The dining table for the elderly in No.24 courtyard of Haidian South Road is popular.
What do the elderly care most about in their daily lives? "Eating" must come first.
Old-age dining tables run by old-age care institutions, post stations, governments and enterprises have all served old-age meals, which has solved the problem of eating for old people. Few people pay attention to the economic account behind the pension meal: the seller says it is a loss-making business, but the old people always hope that the pension meal can be nutritious and delicious while taking into account the low price.
The reporter recently visited many parties and found that the operators of pension meals are careful and have explored unique new methods. In the eyes of industry practitioners, there is a strong demand for pension meals, but it is possible to become a good business if it is fine and professional and more social forces join.
■ Shuangqiao Gonghe Home Pension Community
Multi-way ordering meal rate increased
In the evening, Aunt Wang leisurely came to the canteen for dinner. After a big circle, her plate was filled with tomato and egg soup, two-color tofu and three steamed buns. It cost 10 yuan to swipe her card. "I can’t eat so much. I’ll pack the leftover buns and take them home. If anyone is hungry, come to my house and get them!" She warmly greeted the old sisters who were waiting in line around her.
Old people with a large appetite can choose 20 yuan set meal, where four hot dishes, staple food, porridge and milk are all served together, while those with a small appetite can order several favorite dishes just like Aunt Wang.
This is the first community for the aged with shared property rights in Beijing. Old people buy houses here and settle down here. There are more than 180 permanent elderly people. It stands to reason that people can cook at home. Why do the old people rush to the canteen for the elderly?
Aunt Wang is 78 years old and moved to Beijing from her hometown in Anhui a few years ago. After two operations, she couldn’t eat the food in the restaurant. Because the oil and sugar were too heavy, she didn’t want to eat for two days as long as she ate one meal. When she was older, her eyes became worse. Once when she was cooking at home, she accidentally got blisters on her arms by steam, and she was afraid to tell her family. Later, her children hired a nanny for her, and the food she cooked was not delicious. Every day, her family and nanny took pains to eat.
After moving into the old-age community, Aunt Wang became a frequent visitor to the canteen. Eating delicious and nutritious, her digestive system is better, and she has vitality again. "I haven’t returned to my children’s house for dinner for five months, and I eat very well here!" Aunt Wang said with a smile that the big fish and meat cooked at home and in restaurants are not as good as nutritious and affordable pension meals.
One lives in Chaoyang and the other in Haidian. Aunt He and her own sister met once or twice a year ago. After their feet moved into the old-age community, the two sisters came to the canteen together for dinner every day. "The old-age meal is not oily and can be eaten. My fatty liver symptoms have disappeared this year." Sister said.
"The business of pension meal is difficult to do social catering." The pension meals provided by the canteen are well received by most elderly people. However, Faye Wong, the dean, said that the meager profit and the difficulty in accommodating different opinions have always been the norm in the industry, and few enterprises can make sustained profits. At present, the catering sector of Shuangqiao Gonghe Home Pension Community is also losing money.
How can I stop loss as much as possible and still make a profit? The community for the aged is trying to provide diversified feeding modes — — A variety of ordering methods such as fixed-price set meal, one dish at one price, and table meal are parallel. The table meals that Aunt He often eats have already been tested, and the old people love to eat them. This part of the business can still make some profits.
Faye Wong calculated that half of the elderly are frequent customers in the dining hall. After adding a more flexible single-point method, the unit price will be cheaper than the set meal, but more elderly people will choose to go to the dining hall to buy pension meals, which will drive the increase of dining passenger flow. The old-age community will continue to increase the categories of old-age meals such as theme catering, birthday banquets and birthday banquets, and continue to improve the taste.
■ The dining table for the elderly in No.24 courtyard of Haidian South Road
Open to the society and expand new customers.
Old people living in No.24 courtyard of Haidian South Road all know that there is an elderly dining table at Xiyou Property Station of Shouhua Property Company, the premises of Shoukai Group.
At 11 noon, the pension table ushered in the most lively time of the day. In this restaurant of less than 20 square meters, the old people have lined up at the food-taking window, 20 seats are full, and more people are carrying lunch boxes to pack meals. The dish box in the glass window is full of hot dishes that have just been served from the kitchen: tender chicken with potatoes, braised tilapia, cabbage balls, and cabbage with soy sauce … …
"Come to Zhajiang Noodles, and have a leg with sauce!" Grandpa Zhang was a bit greedy. He ordered two dishes to eat here, and spent 23 yuan. When he left, he packed five rolls and steamed bread, each for 1 yuan. "To tell you the truth, I have gained 10 pounds in the past year and my physical examination indicators have improved." He is the most loyal customer of the elderly dining table, and comes to eat once or twice every day.
When the dining table for the elderly just opened in July 2015, this was not the case. The elderly were not satisfied with the weight and taste of the food. Some old people have put forward their opinions, hoping that the taste will be lighter and they can cook cheaper small dishes. After a discussion, the chef immediately improved, adjusted the taste, reduced the amount of dishes per serving, added new dishes, and welcomed more elderly people to the dining table.
When it was first opened, the dining table for the elderly was only open to the elderly in the hospital. After a while, the staff found that the operating cost could not be supported by the dining income of these 50 or 60 elderly households. If no changes were made, the survival of the dining table for the elderly would become a problem.
"The best way is to let more people eat." Zhang Yuemei, head of Xiyou Property Station of Shouhua Property Company, the premises of Shoukai Group, said. In October 2017, the dining table for the elderly began to be opened to community residents and surrounding office workers, which became more popular. In March 2018, breakfast was added, and the operation finally improved. Now it can stably reach a state of flat income and cost.
In order to ensure the dining for the elderly first, the dining table for the elderly adopts the method of eating by time. The elderly in our hospital eat from 10: 40 to 11: 30, and then receive the foreign diners. It is worth mentioning that in order to consider the needs of non-elderly customers, after the elderly have finished eating, the chef will make adjustments to the dishes, increase the number and size of meat dishes, and change the light taste to be slightly heavier. Facts have proved that this new move is effective — — The meals made on the spot can be sold clean every day.
■ Community canteen in Beiguan East Road, Gongchen Street
Reduce profits, high quality and low price
Every meal, the residents’ canteen in Beiguan East Road Community, Gongchen Street, Fangshan, smells fragrant. Old people have gathered here to cook. Staple food, stir-fried dishes and rice porridge are all light tastes that the old people like, and they are clean, hygienic and affordable. The residents’ canteen is funded by the District Civil Affairs Bureau and the Office for the Aged. All the equipment is purchased by the government and managed by the community. Because it is a non-profit residents’ canteen, "good quality and low price" has become the signboard of the canteen and has always maintained a low profit state.
"The pension meal should minimize profits, and the elderly will pay the bill." Shi Shuying, director of the Community Neighborhood Committee of Beiguan East Road in Gongchen Street, said that in this residents’ canteen, 20% discount is given to the elderly over 65, 50% discount is given to the elderly over 80, and the elderly over 90 are free to eat. Steamed bread and rolls are only sold for 50 cents, and only 25 cents after discount.
In Dongcheng District, the old people in Laicheng Hejing Community Pension Station eat the artificial intelligence "taste" and the same inexpensive pension meal. In September last year, Chenghe Jinghe Fanmeimei jointly created the catering brand "Chenghe Meimei", and its first central kitchen catering center for the elderly opened in Qianguaibang Hutong. This intelligent feeding mode makes full use of the advantages of both sides — — Cheng hejing’s years of research and development achievements in elderly meals and the beautiful artificial intelligence assembly line. After the meal is produced, the old-age meal will be delivered to the old-age station or rice-beauty intelligent vending machine by cold chain distribution, and the elderly can buy and eat it themselves.
Hot meals will affect the color, flavor and food quality because of the time. The cold chain meals featured in the central kitchen are fully automatic and sealed with liquid nitrogen, so the color and taste of vegetables can be guaranteed. The elderly can eat them on vending machines or at post stations or take them home. Intelligent robots use automated production lines to complete the production. A series of processes can save some ingredients, distribution and labor costs, and can also effectively control the food safety risks in the processing process.
Industry point of view
The cake for the aged meal can be "bigger and bigger"
The above cases may provide some reference models for the industry, but how to reverse the current situation of "difficult business" for pension meals? How can the elderly enjoy better meal service for the aged?
Li Xiang, dean of Beijing Project of China Shipping Jinnian, said that in a nursing home where he once worked, nearly 10% of the retired elderly people were due to food problems. Pension institutions must increase investment in catering services, try to meet the tastes of the elderly, and then consider cost management on the premise of food safety and quality. Different from young people’s catering projects, if the old-age catering business wants to "survive", the pricing cannot be high, and the price tolerance of the elderly needs to be considered.
Old people have higher requirements for food, not only fine, soft and nutritious, but also some old people need special meals. "It’s all the same salary, and most chefs don’t want to cook pension meals." He revealed that the threshold of the pension meal industry is high. If the organization does not set up a nutritionist position, then the chef must understand nutrition, and he must also cook all kinds of minced food and broken food. At the same time, the catering service personnel must learn first aid skills such as Heimlich and bear greater work risks. In the market, there are very few specialized trainings in the pension meal industry, and there are not many talents who meet the requirements, and the treatment has not been brought up. It is naturally not easy to make a good pension meal.
Many people in the industry who are engaged in the old-age care industry admit that for some old-age care institutions, post stations and old-age dining table projects, it is difficult for enterprises to insist on providing old-age meal services without government subsidies, and the high threshold has forced some enterprises back.
Therefore, most operators of pension meals are adopting mixed operation mode, and making up for the profit space of pension meals with the profit space of domestic service and rehabilitation nursing.
Yan Shuai, dean of Puleyuan Nursing Home, suggested that the take-away service of pension meals is promising, and pension enterprises can cooperate with third-party food delivery platforms to solve the problem of delivery of pension meals and expand sales channels. He called on many Internet companies to join the old-age service industry and develop platforms suitable for the elderly, such as ordering old-age meals through smart speaker voice.
"The pension meal industry needs more social capital injection, and all parties can brainstorm, so that the market can grow bigger and bigger, and the government and the elderly can save money." He said. (Reporter Pan Fudawen and photo)
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