​People tend to have strong feelings about food. Some people say they eat to live, while others live to eat. Almost everyone has favorite meals and snacks, tastes and smells that evoke powerful memories, and foods they can’t or won’t eat. Food also has a strong connection with socialization—meals with family and friends, holiday celebrations, and birthday parties. Meals and food play an important role in senior living, presenting both challenges and opportunities for providers. But a banquet of innovations and creative solutions make dining more efficient, cost-effective, and fun.

Great Expectations, Real Challenges

Conducted by research firm Age of Majority, the Great Expectations survey of nearly 1,500 adults between ages 55 and 96 found that 68 percent are confident that senior living communities could live up to their food-choice expectations. Sixty-eight percent of those surveyed said they want a variety of food and dining choices from senior living communities. 

Only about a fifth (21 percent) said they would more likely choose a senior living community that offered multiple dining venues, but a majority (65 percent) indicated they would prioritize flexibility—that is, the options to prepare their own meals, dine out, or order takeout. About a third of respondents said they consider themselves adventurous eaters, willing to try new foods and tastes, and only 16 percent reported that medical dietary considerations contributed significantly to their food choices.

“For older adults living in senior living, the biggest obstacle is monotony. Even with a thirty-day-cycle menu, the food can get boring. This is where resident councils can step up and help the kitchen in preparing different recipes, including recipes from the residents themselves, modified family favorites, ethnically diverse offerings, and off-menu specials based on location or seasonality,” said Barbara Kamp, MS, RDN, program director, Foodservice Professional Series, American College of Culinary Medicine.

Jen Bruning, MS, RDN, LDN, director of partner education at Incite Strategic Partners, offered, “One of the biggest challenges that’s starting to occur more and more is a wide range of resident preferences as the baby boomer generation starts to move into our communities. We’re seeing trends shifting toward a healthier mindset, while there is still a place for more traditional favorites, like pizza and burgers.” 

Although many older adults in senior living facilities, such as assisted living, are still active with few chronic illnesses, there are some important considerations in diet and nutrition. Desires for less fat, sugar, and salt are common, but residents still prioritize taste and flavor. This calls for a more creative use of herbs and spices. At the same time, issues such as swallowing problems call for easily ingested foods that are not only delicious but visually appealing. 

Top Dining Trends

Living longer better is a growing priority for older adults, and senior living residents increasingly want food to help keep them healthy and active. Kim Bargay, corporate dietitian for the Marquis Companies, said, “We’re seeing an increase in requests for vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free diets.” 

Greg Hunteman, AIA, president of Pi Architects, noted, “There’s more of a request for healthy dining options. We are seeing more healthy dining options, with innovations such as smoothie and juice bars.” 

Many trends reflect the interests, lifestyles, and experiences of the baby boomers. Bargay said, “They are more vocal than our older population. They have traveled more and are more willing to try more ethnic foods.” 
But there are some foods that are no longer popular and have disappeared from menus. She said they include items such as tuna casserole and liver. 

Bruning added, “As this new generation of younger residents starts to make their way into our communities, there’s more of a focus on those global flavors. This is a generation that traveled more extensively than previous generations. They became empty nesters at a time when the diversity of cuisines available at local restaurants was really increasing, so the foods that may have felt a little bit too unusual to previous generations are very familiar to folks coming in now, and their expectations will reflect that, whether it is a Mediterranean focus or more regional international cuisine.”

Yet, demands for dietary variety can be challenging. “Most of the time, we can accommodate these,” Bargay said. “But we recently had a vegetarian resident who was supposed to be on 2.3 grams of sodium per day, which is very restrictive. He didn’t want tofu, which is the main protein on our vegetarian diet. It took one-on-one dietitian time to go to the store and look up sodium content on food items. She is currently working on a project right now that looks at things that are available through her food distributor, as well as items that are available through the grocery store. The goal is to provide dietitians with a tool to help them meet the dietary needs and demands of residents.”

Other trends involve how food is served and delivered. For instance, some communities are using robots to take food into the dining room and dirty dishes back to the kitchen. Others are using online systems to enable residents to order their food in advance. These innovations are designed not only to increase efficiency, but they also provide support to the staff.

Other promising efforts include automated systems that log the temperatures of freezers and refrigerators, ensuring the appliances stay in the correct ranges. Although these technological advances can be very helpful, they can be expensive. However, there is hope that costs for such technology will come down over time, which could help to increase the use of such technology. 

Hunteman said, “Everyone wants to expand their grab-and-go offerings.” Residents, he noted, increasingly want the ability to pick up something quickly and eat with friends in a common area, eat outside, or take the food back to their home. Particularly when this involves foods that can be prepared in advance, it requires a different type of staff time and involvement. 

Many residents also want a little flair with their meals. Dining venues with televisions and/or live entertainment are increasingly popular. 

“Watch for ‘chef’s tables,’ where residents actually watch the chef preparing the food, to become more integrated,” Hunteman said. “We’re also seeing more extended happy hour food serve venues where people want more casual dining, lighter meal options, and more modest portions, such as tapas and small plates.”

After being eliminated during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Sunday buffet is back. This is often an opportunity for residents to bring in family members and friends and a way for the senior living community to showcase its offerings for potential residents and leaders in the community at-large. However, unlike before the pandemic, Sunday buffets are now often held in smaller, more-intimate dining spaces, which are increasingly preferable to large dining halls. 

“More senior living communities are repositioning their dining spaces, doing things like dividing large spaces into a bistro/bar on one side and fine dining on the other, for example,” Hunteman explained, adding that “different lighting and decor sets the tone for each space and provides residents with choices.” 
Another trend is a demand for smaller meeting rooms where groups can get together for sessions such as lunch-and-learn programs. 

Don’t forget the option of outdoor dining, suggested Hunteman. “We’re seeing more communities integrating outdoor spaces as part of dining.” 

But this involves more than putting tables, chairs, and umbrellas outside. Covered spaces and ways to keep diners cool in the summer and warm in the winter, as well as protected from insects and other pests, are key. Screened-in porches with a sunroom feel can enable residents to enjoy the outdoors safely and comfortably.

Community Connections

Senior living communities are part of the world around them, and in some areas there are many opportunities for them to connect and partner with area restaurants, schools, and other groups for innovative dining and food-supply efforts. “Food trucks can be part of amazing special events, and they can provide food options that aren’t available in the community,” Hunteman said. 

Bruning added, “Pop-ups are fun and interesting. You can have something like an old-fashioned soda fountain.” 
However, in the face of so many trends and food options, Bruning stressed the need to focus on nutrition. “I would like more seniors to understand the importance of things like maintaining muscle mass. Muscle naturally declines as we age, but we can help to prevent that with eating enough protein and getting enough of the right kinds of movement. I feel so passionately about this issue because this correlates to safety, such as fall prevention.” 

She stressed, “We have an opportunity to educate not only boomers but Generation Jones and Gen Xers about how they can think ahead and stay on top of proper nutrition.”

Likewise, she said, communities have an opportunity to look at their menus and start enhancing or tweaking them to better suit the healthier preferences of younger residents. 

Atmosphere Matters

Dining venues and menus should be created with an understanding that meals are also social events. They present an important opportunity for residents to socialize, engage, entertain family, and celebrate special occasions. Bargay said, “Communities should think about how they can make sure meals are a pleasant, positive experience for residents. One way might be to connect new residents with a lunch buddy or something to help them get acclimated and meet new people.” 

No one wants to be the “new kid in the cafeteria,” she said, sitting alone or with people who already know each other. 

“If their early experiences are uncomfortable, they’re more likely to eat in their rooms, become more isolated, and socialize less,” she said, acknowledging that regulations require that residents have the option to eat in their rooms, so they can’t be forced to eat with others; it cannot be mandatory to eat in the dining room.

Alison Patt, CEO of Thomas Cuisine, agreed, noting, “I have found that no one likes to be told what to do. Instead of pushing people, we try to pull them out with fun and exciting events and offerings in the dining room.” 

Patt also observed that appetite can be a less reliable indicator of true nutritional needs as people age. “We often hear from older residents that they just aren’t hungry. We believe we can encourage eating by offering a colorful and fresh variety of foods, as well as the opportunity to eat with family and friends,” she said. 

Containing Costs without Sacrificing Superiority

With the increasing prices of food and other menu items, many organizations aim to streamline costs. Fortunately, there are many ways to do this without sacrificing quality and resident satisfaction. 

For instance, Benjamin Butler, vice president at Aramark SeniorLIFE+, said, “I see people now thinking about consolidating their buying power and belonging to a group purchasing organization.” Not only does this arrangement help communities get better deals on food and other items, but group purchasing organizations [GPOs] can audit vendor contracts, look at delivery frequency, and track rebates and discounts. 

Nick Trankito, senior director of partnership development at Incite Strategic Partners, said, “Operators are facing challenges that they didn’t have ten or twenty years ago. We look at getting our members low pricing, but we also are concerned about containment.” 

While it is impossible to predict the future, Trankito and his team try to anticipate where costs might go up and plan accordingly. “Say we anticipate that pork is going to go up about 40 percent for whatever reason,” he explained. “We will take a look at your menu and help alter it a bit so the price increases have the minimum impact on your overall budget. At the same time, we want to make sure the quality remains high.” 

The GPO also gives providers a partner to help devise creative solutions for product shortages or price increases. “They’re not in it alone. They have somebody to work with and help them get through a challenging situation,” Trankito said. 

There are other ways to generate efficiencies without sacrificing quality or the nutritional needs of residents:

• When the prices of products rise, look at alternatives and options for changes or substitutions. Bargay said, “As a dietitian, I can change the menu. For instance, we didn’t take eggs off the menu when there was a shortage and the prices went up. However, we may have added a few more non-egg breakfasts with offerings like a yogurt parfait. Elsewhere, there are some 100 percent orange juice blend options that may be less expensive than 100 percent orange juice.” 
  
• However, Bargay stressed that menu or food changes are counterproductive if they have a negative impact on resident satisfaction. She suggested, “Once you make sure something has all the nutritional requirements, consider conducting some taste tests with the residents.” 
• Historically, large portions have added cost—and often waste—in senior living communities. Butler said, “Portion size is being reevaluated to match residents’ desires, which are often smaller than what has traditionally been served. If people want more, they can get it. However, 90 percent of the time, they don’t. This cuts down on food costs in a logical way and also enables the community to be a better steward of waste prevention and efficiency.” Correspondingly, portion control aligns with most nutritional guidance for healthy weight maintenance. 
• Menu engineering to utilize ingredients across meals can help providers realize discounts on higher quantities of foods while maintaining enough variety to satisfy residents. For instance, chicken can be used for chicken salad, tacos or burritos, and chicken fried rice. 
• More communities are producing fruits and vegetables on-site in communal gardens or even orchards, which aligns with the popularity of the farm-to-table concept. Butler explained that some communities have started to invest in community-supported agriculture, buying shares and receiving, usually weekly, a portion of a farm’s harvest. 
• The use of speed-scratch cooking, which combines prepared food products with those made from scratch, can save time, labor, and money. Speed-scratch products enable staff to prepare high-end meal items without the investment of time for tasks such as peeling potatoes, preparing sauces and dressings, or cracking and cooking eggs. For example, you can offer an a la carte bread service with choices of jams, butters, and other spreads. 
• To reduce waste, said Butler, more organizations are embracing the use of forecasting tools to avoid overproduction. They also are monitoring and tracking food waste.

Getting ahead of the Curve

High-quality food, nutrition, and dining in senior care means constantly assessing current offerings while looking ahead for trends and opportunities to improve variety and meet resident needs and interests, all while managing costs. It also calls for looking beyond your organization, state, or even colleagues and competitors for information, ideas, partnership, and solutions.