In today’s volatile food supply market, care homes face an ongoing challenge: rising food and ingredient costs. Even modest or gradual increases across commonly used products can have a significant knock-on effect on menus, budgets, and resident satisfaction.

With pressure already mounting from staffing, compliance, and sustainability demands, the question is no longer if prices will rise, but how care homes can respond effectively. This is where EF-group, alongside its digital solutions Freshmarkets and CaterCloud, provides critical support.

The Ripple Effect of Rising Food Costs

Cost increases rarely affect just one line on an invoice. Their impact is often felt across the entire catering operation:

• Budget Pressure

Tight margins mean that incremental price rises can quickly translate into substantial additional annual spend, particularly for menus reliant on fresh produce, protein, or specialist dietary items.

• Menu Compromises

Chefs may feel pressured to change ingredients, simplify recipes, or remove popular dishes in order to stay within budget.

• Nutrition & Choice Risks

Reduced flexibility can threaten the balance, variety, and nutritional quality that are essential for resident wellbeing and regulatory compliance.

• Resident Experience

Residents notice when favourite meals disappear, menus become repetitive, or portion sizes change, all of which can affect satisfaction and engagement.

• Operational Strain

Frequent or last-minute menu changes increase complexity around ordering, stock control, forecasting, and waste management.

Smarter Ways to Stay Ahead of Rising Costs

EF-group helps care homes take back control through a combination of procurement expertise, hands-on support, and technology-led solutions.

1. Real-Time Price Visibility with Freshmarkets

Freshmarkets, EF-group’s procurement platform, gives care homes immediate visibility of pricing, spend, and consumption across all sites.

With Freshmarkets, teams can:

  • Track price movements as they occur
  • Compare suppliers and product alternatives instantly
  • Model the financial impact of price changes before decisions are made
  • Identify cost-effective substitutions without sacrificing quality or resident choice

This level of insight transforms reactive decision-making into proactive cost control.

2. Menu Cost Control & Compliance with CaterCloud

CaterCloud supports care homes at the menu level, helping chefs and managers balance cost, nutrition, and compliance.

Using CaterCloud, care homes can:

  • See accurate recipe and dish costs in real time
  • Adapt menus quickly while maintaining nutritional standards
  • Monitor allergen, dietary, and texture-modified compliance
  • Analyse dish popularity to protect resident favourites
  • Conduct “What If” analyses to explore the commercial impact of potential changes, by adjusting dish or recipe ingredients, costs, weight, and more

This ensures menu decisions are driven by data – not guesswork. We’ll be sharing a video showing this feature in action tomorrow!

3. Strategic Supplier Collaboration

EF-group works closely with care homes to strengthen supplier relationships, supporting:

  • Greater pricing stability through consolidated purchasing
  • Improved forecasting and communication
  • Increased consistency across single or multi-site operations

Using Freshmarkets’ centralised procurement tools, care groups can standardise buying practices and reduce unnecessary variation.

4. Smarter Menu Engineering

By combining Freshmarkets purchasing data with CaterCloud menu insights, care homes gain a complete, joined-up view of:

  • Cost versus popularity
  • Margin performance by dish
  • Opportunities to refine menus before costs escalate

This integrated approach enables kitchens to adapt confidently—without compromising the resident experience.

The Bottom Line: Control, Confidence, and Continuity of Care

Rising food costs may be unavoidable, but their impact doesn’t have to be disruptive. With EF-group’s expertise, alongside Freshmarkets and CaterCloud, care homes gain the tools to:

  • Protect budgets
  • Maintain quality and choice
  • Support chefs with accurate, real-time data
  • Safeguard resident satisfaction

By planning ahead and using the right systems, care homes can turn market volatility into an opportunity for smarter, more resilient catering operations.

Because when food is central to care, control and insight make all the difference!

To find out more about how we can support your care home or group, please contact Chris Kirton, Head of Business Development, on 07484 521996 or via email at chriskirton@ef-group.co.uk.