Understanding what food/meals to put on a menu can be supported by undertaking a Residents’ Meal Preference Survey (MPS). This is an easy way to gather data
and demonstrate a partnership
with residents in developing a menu. Food preferences can highlight areas of the menu that need to be removed. It can also highlight popular items to justify why some meal items remain on the menu all year. Popular roast meals, chicken noodle soup, and fish on Friday are examples of the data the MPS will provide.
If used periodically, this tool can help build a menu profile of your residents’ preferences and track changes over time. It can also collect information on the menu pattern and when meal options should be served, such as soups served at the evening meal and two desserts, one for lunch and one for the evening meal. All this information is vital to ensure residents are happy with the meal service.
This paper provides information showing how this tool can be used and the type of data collected. It is easy to implement, individualised to homes (organisations), and the analysis can be calculated using Excel. The information presented in this paper provides examples of the popularity of food items, what desserts and soups are wanted, and when meals are served. It can also be used across several homes (organisations) to highlight the differences between population groups, especially when developing a central menu.
Standard changes in aged care, which specify that food/meal preferences are gathered as part of compliance, can be an example of its use. This can be carried out individually, or the MPS can be used to gather information across a group of people. The Residents’ Meal Preference Survey provides an easy way to do this and is one of those tools that can be used across food service sectors.
To read the paper and download the MPS tool, visit the NACi library