Contract caterer Elior UK’s head of nutrition Mandy Davies has won a health & nutrition award for the development of grazing boxes for care home residents.
The Public Sector Catering Awards were held in London on 7 April. Mandy and her team created the concept for Caterplus – an Elior business specialising in the care sector. A four-week grazing box menu consisting of both savoury and sweet items was introduced by Caterplus for care home residents. The box provides a balance of healthy high fibre options for good digestive health and high energy and protein options to help prevent malnutrition and weight loss.
The boxes are chef-tested and dietitian-approved and are suitable for residents requiring texture-modified meals. They are dementia friendly and were developed to be served either in place of, or in addition to, traditional meals. They contain nourishing finger foods which can be adapted to required texture modified levels. According to Caterplus, the boxes can help maintain a person’s independence and encourage more regular eating.
Mandy said: “Malnutrition is a significant problem in the UK, especially affecting the elderly, and our grazing boxes help to address this issue and the challenges of catering for residents with dementia. Since the introduction of the grazing boxes, we have seen a vast improvement in resident weight gain and are so pleased to have created a solution that supports residents with dementia and enables us to provide enhanced care for all residents.”
Laura Tighe, managing director of Caterplus, added: ‘We are delighted to have won this award and are so proud [our team's] vision to develop a service that really makes a difference to care home residents. The impact has been so positive both on the physical and mental wellbeing of residents.”
Caterplus says that the grazing boxes can be delivered to residents three times a day, either as a sharing platter or as an individual box, the latter enabling staff to monitor what each resident eats. The boxes can be tailored to requirements such as food allergies. According to Caterplus ‘the sharing platter helps to create a sense of community amongst residents.’
