From catering to healthcare? That’s not such a crazy idea at all. The catering industry can be of great added value in healthcare, says Florentine Rijkmans, director of Horecava, the Dutch National Trade Show for Hospitality.
It is no longer a surprise that the catering and healthcare sectors have a lot in common. It is not without reason that many catering employees started working in healthcare during the corona pandemic. Hospitality is essential in both sectors. In the catering industry we do everything we can to please our guests, and good attention to clients is also very important in healthcare. In addition, both the catering and healthcare sectors have been struggling with staff shortages for years. Both sectors are trying to absorb this by, for example, focusing on automation, robotization, meal components and working with pre-cut products.
More quality
But there is another important similarity between healthcare and catering that has to do with quality. Guests have become a lot more critical: they expect good quality food and drinks. From hospital to healthcare institution and from neighborhood café to hotel, you are expected to get a good cup of coffee everywhere. That bowl of ditch water that you used to be served as standard is no longer accepted. Guests know what they like and that has raised the standard.
The fact that guests want – and demand – more quality is something to applaud. We will all be better off because of this. But the contrast between wanting to eat healthy and tasty food, and the food that you are served on average in a healthcare institution is great. Not surprising, because the care and nursing staff have been under enormous pressure for years, which means there is simply no time to put a healthy, tasty meal on the table. Add to this the aging society and you can say with certainty that the need for nutritional support in healthcare will only increase in the coming years.
Unburdening care
Hospitality and good food and drinks are therefore increasingly moving towards each other. And that is precisely where there are opportunities for the catering industry. Opportunities to unburden healthcare, contribute to society and generate a new source of income yourself. In this way, the catering industry can relieve the burden on the healthcare sector by taking on the preparation of high-quality meals and taking that task off your hands. This way, healthcare workers have the time to fully focus on providing care instead of worrying about serving lunch or dinner.
(photo: RAI, Horecava)
