Hospitals & Long-term Care

Operations

Festive Feasts

Foodservice operators always look to impress, but during the winter holiday season the stakes are even higher, as chefs seek innovative methods to help customers celebrate with family, friends and colleagues. On the noncommercial side, operators have the

Operations

Making menus healthier

Operators have employed many tactics to make their menus healthier. Increasing fruits and vegetables and whole-grain offerings are the most frequently used strategies.

Fruit, healthy proteins and yogurts/parfaits are on the rise for breakfast menus in the next two years, according to research from The Big Picture. For most operators, the predicted increase in these categories is due to providing healthier options for customers.

When it comes to human resources challenges, operators say employee morale/motivation is the most difficult aspect, according to The Big Picture research. Absenteeism also ranked high, especially in schools and B&I locations.

Even with unemployment running high, foodservice operators aren’t sure if career hunters will want to follow in their footsteps. The key determinant, they say, is how well the industry spotlights the opportunities available today to prospective candidates.

Forecast pegs next year’s top-line increase for outsourced healthcare foodservice at 5.5%, or 2.1% in inflation-adjusted or “real” terms.

Overall, many staffs have remained the same size for the past two years, with 46% of respondents to The Big Picture research reporting this. More operators in every market segment—with the exception of colleges—report that their staffs had remained constant in size.

Most operators (63%) believe that there are more culinary school graduates seeking employment in non-commercial foodservice than there were five years ago. The highest percentage of operators who feel this way (78%) is in B&I.

Operators predict growth in Mexican/Latin American, coffee and healthy retail items in the next two years.

This month FoodService Director releases the results of The Big Picture, which we believe is the most comprehensive non-commercial research project ever conducted.

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