Category: Senior Care

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Options for the SuzyQ Meal Delivery Cart

Every senior living home is different. Every home has a slightly different number of residents, each of whom has slightly different needs. Some residents live very independent lives, while others might be partially or fully dependent on someone else for their daily care. Regardless, everyone needs to eat, and this includes those who live in senior living communities. That is exactly where the SuzyQ Foodservice Cart can be helpful. This is a cart that comes with a wide variety of options that can be customized to meet the needs of the residents and the person serving the food. There are several customizable options that everyone should know.

The SuzyQ Cart Serves Hot and Cold Meals

One of the first benefits of the SuzyQ cart is that it can serve hot and cold meals. The wells can be customized to meet the needs of the food, and this creates a lot of options for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. For example, it is possible for someone to serve both hot eggs and cold yogurt or fruit during breakfast. The same can be said of lunch and dinner.

The Cart Comes With Multiple Options for Well Depth

The pans can be customized in-depth to meet the needs of the meal as well. One of the most popular options, the 4-inch pans, hold a lot of food, and the food will not turn crusty or stale during the serving process.

On the other hand, 6- or 8-inch pans might be a bit too deep, because the food can turn crusty and get stuck to the bottom, which is not the most appetizing choice. There might even be situations in which a 2-inch pan might be better because the food is even less likely to get stuck or turn crusty.

The only time a deeper pan might be better is if there is a soup or sauce. If it is the middle of winter and a lot of soup is being served, then a deeper pan might be an option. The soup will be moving around in the pan, and it will stay fresh.

There is also the option to use ninth pans, which are smaller, deeper pans. These are better for modified diets and purées. If there is something that needs to be in the pan for only a few servings, a ninth might be a good option.

It is also possible to use a long, thin hotel pan with the SuzyQ Foodservice Delivery Cart. This is great when senior homes want to show off something delicious on the cart. The tray runs the length of the delivery cart, and it looks very pretty. The ability to customize the pans in the SuzyQ Meal Delivery Cart makes it easier for senior living communities to customize the cart to meet their needs.

The Benefits of the SuzyQ Cart

There are a number of significant benefits that come from using this cart. They include:

  • Using them allows senior living communities to reduce food waste because residents have control over what they want to eat.
  • These carts make it easier for staff members to interact with residents, creating a more engaged labor force.
  • The cart has been specifically designed to reduce back-and-forth trips to save time while serving food.
  • Ultimately, the food tastes better, and residents are happier. This leads to increased satisfaction all around, creating a powerful marketing tool.

These are just a few of the many benefits that come from using the SuzyQ Cart. Every senior living community is different, and it is possible to customize this cart to meet the needs of the senior care foodservice community.

How does your senior care measure up in healthcare dining? Take this quiz here to find out!

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The Story of the SuzyQ Food Delivery Cart

Everyone loves a good story, and pretty much every successful business solution is rooted in one. For the SuzyQ food delivery cart, that is certainly true, as well.

What is the SuzyQ?

To quickly recap, the SuzyQ food delivery cart is a solution designed around the notion of self-determined foodservice in senior care communities. When you provide the option for residents to choose rather than having pre-plated servings placed before them, there is a wide range of benefits both for diners and for operators.

First, senior care residents get to choose, and for this demographic, choice is something that is often taken away. Giving choice at mealtimes is a great way to help maintain the all-important element of control.

Second, allowing residents to choose reduces food waste, as they only select the menu options they really desire. This helps the overall bottom line because food is not wasted, and therefore, money is not wasted.

Finally, with self-determined meal service in a SuzyQ, the food delivery cart is actually wheeled through the dining room creating points of interaction between residents and foodservice staff. These relationships are important because they make for happier seniors and more fulfilled staff.

In reality, there are many more benefits to using a SuzyQ food delivery cart, but this article isn’t about why senior care community foodservice operators should consider using one. It’s about why it was created in the first place. So, let us introduce you to Suzanne Quiring.

The SuzyQ was invented by Suzanne Quiring, a dietician and foodservice manager who worked in residential care. She saw the drawbacks of traditional service where staff cooked meals and had service staff run plated food back and forth from a pick-up window to the residents’ tables. She also knew there was a better way than serving cold food and dealing with food preference lists.

Quiring went on a journey to create a new solution, and the result is the SuzyQ. Based on the idea of a rolling service cart on an airplane where flight attendants ask what beverage you’d like, Quiring asked the question, “Why can’t we do that in the dining room?” Rooted in years of service that resulted in unhappy residents and wasted food, the SuzyQ food delivery cart rolled onto the scene and created a new way of foodservice delivery – the self-determined meal.

The SuzyQ actually began with beverages. Rather than pre-pouring drinks before guests arrive resulting in warm milk, she decided to roll a beverage cart through the dining room offering on-demand beverages. The residents loved it, and a dessert cart was included next. Finally, the idea shifted to full meal delivery, and the SuzyQ was invented, finally allowing senior care residents to hand-select the foods they want, served warm and at ideal serving conditions.

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Lakeside Helps Florida Soup Kitchen

Food insecurity impacts more than one out of every ten U.S. households. When you think about it, that’s an alarming number, and it’s something so many great non-profit organizations around the country are trying to reduce.

One of those organizations is Gracie’s Kitchen, a soup kitchen in Yulee, Florida that feeds seniors, veterans, single parents with families, the homeless, and the working poor. Before the Covid pandemic, they were serving more than 40,000 meals every year to those in need in the Yulee area, with additional branches of their organization helping to feed malnourished dogs and cats, as well as their “Socks for Souls” program that provides socks to those in need.

Their main focus is on foodservice, though, with more than $30,000 raised annually to “Nourish the Hungry and Feed Their Spirit.” Here at Lakeside, we admire their commitment to the community, so we offered to help.

Lakeside Helps to Upgrade Gracie’s Kitchen Serving Carts

A team from Lakeside learned about the Gracie’s Kitchen story and quickly discovered their serving cart situation was a challenge at best. Pictures of their existing carts showed they were being held together, quite literally, by duct tape, and that’s when Lakeside decided to step in. By replacing their old plastic carts with new Lakeside 311 series carts, their ability to serve the community in need was drastically enhanced. The Gracie’s Kitchen team could not have been more thankful.

utility cart service

Foodservice utility carts for kitchens are our specialty here at Lakeside, and we’re happy to help contribute to the great works at Gracie’s Kitchen with our 311 serving carts.

The 311 series is the first stainless steel utility cart created at Lakeside, and it was designed to last. It’s made for both front-of-the-house and back-of-the-house applications, and we hope the great crew at Gracie’s Kitchen find their work just a little bit easier with the 311. Based on the duct-taped plastic carts they had before, we can guarantee it.

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What’s the 311 on Stainless Steel Utility Carts?

You’ve come to the right place for information on utility carts, as we’re going to explore one of the classic models in the Lakeside portfolio. From a company with more than 75 years of interesting history, the advent of the 311 is one of the most important milestones in Lakeside history.

Why?

lakeside 311 stainless steel utility cartThe 311 Utility Cart is the very first stainless steel Lakeside utility cart design, and it’s still very popular today. Made for both back-of-the-house and front-of-the-house service, the 311 Utility Cart is ideal for bussing, service set-up, usage as a tray or soiled dish station, and can even serve as a light-duty transport and storage cart over even floor surfaces.

The 311 Utility Cart from Lakeside has other important benefits, as well. Its durability comes from electronically welded, 20-gauge stainless steel legs along with a reinforced, hemmed front on 22-gauge stainless steel shelves to provide added support where it’s needed.

For reduced sound and vibration, deadening panels are added under the shelving to make 311 Utility Cart usage quieter. With bumpers on the legs and handles, walls and furniture are also protected. Finally, the 311 Utility Cart from Lakeside is easy to use.

The Evolution of the Utility Cart

With more than 75 years of experience comes the recognition that one single stainless steel utility cart design will not satisfy every type of need. While we love the 311 design, we realize it’s not the perfect cart for everyone. That said, our first stainless steel utility cart has helped inspire the designs of so many other carts in the Lakeside portfolio.

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The Multifunctionality of Foodservice Utility Carts: What To Know

 

If you work in the foodservice industry, heavy-duty utility carts are a great way to transport a wide variety of items, protect valuable inventory, and is a safe storage space. Regardless of whether you’re moving boxes, retrieving supplies, or getting ready for an upcoming event, you can make life easier by relying on multifunctional utility carts, but what does multifunctional really mean? Why is it important? And what are should operators look for when considering foodservice utility carts?

Transport Supplies Seamlessly From Place to Place

Of course, one of the first ways you can use multifunctional utility carts is to transport supplies easily from place to place. For example, you might have food and beverages that you need to move to a specific room for an upcoming event. Maybe you need to move cups, plates, and napkins. Perhaps you have fragile items that deserve added protection. Heavy-duty utility carts are versatile pieces of equipment that can accommodate all of your transportation requirements.

Keep Your Supplies Organized

If you don’t keep your supplies organized, you might have a hard time efficiently carrying out your daily operations. Utility carts come with a bunch of helpful compartments that allow you to organize inventory, hardware, and other tools. That way, you make life easier for your employees and workers. They can hang their tools on the side, divide items by compartment, and make sure all fragile items have proper protection. You can also save space on storage, as you can keep some items on your utility carts if you use them regularly.

Take Advantage of Customizable Options

Different niches and industries have different needs, so you might want to customize your utility cart depending on your specific line of work. For example, you might want to choose vertical panels that provide added protection or privacy. You might want to hang pegboards on the side of your utility carts for hanging tools. You can also use shelves that have cantilevered type adjustments that create more space or make your cart easier to transport. If you want to increase the efficiency of your operations, take advantage of a personalized, customized heavy-duty utility card.

Handle Heavy Loads

Utility carts have been specifically designed to be strong and durable. If you have heavy loads that you need to transport from place to place, you can use a foodservice utility cart to help you. You do not have to worry about purchasing heavy equipment or asking your employees to manually transport heavy loads from place to place. This can significantly reduce the chances of your employees getting hurt, and you can provide your industrial equipment with the protection it requires. If you need to transport heavy loads from place to place quickly and safely, multifunctional utility carts are the way to go.

Take Advantage of Foodservice Utility Carts from Lakeside

If you work in the foodservice, catering, hospitality, or restaurant industry, you understand the importance of having heavy-duty utility carts you can use regularly. Because your utility carts can serve more than one purpose, you can reduce the equipment required by using this valuable piece of equipment to fulfill multiple roles. Furthermore, you can take advantage of added storage space while making life easier for your staff. If you want to get the most out of your utility carts, count on the foodservice professionals from Lakeside to help you.

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Dissecting the Latest Healthcare Foodservice Trends

Dissecting the Latest Healthcare Foodservice Trends

From labor shortages to the impacts of Covid, it’s been a challenging few years for hospital foodservice directors. These hurdles were outlined in the latest version of the Foodservice Director’s healthcare foodservice survey, and there are some clear trends that emerged.

THE IMPACT OF THE LABOR AND STAFFING CRISIS

Much like other industries, staffing is a huge challenge for healthcare foodservice directors, particularly since staff sizes often consist of fewer than 10 employees. According to the 2021 survey, 39 percent of respondents report fewer than 10 workers with 75 percent reporting 25 or less. This can mean that staff is harder to replace, that staff’s headcount has potentially shrunk due to external circumstances, or both. Compare those data points with the beginning of the pandemic. Fifteen percent of respondents reported laying off or furloughing staff due to the pandemic.

The most important statistic, though, relates to the biggest challenges operators faced during the Covid pandemic, with 81 percent reporting staff shortages and illnesses as the biggest hurdle. Coming in second at 71 percent was difficulty in sourcing products.

THE IMPACT OF COVID ON STAFF

As we just mentioned, 15 percent of healthcare foodservice directors reported the needed to lay off or furlough members of their teams. These were some of the unwanted circumstances from the early days of the pandemic, but what about now? The vaccine has created safer work environments, but what about those workers who opt out of vaccination? According to the Foodservice Director, 57 percent of healthcare foodservice operations did not require staff to be vaccinated, while 27 percent weren’t sure yet at the time of the survey, which was in March and April of last year.

THE IMPACT OF COVID WITHIN THE OPERATION AND THE COMMUNITY

One of the biggest challenges during Covid, especially in senior care communities, was to keep residents safe but also engaged. Mental health is such a critical component in senior care operations, so foodservice directors had to do whatever they could to help residents remain part of the community. The most popular method listed by survey respondents was mobile food carts, coming in at 76 percent. Other options included virtual events (59 percent) and virtual cooking classes (12 percent).

In terms of the community, 70 percent of healthcare foodservice directors said they worked with community partners during the pandemic. Individual volunteers from the community were the most widely reported at 57 percent, with local restaurants and local farmers coming in second and third at 52 percent and 28 percent respectively.

OTHER HEALTHCARE FOODSERVICE TRENDS FROM THE PANDEMIC

As we look back over the last two years, the survey data reveals a few other important trends. The first is that waste reduction and sustainability efforts were mostly paused during the course of the last few years, with 63 percent of respondents making that claim.

In terms of menu trends that are dictating future service, there are four important ones. Surprisingly, boosting immunity is the lowest at 23 percent with global cuisines and plant-based menu items emerging more popular at 32 percent and 34 percent. The most important menu trend for the future according to healthcare foodservice directors is portability, with 64 percent stating the importance of mobility in foodservice.

2022: HEALTHCARE FOODSERVICE TRENDS IN CONCLUSION

As we’ve seen, Covid and the subsequent fallouts have had major impacts in healthcare foodservice. From menu direction to patient engagement, one of the most important solutions is a successful mobile foodservice plan that keeps foods fresh and at ideal serving temperatures.

Lakeside and our team of brands can help you find solutions for successful mobile foodservice operations.

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Hot Debate: Which is Better, Heated or Non Heated Plate Dispensers?

Hot Debate: Which is Better, Heated or Non-Heated Plate Dispensers?

To heat or not to heat. That’s often the question foodservice operators face when they’re looking to build out banquet serving lines, upgrade corporate cafeterias, or even enhance school foodservice capabilities in K-12 settings or on college campuses. And the debate is whether to offer plates that are heated or dispense them from a non-heated plate dispenser at ambient temperatures.

So, when should you use a heated plate dispenser? There are a handful of reasons that make the most sense as it relates to using a heated plate dispenser versus a non-heated option, and we’ll walk through those one-by-one now.

Are you serving hot food?

Think about your own, personal dining experiences when plate dispensing was involved. Unless you’re going to the salad bar, grabbing a cold plate and filling it with hot meats and vegetables can decrease the perception of the service. Research shows that using a heated plate dispenser can help elevate that perception, while at the same time keeping warm foods at temperatures that are more desirable for diners. Simply put, if you’re serving hot foods, you probably don’t want to serve them on ice-cold plates.

Are you serving food in a cold environment? 

Sometimes the ambient room temperatures might be cold or potentially unstable, which can then impact the temperatures of food being served. Serving lines might also exist in outside areas or spaces exposed to the elements. By using a heated plate dispenser, the potential for external temperatures to impact the temperature of foodservice is diminished.

Are you looking to save costs?

As you might expect, heated plate dispensers costs more than those without heating elements and the ability to warm china. That being said, saving on plate dispensers could actually wind up costing more if food quality or safety leads to food waste. If there’s any potential for serving warm foods or serving foods when external temperatures could impact service, it’s almost always advisable to choose a plate dispenser with heating elements. If plates will be used only for cold food service such as salad bars, an operation could probably get away with using a non-heated plate dispenser.

Plate Dispensers: Other Considerations

Plate dispenser options can also include mobile or countertop units. Moveable food dispensers are more ideal for buffets because they can be transferred quickly to any space. Countertop dispensers are more ideal for cafeterias and restaurants as they tend to be more stationary.

Adjust-A-Fit dispensers allow for multiple plate sizes to be dispensed from the unit. Need one side for salad plates and one side for hot food dishes? No problem! Adjust-A-Fit heated double-wall cabinets allow you to adjust the height and the temperature for both dispenser tubes individually. The easy, non-stick glide design ensures smooth dispensing of your bowl or plate of choice.

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What to Expect from the Post-Covid Labor Crunch

What to Expect from the Post-Covid Labor Crunch

After laying off a huge number of staff members, the foodservice industry is now struggling to find and hire labor.

In some ways, the shortage in staffing has created a sense of panic in regard to how the foodservice industry and restaurants will move forward. For smaller businesses, it can be difficult to compete with larger chains that are now offering monetary incentives to entice workers. The industry will move forward just like it’s always done, and here are a few important factors.

WHY ARE WE FACING A LABOR SHORTAGE?

At the start of the pandemic, many cities mandated lockdowns that shut businesses down completely or dwindled services to curbside pick up and delivery. This had serious impacts on the workforce, with millions of workers being either laid off or furloughed during the heart of the pandemic.

For those who remained, there was certainly the added concern of COVID exposure, in addition to the higher demands foodservice jobs brought over the last year. With so many worried about getting sick and potentially spreading the virus to loved ones, that mentality has continued to some degree up until the present day. Tack on the presence of poor working conditions in some situations, government assistance, and numerous other factors, and the result is an industry now facing a labor crisis. Simply put, the causes cannot be simply put. It’s a complex situation with many facets.

In April of this year, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that 266,000 jobs had been added throughout the economy. While many people have concerns about what to do as businesses re-open, the numbers show that the majority of industries are not experiencing a shortage in labor. It’s mostly targeted towards the leisure, hospitality, and foodservice sectors.

WHAT CAN WE DO TO ENCOURAGE HUNTING WORKERS TO APPLY?

Due to the shortage of staff, many foodservice operations are unable to fully open back up and some have even begun to cut back hours to try and offset the frustration. Many employers are having trouble getting people to show up for actual interviews, and when smaller businesses are unable to offer monetary incentives, updating SOP’s and providing transparency can help.

People are looking for safe conditions that provide them with reassurance in the workplace. This means being fully open about what you’re doing to protect employees. Adding in additional cleaning and updating kitchen or in-house equipment with hand sanitizer stations and more have been key turn solutions to encouraging many workers to ease their way back in.

RELIABLE EQUIPMENT TO HELP EASE THE STRAIN

The labor shortage isn’t only impacting the operational process for restaurants. It’s leaving the few workers on shift exhausted from overtime and lack of help. Fortunately, digital solutions and technology are making waves in easing the pressure from staff and providing a sense of functionality. Mobile ordering and apps that allow consumers to place orders directly from their table are allowing employees to focus more on cleaning and serving rather than constantly seating or checking on guests. This has offered phenomenal assistance in allowing workers to do their jobs without becoming overworked.

Other options include portable serving carts or pick-up cabinets to assist in providing options for hungry consumers, effectively changing the points of service. This equipment ensures that multiple orders can be taken care of at once, and it provides security to the customers that placed the orders. With the help of durable and reliable equipment, many foodservice operations are gaining some structure again.

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3 Phrases to Remember in Senior Care Dining

3 Phrases to Remember in Senior Care Dining

Foodservice in a senior care community or nursing home can be a tricky balance. On one hand, you have to make sure meals are safe and nutritious for residents. On the other hand, you have to empower residents to make decisions on their own. In reality, these two things don’t have to be in opposition to one another.

According to the Pioneer Network’s New Dining Practice Standards, food and dining requirements are core components of quality of life and care in senior care communities. Let’s go through three important phrases from their findings and see why.

STATEMENT 1: Choice of food has a tremendous impact on quality of life.

In fact, some say it actually defines it. Food can provide many amazing benefits, and those positive attributes begin with choices. Ask a few simple questions. What does the resident want? For example, how did they do things before moving in, and how can those things be replicated within the community’s foodservice program? What to eat, when to eat, where to eat, and with whom are all important things to determine. Provide real choice, not token choices like the difference between hot and cold cereal.

STATEMENT 2: We do not assume that just because residents may not be able to make a choice in some parts of their lives, they cannot make choices related to dining.

When both residents and staff are well-educated on matters of choice, when staff are trained to look for the right things, and when residents have consistent relationships with staff members who can advocate for them, even residents with impaired decision-making capabilities, can experience choice as it relates to dining. Studies show that cognitive impairment does not impact choice-making, and people with mild to moderate cognitive impairment can still provide input on food choice and successfully and make many of those decisions.

STATEMENT 3: Mealtime dining studies provide evidence that enabling residents to choose what they want to eat at mealtime does not result in negative nutritional outcomes.

In fact, it’s quite the opposite. When residents have choice at mealtimes, it actually enhances the nutritional impact of meals. Even more important, it increases not just resident satisfaction, but also the satisfaction of staff, caregivers, and family members.

 

Lakeside is here to help improve your Senior Care Dining operations with various product solutions! The Suzy Q cart is the ideal solution for providing a person-centered dining environment for senior care communities!

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Challenges and Solutions for Senior Care Dining

Challenges and Solutions for Senior Care Dining

There are several key challenges senior care foodservice directors face. Some of these challenges are day-to-day in their nature, while others are more macro, focusing on the bigger picture. Let’s run through a few of these challenges and solutions.

BUDGETS

Tight budgets are common. In fact, directors tend to have about 10 dollars to feed a resident three meals and two snacks per day. If you’re in senior care or nursing home foodservice, you know it’s important to master the skill of doing a lot with a little.

COLD FOOD

Whether you’re transporting food from the kitchen to the dining room or even directly to a resident’s bedside, maintaining proper food temperature is always a struggle in senior care foodservice.

HIGH FOOD WASTE

We waste a lot of food. In fact, studies show as much as 50 percent of the world’s food supply is wasted. In senior care foodservice, this is also an issue. From residents who throw away food they were served but didn’t want to discarding the cold dishes mentioned above, food waste is the same as wasting money.

POOR CUSTOMER SERVICE

Meal times are some of the most enjoyable for senior care community residents. Staff should recognize this, and provide the type of service that makes residents happy.

LACK OF TEAMWORK

When staff communicate with one another, it’s easier to pinpoint potential issues in foodservice. Setting up a culture of sharing is a great way to combat this.

HIGH STAFF TURNOVER

These last three are all related. A disjointed team that provides poor service will most often be a staff that sees high turnover. Likewise, high turnover can lead to a lack of teamwork and poor service. Everything staffing-related is interconnected.

Meal delivery can make all the difference.

There are essentially two common ways to provide meal service. The first is with trays. Trays are very institutionalized. We don’t eat on a tray in our own homes, so using them in a senior care community seems a bit out-of-touch. Senior care residences are not intended for acute care, where trays are acceptable. Senior care residences are homes where people live.

The second mode is pre-plating. Similar to a restaurant, the plating is completed in the back-of-the-house with lists and tickets. Staff run plates back and forth from the kitchen and the dining room, making this what we call the “throw and go” method

The best way to deliver food is with mobile meal service.

Mobile meal delivery carts allow operators to bring fresh options and meal choice directly to the table or to a resident’s room. This way is the future of senior care dining as more and more directors realize the benefits.

Mobile meal delivery can eliminate cold food and food waste by allowing residents to hand-select what they want for dinner. It promotes interaction with staff and builds a sense of connection and teamwork. And, they’re certainly great for an operation’s bottom line.

 

Lakeside is here to help you improve your senior care dining experience. The Suzy Q cart is the ideal solution for providing a person-centered dining environment for senior care communities!