to eight options, in addition to daily specials.
charbroiler has also been added to cook steaks.
“Eventually, we want to utilize a quick-chill system with
retherming, which will help us increase the speed of production as well as save on labor costs,” Lippiatt says.
OPRS aims to focus more on the culinary side of its
operations, which can be a challenge due to the changing job
descriptions and method of food preparation and delivery.
“We find that the segment is much more food- and creativitybased, so getting the right people in place to meet these needs
has been difficult,” Andrews says. “Attracting talented people
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• FOODSERVICE EQUIPMENT & SUPPLIES • FEBRUARY 2013
to this segment has not been easy, but these operations have
come a long way in the eyes of culinary professionals.”
OPRS’ culinary and nutritional services operations are
staffed primarily with executive chefs, along with an experienced operational and clinical support team. “Once chefs
get into this side of the business, they don’t want to leave
because it provides an outlet for their creativity, management and leadership skills, along with a good quality of
life,” Andrews says.
In addition to the Stone Bridge Grille, Rockynol includes
small serveries throughout the buildings to serve health care
and rehabilitation residents. These include steam table units
and hood systems. Staff use heated carts to transport food from
the kitchen to the serveries. In the summer of 2013, OPRS will
break ground on another wing in its health care center that will
add another servery, bringing the total to six. This new servery
will be a mini kitchen capable of handling an expanded menu
that offers more cooked-to-order choices for residents.
Looking ahead, OPRS continues to adapt its operations
to the growing trend of low-fat and healthy cooking methods, with the goal of utilizing equipment that can satisfy
these needs. “Our operation is rapidly growing, with new
assisted living and rehabilitation wings, and we are making
changes to the campuses that better meet the needs of our
residents and the community,” Lippiatt says. “Full-service
restaurants will be an important part of our senior living
communities in the future.” FE&S