2015 F&B revenue: $20.5M
2015 F&B purchases: $17.1M
No. of beds: 975
Location: Boston
While a hospital can never really capture all the comforts of home, Massachusetts General Hospital is putting forth its best effort, says Deb Boudrow, senior manager for procurement. “We really try to deliver a very personalized foodservice, even though we’re a very large academic center,” she says.
Here are four key areas of focus.
Menus
“We’ve always tried to make it the MGH way—the homemade way—with all of our products and not using a lot of convenience items,” Boudrow says. Mass General operates its own bake shop, and from-scratch soups are known as a signature item in the cafeteria. When it comes to keeping up with trends, fortified and flavored waters have surpassed the sales of many carbonated beverages, and healthy snack options like nuts are popular.
Suppliers
“I think that if you have good suppliers and good relationships that really helps your foodservice. It helps us succeed, and they in turn succeed,” says Boudrow. The hospital’s Coffee Central, located in the main lobby, recently added a Coffee of the World program featuring a different daily brew from Africa, Costa Rica or Guatemala. “People can come in and get a really good cup of coffee for a lot less than our local competitors,” she says.
Diners
“It’s really hard for us to keep our employee [customer] base engaged; there’s a lot of options around the hospital for people to go and eat,” she says. Adding more grab-and-go options and premade breakfast sandwiches helps draw workers who may only have half an hour to eat.
Employees
“We really do try to involve all of our team members,” Boudrow says. “When they’re engaged, they’re going to be more successful, and they’re going to help us really promote our foodservice.” Training and mentoring employees to understand that patients and their visitors can be under a lot of stress in an unfamiliar environment goes a long way, she adds.
Download the complete segment data
View the noncommercial leaders package
*Technomic estimate