Foodservice Operations in Healthcare Facilities - Research Paper Example

? Foodservice Operations in Healthcare facilities Introduction In the food service industry, several factors have necessitated the need for alternatives in food production; for example, school foodservice directors are increasingly finding it hard to cope with the current scenario of inadequate labor hence the pressure to consider alternatives to foodservice. In addition to that, there is great concern about food safety today than there ever was before, including Hazard Analysis Control Point program implementation (Jones and Merricks, 2006), and quality control; a change in the foodservice system can drastically enhance foodservice to improve quality control. There are four major types of food service operation alternatives for foodservice directors who seek to change foodservice systems to enhance quality control; these include conventional service, commissary, ready prepared, and assembly-serve food service (Food Product flow, n.d). Foodservice has a number of special characteristics that make it unique to production of other products, and this uniqueness influences decisions concerning production and service; in this regard, foodservice directors choose foodservice operations based on the uniqueness of the foodservice. Different foodservice operations offer solutions to some of the challenges such as scheduling employees and production, difficulty in staffing, and high labor and food costs that emerge from the unique characteristics of foodservice. Conventional food service Conventional foodservice system is the foodservice system that entails assembling ingredients and producing food onsite/location, held at appropriate temperatures, either heated or chilled, and served to customers (Types of Food Service Operations, n.d); also, foods are prepared closest to meal times as possible and the food is purchased all along the food processing continuum. Conventional foodservice is the foodservice system used extensively in schools, restaurants, colleges and universities, and cafeterias, but many of these conventional foodservice systems are increasingly using more and more food products from the complete end of the food-processing continuum because of the current labor shortfall affecting them today. Advantages of conventional foodservice system include high degree of perceived quality because it makes people think of fresh homemade foods, flexibility in menu items because food is prepared and served instantly thus food quality is uncompromised, in addition to, the ability to use traditional standardized recipes that need little or no need of modifications at all (Foodservice Systems, n.d). Disadvantages of conventional foodservice include intensive labor demand because more labor must be scheduled to meet high demands of food at peak times, higher food costs due to less control of portion sizes or wastages, less control over food safety due to inconsistences in staff adherence to standard operating procedures. Commissary foodservice Commissary foodservice, also known as centralized foodservice, is the system of foodservice where food production is centralized and food is transferred to satellite locations that act as receiving kitchens where food is then served to customers (Foodservice Systems, n.d). In this system of foodservice, food items are bought near the non-end of the food-processing continuum and food is prepared in the central kitchen exclusively thereby reducing costs considerably. In addition, the system takes advantage of economies of scale, low labor costs, and is best utilized in the airline industries, large restaurant corporations and a number of schools. Advantages of commissary foodservice include lower food and supply costs due to purchasing food supplies in large quantities, great purchasing power, improved ingredient control that decreases food costs, and effective inventory control to issue foods in appropriate quantities, lower labor costs, and high flexibility in scheduling of food preparation. Disadvantages of commissary foodservice include high initial capital investments for building and equipment, need for technically skilled labor force, monotonous job procedures, damaging equipment malfunctions, transportation costs, perceived loss of quality, need for recipe modifications, threat of widespread food safety problems, lack of feedback to cooks concerning the quality of food. Ready- prepared foodservice In ready prepared foodservice systems, food is set onsite, held chilled or iced up, warmed, and served to clients on location; in this respect, food production can be arranged to take place at any time (Types of Food Service Operations, n.d). Multiple-day food production is possible in this system and food items are purchased all along the food-processing continuum; for instance, some items require full preparation, others may have some preparations while others may be bought fully prepared. Hospitals and prisons use the ready-prepared system of foodservice (Assaf, Matawie and Blackman, 2008) but school foodservice, which normally operates conventional or centralized foodservice systems, will hardly utilize this system. Advantages of ready-prepared foodservice includes flexibility in scheduling food production because food is prepared and stored chilled or frozen for later use; also, the ready-prepared foodservice system has lower labor costs because large quantities of food can be prepared at the same time for later reheating and service to customers (Foodservice Systems, n.d). Disadvantages of ready-prepared foodservice system includes limited menu varieties because some foods may be unsuitable for chilling and freezing processes, high initial capital investment required for equipment, perceived loss of quality, need for recipe modifications, and the high risk of gross food safety problems in case of an outbreak, among others. Assembly-service foodservice In assembly-serve foodservice systems, food items are bought from the middle to complete end of the food-processing continuum; this food is then kept either frozen or chilled to be used later, when it is portioned, reheated, and served to customers (Foodservice Systems, n.d). Traditionally, assembly-serve foodservice system has been the least common but due to the fast changing environment in response to increasing costs and scarcity of labor, it is slowly becoming popular too. Advantages of assembly-serve foodservice systems include lower limited costs because food is purchased almost fully prepared thus requiring little labor for production, and limited need of equipment because being almost fully prepared, little equipment is needed to reheat the food for serving to customers. Disadvantages of the assembly-serve foodservice system include high food costs because food is purchased at the full or nearly complete end of the food processing continuum- this introduces extra costs that inflate the normal prices of foods to cater for the production costs incurred already. In addition to that, other disadvantages of this system include a limited menu variety, irregular availability of menu items, and the perceived loss of quality because customers often view the homemade products as having superior quality to those prepared elsewhere. Literature review There exists an extensive body of literature on the ready-prepared foodservice system that is mainly used in healthcare facilities, for instance, the Kruse report by Nancy Kruse records a narrative concerning how restaurants are losing customers to supermarkets that are armed with ready-prepared foods (Kruse, 2008). The article narrates that supermarkets have seen the need of continually enhancing their prepared foods and projects that grocery sales from prepared foods are expected to grow 7% over a year, which is more than twice the rate of conventional restaurants. The writer recommends that for restaurants to survive the new competition, they need to be keen on supermarket innovations such as a focus on foods by imitating restaurants’ bills of fare from foods and flavors on offer to prep and presentation techniques. In addition, the stores recognition of the promotional power of freshness and the need to distinguish between prepared and packed foods, and enhancing shopper convenience through introduction of separate entrances must be checked. In another article, researchers Nettles, Gregorie, and Canter analyze the decision to select a conventional or cook-chill System for Hospital foodservice, to determine the variables that hospital foodservice directors consider when selecting a conventional or cook-chill system (Nettles, Gregorie and Canter, 1997). The team of researchers found out that the decision process used by foodservice directors who favor conventional foodservice varies considerably from the decision process used by the foodservice directors who prefer the cook-chill foodservice system. However, most importantly, the researchers concluded that directors who preferred the cook-chill system were more likely to consider more issues in the decision-making process, consult other operations, and focus on return on investment, projected labor costs. These directors were also likely to calculate more values, consider the two foodservice options, and use non-foodservice personnel such as consultants and manufactures’ representatives. The third article by Donna Boss reveals findings from a survey by the Center for Science in the public interest that showed a number of top-ranked hospitals are unnecessarily harming their faculties, staffs, visitors and some of their patients by serving them with foods prepared with partially hydrogenated oil (Boss, 2006). CSPI had taken samples of French fries from Massachusetts General Hospital and 19 other institutions and taken them for analysis in an independent laboratory to determine the oil used to deep-fat fry them, and out of the list of institutions, Massachusetts General Hospital had the highest level of partially hydrogenated oils. The hospital made a quick switch to serving foods produced without trans-fat oils because serving foods that are high in trans-fats in health institutions violates the first ‘do not harm’ principle. The hospital’s foodservice department is continuously examining which trans-fats free products including other fried items, snack foods, among others, can be purchased and accepted by the customers as well. In addition to these, another article by Papiernik tells how Harlem’s bustling Fairway market feeds shoppers’ expanding appetite for ready to eat fare (Papiernik, 1996); according to this source, the Fairway market has joined the growing number of food retailers using foodservice to help prevent loss of profits to quick-service restaurants. According to Papiernik, it is the demand for convenience that has intensified competition in the foodservice business, thus leading to the need for creative ways of enhancing the traditional foodservice offered by restaurants. The Fairway market offers a wide variety of foods that can be bought in large quantities and chilled for later use and can feed a family of four for about $8-$10; these foods are made available around the clock for customers’ satisfaction. The article also narrates how the Fairway market is also competing with fast feeders by expanding its offerings of quick-service restaurant staples as rotisserie chicken and pizza, in addition to producing fresh baked breads, pies, and cakes. The fifth article is by Warner and it posits that foodservice operators will need new focus especially because retail/foodservice lines blur with grocers fighting hard to improve pre-pared food offerings (Warner, 1996). One example of such a shift in focus has been provided in the restaurant-supermarket concept masterminded by Phil Romano with the opening of Eatzi’s; the restaurant-supermarket hybrid offers a couple of staples found at any contemporary supermarket such as fresh fruits, in addition to fresh bread. Given the consumer trends and market shifts that led to the new genre of restaurant-market hybrids, it is clear that the clear demarcations between foodservice and retail food sales are increasingly disappearing in today’s global environment; in this respect, the position of traditional restaurant operators is highly unstable in the near future. Discussion The four basic foodservice systems discussed above vary significantly especially in terms of food production processes, levels of recipe modification, and position of food items on the food-processing continuum, among other things. Unlike the production of other products, foodservice has a number of special characteristics that influences the decisions of production and service; foodservice directors have to consider which of the four foodservice systems are most effective for their use in different contexts. The fast changing environment in response to trends such as a shortfall of labor force, increasing safety concerns, and the need for cost effective ways of food production is the reason why there justifies the need for multiple foodservice options because each one of them has both advantages and disadvantages. For instance, the ready-prepared foodservice system is best suited for the healthcare facilities due to a number of reasons, including but not limited to, the flexibility in scheduling food preparation and lower labor costs. Hospitals and other healthcare facilities are able to reduce the costs of food production considerably by using this foodservice system because it eliminates the peaks and valleys of demand for food and allows the labor costs to be controlled; since production is independent of service, it can be scheduled to take place at any time of the day. Lower labor costs also are attributable to the fact that ready-prepared foodservice system allows for production of large quantities of foods to be produced and stored for later re-heating and service. References Assaf A, Matawie K M, and Blackman D, (2008), Operational performance of healthcare foodservice systems. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management Vol. 20 No. 2, 2008 pp. 215-227. Papiernik, R.L. (1996). Harlem's bustling Fairway feeds shoppers' expanding appetite for ready-to-eat fare. Nation's Restaurant News, 30(9), 47. Warner, Van R (1996). Operators may need new focus as retail/foodservice lines blur. Nation's Restaurant News. p. 21. Kruse, N (2008). Restaurants must be ready to wrest guests back from supermarkets armed with prepared foods. Nation's Restaurant News, 42(44), 46. Boss, D. L. (2006). If your products contain trans fats, get ready to explain why. Nation's Restaurant News, 40(9), 40. Nettles M F, Gregorie M B, and Canter D, (1997), Analysis of the Decision to Select a Conventional or Cook-Chill System for Hospital Foodservice. Journal of American Dietetic Association Volume 97, Issue 6, June 1997, P. 626–631. Jones P, and Merricks P, (2006). The Management of Food Service Operations: An Integrated and innovated Approach to catering management. Stamford: Cengage Learning EMEA. Foodservice Systems. (n.d). Introduction to Foodservice Systems: A Guide to Centralized Foodservice Systems. Retrieved from http://nfsmi.org/documentlibraryfiles/PDF/20080212032530.pdf “Types of Food Service Operations”. (n.d). Retrieved from http://www.saskatoonhealthregion.ca/your_health/documents/TypesofFoodServiceOperations.pdf Food Product flow. (n.d). Retrieved from https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=5&ved=0CFUQFjAE&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwps.prenhall.com%2Fwps%2Fmedia%2Fobjects%2F1101%2F1128420%2FChapter04.ppt&ei=lbLCUdPfBfSZ0QWy8ICYBw&usg=AFQjCNE1qZLXd0eDbhZMHEkmXSDez45rhQ&sig2=xR_Zh3dDfcGL8ZN6g5o2Cw&bvm=bv.48175248,d.d2k Read More