Emergency Stock: Use It or Lose It

From VANEEpedia

Canned entrees have long been a key part of emergency feeding programs. They have the advantages of convenient dry storage and easy food prep. With a can opener and a couple of Sternos, you have a hot and safe meal - even when the power is out and the stove has no gas. This has made canned entrees the darlings of disaster relief for decades.

One problem with emergency stock is that the stock must always be within code. Many healthcare operations keep an emergency stock on a separate shelf, and, if an emergency doesn’t occur, they must destroy or donate the product when it goes out of code (the expiration date passes). When this happens, their emergency preparation is just an expense - just a cost of doing business that does not create value.

Vanee has addressed this problem by taking canned entrees and adding a new element of customer planning and training to improve how they are used. Operators should look at their emergency stock items and find ways to incorporate them into their day-to-day menus. By utilizing their emergency stock every day, these operators see several benefits.

A chain of long-term senior care facilities is one example. This chain has a standard emergency menu which features 4 Vanee items. These four items were on the emergency stock shelf at every unit. Most of the units, however, had never actually opened any of the cans. For most of these units, emergency stock was only for emergencies.

At a unit manager meeting, Vanee had the opportunity to present 10 recipes that utilized the four emergency stock items. During this very hands-on presentation, unit managers assembled pot pies, chicken salad sandwiches and a number of different soups. The group had a few laughs at the expense of the volunteers, and discovered several benefits along the way.

Firstly, by incorporating the emergency stock into their day-to-day menu, the units use up the inventory before it expires. If the unit needs 10 cases on the shelf at all times, they simply order new replacement cases as they use up the emergency stock. Different units developed different ways to make sure the oldest cases are used first, but all realize benefits by rotating the emergency stock.

Secondly, this chain has reduced its food cost by using Vanee items. For example, many units were purchasing a premium refrigerated chicken salad. After assembling a chicken salad using Vanee Deluxe Boned Chicken, they realized that they could make their own chicken salad that was better quality and at a lower portion cost. Because the culinary managers had never seen the product, they did not know it was a viable option.

Finally, the chain was able to improve its back of the house operations with Vanee products. The recipes the chain used were simple to assemble, regardless of the skill level of the back of the house staff. These speed-scratch recipes allow the unit to offer consistent, high-quality meals quickly. This frees up resources to work in other, more complicated areas of their operations.

Vanee Regional Sales Managers and Broker Sales Agents are available to help healthcare and residential feeding operators develop their emergency feeding programs. Contact Vanee to schedule an appointment with one of our consultants.