Earlier this summer, Metz Culinary Management announced the launch of a new program intended to deliver fresh meals to patients’ homes.
Chef2Home by Metz focuses on providing those in the healthcare segment with healthy menu options tailored to their specific dietary needs.
While the program was only just announced in June, the team is already seeking new avenues of growth for its future.
Finding new growth opportunities
Chef2Home is aimed at patients throughout the healthcare system, including those who are on Medicare Advantage or Medicaid. Around 67% of Medicare Advantage members can receive a food benefit when they’re discharged from the hospital, and Medicaid users can also receive food services at home, says Chef2Home Vice President Debbie Origer.
The meals are prepared at one of three culinary centers operated by Metz: one in Sarasota, Fla., and two in Pennsylvania.
Meals are then frozen and shipped to their destination. Depending on who receives the meals, they are either delivered to a central location or to individual homes.
The Metz team is also working to expand Chef2Home beyond the healthcare segment.
“One of the things that we are getting is a request for private pay orders for people to just order directly off of our website,” says Origer. “In the fall, you'll see an additional link in there called private pay. People can click on that, and they can actually order meals online.”
Emergency meals are another possible avenue of growth. In the past, Metz has provided COVID-19 relief meals and is FEMA approved.
“With our storage capacity on the frozen side, you know, we can keep significant inventory of emergency meals available. So that's an emerging piece of the business,” says Chief Growth Officer Chris Lindberg.
A menu for everyone
Chef2Home’s menu is broken up into nine categories: general wellness, diabetes friendly, low sodium, heart healthy, renal friendly, kosher, pureed, halal and vegetarian.
Many of the dishes are the same ones Metz chefs and dieticians are already serving at the hospitals where the company operates dining.
As the program continues to move forward, new dishes will be introduced to ensure that its offerings reflect current food trends and that there is enough variety for diners.
“As you know, the market changes all the time and new things come to bear all the time. So, we have to be pretty fluid on how we respond to that,” says Lindberg.
Already, the program is being met with positive feedback, and the team is excited to see how it will grow in the future, says Metz President and CEO Jeff Metz.
“There's so much opportunity. And you know, obviously our priority is to serve our seniors with great quality food that helps them,” Metz says. “That's always been our mission—it’s about taking care of people.”