Where do foodservice operators go for inspiration?

During the recent Association for Healthcare Foodservice Annual Conference in Minneapolis, a session attendee chimed in from the crowd to share the main place she looks for foodservice inspiration—and it wasn’t a fellow senior living community.

The audience member, who was attending a talk on shifts in senior dining, said she turns to college foodservice to get a handle on what’s trending. As a result, the cycle menu at her Philadelphia-area community—which is largely made up of independent living and has a population that’s about 50% baby boomers—features 16 different ethnic cuisines, including Korean.

Reach into retail

In a session on making retail concepts relevant, presenter Cheri Boublis showed attendees just how easy it is to nab a number of ideas applicable to healthcare foodservice while taking part in everyday activities.

Featuring photos she took en route to the AHF conference, Boublis, former director of hospitality at Palos Health in Palos Heights, Ill., highlighted ideas such as a hot bar and a quick-service panini station, picked up at places as accessible as the grocery store and the airport.

Staffing sparks

When it comes to human resources, the foodservice program at the University of Massachusetts Amherst takes a page from a familiar face in the restaurant industry: former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz.

Related:What baby boomers want from foodservice

During a presentation on the conference’s closing day, UMass’ Executive Director of Auxiliary Enterprises Ken Toong and Director of Residential Dining Garett DiStefano referenced Schultz’s notion that people want to be a part of something bigger, a concept they bring to those working in their operation, which the Princeton Review recently named the No. 1 college dining program for the third year in a row.

Ask your staff where they want to be, DiStefano noted.

Photograph: Shutterstock