MAKE YOUR MARK: 

OFFER MORE CHOICES

MARCH 19, 2020
@NRCNA_engAging

POLL QUESTION #1

Did you participate in the Tuesday March 17 

Senior Nutrition Network COVID-19 Response 

Townhall?

• Yes

• No

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OPENING REMARKS

Keri Lipperini

Administration for Community Living

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INTRODUCTIONS

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SPEAKER INTRODUCTION

Chef Gerald Drummond

• Executive Chef – Campbells Food Service

• America’s Division | Campbell Soup Company

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Angie Bradford

• Director of Food Service

• Woods County Committee on Aging
Make Your Mark: Offer More 

Choices

March 19, 2020
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Campbells Foodservice Team

Gerald Drummond

Executive Chef

North American Foodservice
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Speed Scratch Definition:

Source: https://www.cookwithcampbells.ca/articles/speed-scratch-cooking/

-

FOODSERVICE 

- - Speed Scratch cooking means using 

convenience, or ready-made products and 

adding a few fresh ingredients to 

personalize it and round out the meal. 

NEXT LEVEL -
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Speed Scratch Solution for Foodservice 

Operators 

• More than now operators are looking for solutions to offset

labor and skill issues that are prevalent in the foodservice

industry.

Speed Scratch Recipes are one way to for operators to

maximize / combat these on-going headwinds.

When developing Speed Scratch recipes, operators should

partner with a trusted food company, when possible or

leverage resources from reputable sources.

•

•

#1
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Benefits of Speed Scratch Cooking

• Save time and labor costs

Adds value and quality

Helps assure consistency

Supports seasonal flexibility

Simplifies menu development and design

Lowers need for inventory and equipment

Easily implemented in BOH operations

Exceeds customer expectations

•

•

•

•

•

•

•
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What is a Speed Scratch Recipe?

Components:

• Ingredients

Directions

Speed scratch

ingredient

highlighted

•

•

Flavor Complexity

Swansons Broth (1 chef hat rating out of 4): 

High-quality proteins, farm-grown vegetables, and flavorful 

seasonings

Convenient packaging with resealable options

Organic and gluten-free options

Culinary Foundations (2 chef hat rating out of 4):

Meets need for low sodium

Flexibility to create and customize

Great starter for soups, sauces, entrees, and other dishes

Made with recognizable ingredients 

Cooking Soups (3 chef hat rating out of 4):

Versatile use; can be a soup or ingredient

Wide selection of sizes, formats, and flavors for operator 

convenience 

Offers varieties that meet specific nutritional criteria

Soup Bases (4 chef hat rating out of 4): 

Sophisticated flavor with limited effort

Allows for fresh-prepared, customized solutions

Complex, full-flavored and ethnic solutions

Made with recognizable ingredients
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Speed Scratch Solution for Foodservice 

Operators 

• Keep these 3 things top of mind when developing Speed

Scratch recipes.

– Minimal ingredients, preferably ingredients already in inventory

Minimal steps/procedures to the recipes

Minimal time to complete the recipes

–

–

Following these 3 things will benefit the operator when it comes to

menu development & labor / skill control.

#2
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Campbell’s Chef-Driven Culture 

Focused on Bringing Trends to Life

Certified Master Chef Leadership / Culinary Insights & Trends / Innovation, Recipe Development, Menu Ideation / Active Collaboration & Co-Development
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Meal Planning Issues

81%

79%

75%

75%

72%

51%

We are always looking for new recipes and menu

ideas to add variety to our menus

We are always looking for new food and beverage

products to add variety to our menus

We are always looking for new food and beverage

products that can lower our food costs

We are always looking for lower-cost versions of

the products we buy

We are always looking for menu ideas that will

enable us to raise our average check or transaction

amounts in our cash operations

We rarely change the food and beverage products

we purchase or use
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Top Operator Concerns

Base: 450 (All 

respondents)

Q: With regard to 

your foodservice 

department today, 

how concerning are 

each of the 

following factors:

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Senior Living Operators

Rank Concern

1 Satisfying residents

2 Managing food costs

3 Rising food costs

4 Motivating healthier eating

5 Rising labor costs

6 Retaining qualified labor

7 Shrinking budgets

8 Improving value

9 Keeping up with menu trends

10 Aligning the menu with resident interests

Fastest risers

#5

#9

#10
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Where possible, work with a food company that will partner with you 

on all aspects of planning and development, implementation and 

customized on-going support
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Healthcare, Aging Services and Senior 

Living Evolving Quickly

Long-Term Care Senior Living Aging Services

Role of 

Foodservice Primarily nutrition

Recruitment, 

engagement, 

satisfaction

Nutrition, engagement, 

satisfaction, socialization

Health

Focused on traditional 

dietary definitions 

(e.g., diabetic, low in 

sugar, etc. 

Traditional and new 

better-for-you 

definition (e.g., 

fresh, wholesome)

Adhering to national 

nutrition guidance, 

and local 

tastes/preferences

Menu Traditional, safe, dietdriven

More vibrant, 

experimental 

flavors, ‘restaurantlike’

Varied: traditional, 

regional/local 

character, evolving 

interests

Organizational 

Needs

Simple BOH solutions; 

little skilled labor

Easy but creative 

solutions

Simple but creative 

BOH solutions; 

limited labor

Understanding Healthcare Foodservice Technomic 2018
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Two Critical Issues in Healthcare and Aging 

Services

Understanding Healthcare Foodservice Technomic 2018

“ Given the shortage of skilled 

foodservice laborers, many 

operators are forced to redesign the 

menu with dishes that require less 

skill to create. ”

Balancing dish 

complexity with staff 

skill level

“When purchasing premade foods 

the most consistent 

complaint among operators was 

that many of these products 

contain well beyond what they 

consider to be a healthy level of 

sodium”

Sodium content in 

prepared foods
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Summary

• Speed Scratch Recipes can be very beneficial for operators to simplify

menu development, optimize available resources, and address evolving

client tastes.
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Chef Gerald Drummond

Executive Chef, Campbells Foodservice

Gerald_Drummond@campbells.com

https://www.campbells.com/

(856) 346-6163

Thank You
@NRCNA_engAging

POLL QUESTION #2

Do you use Speed Scratch cooking techniques at 

your organization?

• Yes

• No

If yes, please share with us specific ways this 

technique helps your organization offer a variety of 

meals for the seniors you serve.

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MAKE YOUR MARK-- ENHANCE CHOICES

Director of Food Service

Wood County Committee on Aging

Bowling Green, Ohio

ANGIE BRADFORD
@NRCNA_engAging

WOOD COUNTY COMMITTEE ON AGING, INC.

The mission of the Wood County Committee on Aging, Inc., shall 

be to provide older adults with services and programs which 

empower them to remain independent and improve the quality 

of their lives.

Services include:

Noon Meals- Home delivered & Congregate (M-F)

Evening Meals- at the Wood County Senior Center (T,W,Th)

Social Services/Nursing

Transportation-to congregate sites, grocery shopping, medical

Programs- fitness, technology, support groups, etc. 

Mission & Services

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@NRCNA_engAging

WCCOA - PRODUCTION KITCHEN

Meals are distributed out of the Production Kitchen 

to our eight congregate sites and to over 525 

homebound clients daily.

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NO RESERVATIONS REQUIRED!

• Sites call in a “guesstimate”

count based on:

• Menu

Programs at Site

Other area programs

•

•

Able to keep “waste” at 

about a 7% average

Lunch meals require NO reservations at our 

eight congregate sites

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@NRCNA_engAging

PROS:

Choice of red meat/ non red meat 

options – nonmeat option during Lent

Even out food cost with a lower cost 

entrée item

Easier on the kitchen staff when one is 

a harder prep item

Variety and choice!

Not everyone likes liver & fish

Can cater to older seniors and younger 

seniors by providing two options

CONS:

Difficulty in menu writing to 

ensure both entrée choices go with 

the other menu items

Guesstimating the amount of each 

entrée needed to order

If serving out restaurant style 

harder to serve

Serving TWO favorites . . Oh no! 

WCCOA - LUNCH MENU CHOICES

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@NRCNA_engAging

WCCOA - EVENING MEAL OPTION

• Evening meal is served at

5:30 pm only at the

Bowling Green location

Reservations are required

by 2 pm the day of

Prepared on site

More upscale than the

lunch menu

Catered more towards the

younger seniors

•

•

•

•

• No choice of entrée but

can ask for a chicken breast

when placing reservation

Served restaurant (sit

down) style

Many organizations come

in to help with serving of

the meals

Easier to attend for

working seniors

•

•

•

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@NRCNA_engAging

BGSU ROTC GROUP SERVING DINNER

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@NRCNA_engAging

WCCOA - MEASURING CLIENT SATISFACTION

• Menu Talk is conducted at all eight congregate sites

annually– during this program the Director of Food Service

explains the requirements set forth by the federal and

state departments (Older American’s Act, Ohio Dept. of

Agriculture, etc.) and asks for input regarding the menus

Surveys are distributed and completed by the participants

at Menu Talk. These surveys are tallied; which helps to

incorporate suggestions and ideas into upcoming menus

The ACL POMP survey (edited to fit my needs) is

distributed annually to the home delivered meal clients --

https://acl.gov/programs/pomp

•

•

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@NRCNA_engAging

CONTACT INFORMATION 

Angie Bradford

Director of Food Service

abradford@wccoa.net

http://wccoa.net/

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@NRCNA_engAging

POLL QUESTION #3

What barriers do you face to offering a choice menu 

to the seniors you serve?

• Staffing

Equipment

Training

Other

•

•

•

If you selected other, please let us know what 

specific barriers you face.

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@NRCNA_engAging

KEEP ON CELEBRATING: JOIN US NEXT WEEK

All of March, the Administration for Community Living has prepared 

a series of weekly webinars.

Webinar #4

Title: Make Your Mark on Food Insecurity

Date: Wednesday March 25

Time: 3:30pm – 4:30pm ET

Register: 

https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/8308572170612103181

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@NRCNA_engAging

CONNECT WITH YOUR PEERS VIA NRCNAengage

NRCNAengage is an online venue for senior nutrition program staff, nutrition 

and aging professionals across the country to connect, share best practices, 

resources, recipes and ideas for action!

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Signing up is easy! 

Visit www.nrcna.mn.co

and click ‘Invite’!
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THANK YOU