‘Revolutionising’ food in aged care

Consumer goods company, Unilever Food Solutions, developed the ‘Celebrate Food Toolkit’, which is available free to aged care chefs and operators.

The toolkit also provides information on the average cost per serve and nutritional panel analysis for each recipe, assisting chefs to plan, budget and conveniently prepare meals.

Unilever Food Solutions held an initial trial of the Celebrate Food Toolkit early last year to determine the needs of aged care chefs and operators, revealing the majority of aged care chefs appreciate nutritionally analysed recipes and that give them ideas, which have been costed to fit within budgets.

Queensland aged care provider, PresCare, which participated in the Celebrate Food Toolkit trial, was inspired by the recipe ideas which helped Scott Fraser, PresCare executive chef, to plan and prepare the 38,000 meals they serve to residents every week.

“Our meals can be the highlight of somebody’s day, so it’s important for us to provide restaurant quality food to our residents,” Mr Fraser said.

“The Celebrate Food Toolkit gives me a great starting point, saves me time, and the theme posters that come with the toolkit really encourage interaction among residents during meal time,” he added.

According to the Dietitians Association of Australia (DAA), there are reportedly no nationally agreed nutrition and menu planning standards to support quality care of residents in aged care facilities.

Yezdi Daruwalla, Unilever Food Solutions managing director, said: “Working closely with aged care providers and operators, we have seen firsthand the increasing pressure on chefs to deliver inspired and exciting meals, while juggling food budgets and staff availability, and immediately recognised that this is an area where we can help.”

Request a free copy of the Celebrate Food Recipe Book.