Healthcare showcase variety, customization in coffee programs

Sponsored by Smucker Away from Home

Traditional black coffee is the foundation of a coffee program that increases resident and patient satisfaction in long-term care (LTC) facilities and acute care hospitals. However, it is also important to offer variety and customization options for the many people in those settings who are fond of lightening, sweetening and flavoring their coffee.

Granted, the typical LTC resident or acute care patient may not demand as many different specialty coffee beverages or as many additions to the cup as the patron of a trendy espresso bar. But people in those healthcare facilities, as well as the family and friends who visit them and the staff who care for them, may be opinionated, even passionate, about coffee. And they know quality when they taste it. It pays to understand their expectations and offer them accordingly.

In fact, in a recent survey of LTC facilities by Food Management, the vast majority (86 percent) of those polled said that enhancing resident satisfaction is highly important.¹ Offering residents and patients the run-of-the-mill, generic java they gave up years ago would be an unwise move. It is far better to offer a coffee brand with a long track record of pleasing customers.

Why Satisfaction Pays

What factors are making LTC resident satisfaction so important today? LTC dining directors cited the following:²

Cater to Customizers

Although many coffee drinkers are purists who add nothing to their java, a sizable number tweak it with a lightener, sweetener or flavoring. About one-third (35 percent) of individuals age 65-plus prefer black coffee, making them the largest age group with that preference.³ But even so, most of them are customizing their brew.

For these residents, patients, visitors and staff, coffee enjoyment is all about adding their own personal spin. It is an important way of experiencing freedom of choice. Many also like exploring a variety of flavors in seasonal coffee specials and limited-time offerings.

In addition to offering them the coffee that they have enjoyed for years, it’s wise to occasionally add a novel coffee beverage or flavoring option.

Indeed, LTC residents and acute care patients may be eager to try something new and different from time to time. In fact, two out of three (63 percent) respondents in the LTC coffee survey indicate that variety in the LTC coffee program, in the form of different coffee roasts, flavors and specialty coffee beverages, is important to residents.⁴ That suggests an opportunity to inject variety and novelty into daily coffee service.

When LTC foodservice experts were asked to choose the single-most important coffee item on their menus, the majority cited single-serve drip coffee on demand (52 percent), followed by hot cappuccino and lattes (23 percent) and iced coffee (8 percent).⁵

Shine with the Seasons

Use the calendar as your ally in promoting coffee variety and customization. Just look at the popularity of seasonal specialties and on-demand brewing equipment, which makes it easy to produce a variety of consistent coffee quickly. The aging boomers entering LTC and people of other generations who work in, or visit family in, healthcare facilities, may enjoy customizing their java with seasonal flourishes. Gingerbread- and peppermint-flavored syrups add seasonal appeal to coffee in the winter, pumpkin spice and maple in the fall, lavender in the spring and tropical fruit and coconut flavors in the summer. However, some people love having their favorite seasonal flavors year round. So it may be wise to let them linger on the menu.

Milk the Alternatives

In recent years, traditional dairy creamers have been joined by alternative coffee lighteners such as almond milk, soy milk and oat milk. Sugar is a traditional sweetener, but it too has rivals in the form of honey, agave and the plant-based, noncaloric sweeteners stevia and monk fruit. Noncaloric sweeteners fit the dietary constraints of some residents and patients. In fact, 53 percent of boomers in a recent study said they are “very concerned about calories in my beverages.”⁶

Make Coffee Fun

Resident and patient satisfaction rises in step with the sociability and fun that a coffee program inspires. Offering residents and patients a variety of choices and the ability to customize enhances enjoyment. That’s why it pays for LTC and acute care facilities to encourage the trial of new flavors and new dimensions of the coffee experience.

For more information about ways to enhance your coffee program with variety and customization, contact Smucker Away From Home at www.smuckerawayfromhome.com or (877) 693-6543.

Sources: