It’s no secret that catering for an aged care facility can be a challenging affair. Administrators are often working within ever-tightening restrictions while handling competing priorities, and meeting all these needs while still delivering a quality mealtime experience is easier said than done. For some, managing these competing needs can become simply too much of a time sink, and care providers may choose to outsource their catering to focus on providing the best care possible.
After operating an in-house catering solution for years, the team at Beauaraba Living found that the rising costs were simply becoming too much, and set out to find an outsourced caterer who could provide the quality of care the Beauaraba community would continue to expect. Cater Care has been their strategic partner ever since, and we’ve just marked the tenth anniversary of our partnership.
Getting the lay of the land
Beauaraba Living has always focused on delivering a homely, personal touch to a resident-focused care experience. Regular consultations with the facility’s just over 100 residents and their families is a touchstone of life at Beauaraba, and the administration uses these consultations as an opportunity to receive feedback on the facility’s care and services.
Since the facility was established, the team had always operated a wholly in-house catering solution, with their dedicated cook and other care staff taking on the responsibility of operating the aged care food services. After Beauaraba’s in-house cook left the team, residents and their families requested that the administration take the opportunity to overhaul catering with professional chefs to provide more variety and flavour.
Pain points
Despite giving the Beauaraba team full control over all areas of the meal service, running an in-house catering solution cost the facility significant amounts of both time and money. A lack of dedicated catering staff meant that members of the care team needed to attend to the meal service rather than their primary duties, and even Janet, the Director of Care Services, found herself pulled into the kitchen.
“Prior to Cater Care coming on-site, we did all the meal preparation ourselves. We found that it was very expensive.” – Janet Newlands, Director of Care Services.
Left – Leigh Churchill, Cater Care’s State Manager for Queensland. Centre – Alex Metcalf, General Manager of Beauaraba Living. Right – Janet Newlands, Director of Care Services at Beauaraba Living.
There were significant financial implications for Beauaraba Living as well. As a lone facility, Beauaraba didn’t command the same buying power as larger groups and was left at the mercy of individualised pricing and the supply chain gaps that came with living in a relatively remote area. Paying above market prices for a limited selection of goods harmed meal variety and made catering for residents with dietary requirements substantially more difficult.
With all this in mind, the Beauaraba Living team went out to tender with a strict set of requirements. Whoever took over their aged care food services needed to avoid displacing any incumbent staff, had to incorporate the same local suppliers that Beauaraba used wherever possible, all while coming in at a cost that was competitive with their previous in-house meal preparation. Finally, and most importantly, they had to place the quality of the resident’s care above all else.
Benefits of Cater Care
We’re pleased to say that the Cater Care team was chosen as the best candidate to meet these requirements. Cater Care’s commitment to ensuring that all food is cooked on-site by talented chefs delivered the quality of catering that Beauaraba was looking for, and our flexible supply chains allowed us to work with local suppliers the team had traditionally used to reinvest in the local community.
Variety was a key concern for the residents of the Beauaraba Living, and Cater Care’s tailored rotating menus quickly alleviated these concerns. Residents enjoy a wide range of regularly changing dishes from seasonal menus, meaning that the food they enjoy is always fresh, in-season, and always changing. Beyond normal mealtimes, residents now also enjoy our Major Themes program that diversifies the typical dining experience to deliver a taste of the culture and cuisine of faraway times and places.
In addition to improving the resident experience, Janet was quick to note that working with Cater Care held a number of benefits for Beauaraba’s staff. Having a team of professionals take care of culinary concerns meant that she could spend more time focusing on her directorial position rather than worrying about the kitchen, and having dedicated catering staff on-hand freed up her team to focus on meeting care time requirements for their residents.
“It personally took a lot of workload off me – the cook-fresh, and the cook on-site.” – Janet Newlands, Director of Care Services.
Moving forward, looking back
Now that our fruitful partnership has more than ten years beneath its belt, the Beauaraba Living team have become one of our most steadfast clients. Throughout our relationship we’ve worked hard to continually improve our aged care food services, worked hand-in-hand to produce IDDSI training material, and enjoyed assisting the team in growing into the best residential aged care operation that they can be.
“It’s a good partnership. One of the reasons we did it was for the financial aspect of it. It’s been very cost effective for us.” – Alex Metcalf, CEO.
Beauaraba Living’s story of swapping from in-house catering to outsourced perfection might seem like it’s unattainable or far-fetched, but they’re far from the only ones. Making the switch to expert catering and resident engagement providers can be just the helping hand your facility and staff need to do what they do best – caring for your residents. If you’re interested in providing the highest possible quality catering for your residents, then we’d love to hear from you.
