Source: Restaurant News
For those in the food and equipment distribution business, long-term care and retirement home facilities offer massive growth potential in Canada.
When you think of fine food, retirement and long-term care homes may not come to mind, but the industry is catching up by expanding its menus beyond the traditional meat and potato dishes of the past.
Compared to the restaurant industry and its struggles of late, homes for aging Canadians are booming.
"What we know is that sector between now and 2025 is expected to double in size in terms of population," says Gord White, CEO of the Ontario Retirement Communities Association, based in Oakville, Ontario.
Because of the numbers of aging baby boomers hitting retirement age, White says the government is not able to keep up with building the number of long-term care homes needed to meet demand.
The alternative is the building of more private sector retirement homes, where the resident pays for amenities that include all meal service, personal care, laundry, housekeeping, recreation and social activities.
"Retirement homes will have to expand like an accordion and pick up the slack," White says.
Because retirement homes are market driven, the range of services and programs has expanded to make them more attractive to potential residents.
Today, some homes are equipped with spas, movie theatres, private dining rooms, exercise gyms, swimming pools, lounges and indoor gardens, and also have a range of dining options.
"Retirement homes always build private rooms because no one wants to share unless they share with their spouse. The rooms are getting larger in size (and) people want large rooms. Some are built with two or three rooms," White says.
"The expectation of the consumer is changing. They want to be treated like individuals."
Residents' rooms have changed as well, with separate bedrooms, dens, living and dining rooms and even more than one bedroom in suites the size of a newly built condo in downtown Toronto.
Amica Mature Lifestyles has adapted that model in the way it operates 25 retirement homes across Canada, in Ontario, British Columbia and Alberta.
"Amica communities reflect that of a five-star hotel in look and feel, including fine dining rooms, pubs, exercise centers, swimming pools, spas, beauty salons, garden conservatories, computer lounges--to name a few," says Barry Copeland, the company's manager of food and beverage.
The company's dining facilities are decidedly high-end, with open seating times, fine table linen and meals prepared from scratch by trained Red Seal chefs and served on Royal Doulton china.
Copeland says the retirement sector has no choice but to raise the standards of dining and accommodation as competition increases across the country.
"Residents and families are looking for a better quality of life, which evolves from dining services," he says.
"The retirement industry is evolving to higher and healthier levels from coast to coast. More and more families and guests use our catering menus and venues to host their social events for all ages."
Menus are constantly varied, with more priority on healthier meals made with fresh and local in-season ingredients, which has become the expected standard for the industry, even with higher product costs.
"Local seasonal meats and produce are a must. B.C. prides itself with local seafood (and) Ontario (with) berries, corn and peaches, and all local herbs and vegetables are served during the growing season," Copeland says.
Many retirement and long-term care homes are utilizing the services of trained chefs to prepare restaurant-style meals to bring creativity and variety to residents' dining options.
In the mid-90s, more high-end retirement homes started popping up in Canada, and with the higher price tag came the expectation from residents for more amenities and an expanded dining program.
Revera Care brought in chef Gary McBlain to come up with nutritious, diverse and quality chef-inspired meals for the company's dining program. Revera is one of Canada's largest operators, with 98 retirement residences and 107 long-term care homes in Canada.
The corporate chef heads up a team that prepares many items from scratch and sources local in-season produce from suppliers whenever possible, while meeting Canada Food Guide standards.
"Services offered, especially culinary services, at a retirement residence or LTC facility are just as important as location or price, so it's paramount to provide the best dining experience for residents," McBlain says.
"I think, as well, that we're living in the 'culture of the chef', where new trends and tastes are splashed on the Food Network or other cooking shows. As a result of this trend, when residents and their families are touring prospective residences, they are looking for imaginative and healthy menu choices."
He says the chefs at the company's facilities try to avoid what McBlain calls "food fatigue', where residents are served similar meals day in and day out. The company once held a nationwide recipe contest to gather up new menu ideas to bring to residents.
The winning dish was poached salmon filet with an orange hollandaise sauce, something that would not look out of place in a fine-dining restaurant.
"We try to keep a balance between the familiar dishes residents love and newer dishes that provide a wow factor. A chef inspired menu is better because it pairs the creativity of dishes and flavour combinations with experience handling and managing labour and purchasing concerns," McBlain says.
It wasn't always that way, however.
"There was a misconception that seniors wanted plain food. When you couple that with low food budgets, the results were a lot of pre-made, unimaginative meals and less-than-exciting menus," McBlain says.
Even with the variety and fresh products, what Revera serves now is no more expensive; in fact the company has stretched its food budget further as a result.
"We've always had the labour and skill in the kitchen, we're just using them more effectively by creating meals from better quality raw ingredients as opposed to pre-manufactured items. Actually, in some instances, we have been able to provide better quality meals at lower costs simply by cooking from scratch."
Greg Boudreau, administrator of Pine Grove Lodge in Woodbridge, Ontario, a long-term care home owned by Chartwell Seniors Housing, says each home tailors the individual menus to reflect ethnic or regional variations.
"All menus corporately and at a facility level are reviewed by registered dieticians to ensure we meet their needs," Boudreau says.
"Additionally there is increased demand for vegetarian, gluten free and lactose free menu options. Enhanced customer knowledge and travel has increased the requests for menu items that were not as well known in the past."
Some Chartwell facilities even use local providers to supply staples like produce, bread and milk, depending on availability.
"In the past menus were generally limited to two choices and staff knew residents' likes and dislikes, so if neither (choice) was suitable would do something special," says Chartwell corporate manager of food service, Ian Sarfin.
"Today we are moving to offering a lot more choice. You could have a daily special then anywhere from four to 15 alternates that are available every day. These choices can include items to meet various dietary restrictions."
Sam Sharples, a Red Seal chef and director of operations at Maple Ridge, B.C-based Greystone Manor, owned by Park Place Seniors Living, agrees that the days of pre-packaged food has gone the way of the dodo.
"Retirement homes had no real identity for food vision, with unappealing main courses that had no real nutritional value due to overcooking," Sharples says.
He believes the change started happening about five years ago when a younger generation of chefs started working in healthcare kitchens, bringing a "vibrant energy" to the sector.
"If you want to retain your residents' interest, long gone are the days of just overcooked large pieces of meat and potatoes. We are serving more diverse culturally enhanced menu items and focusing on robust flavours that are appealing to the palate," Sharples says.
Chefs now have the freedom to be creative in their menus, as they focus on plating complex and flavour-rich meals that place as much importance on presentation as they do on taste. The goal is to combine a resident's specific wishes with the need for something healthy and nutritious.
"I feel that there are many misconceptions within the food service industry about how seniors actually want to eat. Health and nutrition are just part of the equation," Sharples says.
"Well-presented, appealing, tasty meals-- plus a dash of fun--improve social interaction among residents, infusing a feeling of well-being and enhancing life by way of the dining room."
Providing unique and creative dishes is all well and good, but residents still have to like what they are eating. Chefs at Revera braise a lot of the meat to make it easier for seniors to eat and they serve a large selection of fish and poultry for both the taste and nutritional value. A la carte menus are always available should the resident not like what is on the menu on a particular day.
"We've heard great responses from both the residents eating the meals and from the staff producing them. All of the meals are familiar to the residents, but the quality is much better and we've thrown in a few twists here and there," McBlain says.
"Staff likes the fact that they are developing their culinary skills and are using actual cooking techniques as opposed to a 'twist and pour' approach.
Laeora Ryba, regional director of foodservices with Western Health in Cornerbrook, NL, believes that long-term care homes have no choice but to adapt more nutritional food as the average age of Canadians increases.
"In our larger facilities, there is emphasis on healthier desserts, inclusion of more fruits and vegetables and fibre, while reducing sodium and saturated fats," Ryba says.
"Truly, we struggle with wanting to serve a healthy restrictive diet that we know is good for you and tastes good, but we also know that food is one of the simple pleasures of life and we want to include foods that our residents have grown up with and that provide a source of comfort," she explains.
Western Health has also brought its general meal service closer to its residents, with dining rooms on the same floor as the rooms, giving residents a place to go and socialize during dinner.
In the past, Ryba says, meals were prepared down in the basement kitchen, well away from residents, and the choice was limited.
"For the most part, you didn't know what you were having on a specific day. Foodservice has certainly evolved, for the better over the yeas," Ryba says.
As facilities change, she says the approach for long-term care and retirement homes is less of a one size fits all mentality to one focused more on individual needs.
"We'll be serving lattes instead of coffee. Traditionally you had a hair salon and a little gift shop; now there are home theatres. There is no choice but to go that way."
