Rising food prices reaches 35%: a catering conundrum for the care industry

Rising food prices reaches 35%:  a catering conundrum for the care industry

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With three years of rising food and beverage costs, care homes face a 35%[1] increase in spend across their food and drink provision. Energy and high freight costs have added fuel to the fire for the movement of food and deliveries. There’s not a commodity which hasn’t been affected.

Prices are unlikely to come down significantly, although an increase in stability coupled with a review of food service processes create an opportunity to better plan and forecast for the future, and implement proven tangible ways to circumnavigate these challenges, which are key to mitigating some of the inflation devastating the sector.

Care England has partnered with Creed Foodservice, one of the UK’s fastest growing food service providers, which works with around 600 group and independent care homes nationally, to understand and mitigate the impact of recent food inflation is having on the care sector.

Commodity fluctuations causing a consistent rise in food inflation, have had a crippling detrimental financial impact on care home operations. A study by Creed Foodservice compared pre-covid food spending against a current basket of goods and evidenced monthly average spending on food service had increased by 35% in 3-years, and that whilst a recent Creed report suggested 77%[2] of operators see value in consulting with their food wholesaler to mitigate costs, this leaves nearly a quarter of businesses who do not.

Care England and Creed are seeking to help care operators manage their costs through multiple channels which require expert support, but where significant reductions are proven to be possible:

• Leveraging the buying power of other care providers through joint tendering
• Reduction in staffing overheads
• Educating catering staff on kitchen best practise
• Meeting the challenge of retaining the right skilled staff
• Effective product selection
• Supplementing from-scratch recipes with semi and pre-prepared more cost effective items
• Product changes without compromising quality
• Minimising food waste
• Considered and well-planned stock management
• Clever preparation of meals
• Utilising more of the product through specially designed recipes

Care England’s partnership with Creed and its integrated team of procurement specialists, sector experts and knowledgeable and experienced development chefs is designed to unlock ways to support care providers in battling food and beverage inflation.

Care providers who wish to explore the cost-savings that can be made with the support of Creed Foodservice should register here Care England Tender Submission (creedfoodservice.co.uk) to participate in the Care England food and beverage tender, or reach out to Andy Williams, Creed’s Care Specialist, directly to discuss how the Care England and Creed solutions can help you to mitigate food cost inflation; andywilliams@creedfoodservice.co.uk / 07753498980.

For further information please review: Care Home Food Suppliers | Catering for care homes across the UK (creedfoodservice.co.uk).

With three years of rising food and beverage costs, care homes face a 35%[1] increase in spend across their food and drink provision. Energy and high freight costs have added fuel to the fire for the movement of food and deliveries. There’s not a commodity which hasn’t been affected.

Creed Foodservice Commodities Report (Autumn, 2023)

[1] Creed Foodservice Sales Data (September, 2023)

[2] Creed Foodservice Plates to Profit (June, 2023)