Healthcare is stressful work, so simplifying life for your employees at home can improve job performance. Gordon Choice frozen entrées are an easy way your foodservice kitchen can help put meals on their family’s table.
By following a simple, four-step process, you can provide individual or family meals to make available to your employees. You do it by dividing and repackaging the entrées you’re already purchasing and serving to your healthcare patients, residents and guests. Examples include:
- Breakfast entrées — chorizo breakfast bake, egg, bacon and cheddar scramble, etc.
- Appetizers — spinach and artichoke dip, Swedish meatballs
- Sides — creamy risotto, potatoes au gratin, etc.
- Traditional entrées — homestyle chicken & dumplings, stuffed green pepper cups, etc.
- Macaroni and cheese — artisan white cheddar cavatappi noodle, homestyle, etc.
- Italian entrées — chicken Parmesan, plant based lasagna, etc.
Benefit your team and others
Your healthcare foodservice program can offer the entrées as a convenience purchase. In addition to sales, meals can be a giveaway to reward team members.
“You could give away meals for Nurse Appreciation Week, or you could pick a holiday and give your team meals as a reward for hard work,” says Gordon Food Service Nutrition Resource Center Manager Amy Gautraud.
If operators choose, meals could raise money for charity or to benefit a program in your building. Simply dedicate a portion of profits to a cause to increase interest.
“That would be a great feel-good purchase, and anything you do to make your employees’ lives easier also helps with morale,” Gautraud says. “When employees take the meals home it’s a benefit to the entire family, so you’re creating a ripple effect.”
Each label can be printed when the meals are assembled, showing the ingredients, plus cooking and/or reheating instructions.
Minimal kitchen commitment
The prepared meals save time and labor in your healthcare kitchen because there’s no need to buy ingredients and prep each meal. Simply defrost, separate and package with at-home cooking instructions, or cook the meals before packaging for heat-and-serve convenience at home.
The biggest consideration for operators is determining the type of packaging or containers needed to send meals home.
“Most of the work is already done, the repackaging and storage is all operators need to manage,” Gautraud says.
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