Tibor Paller is the chef manager at Tabulam and Templer Home for the Aged (TTHA) in the beautiful Dandenong Ranges of Victoria. He was born in Hungary and is now a citizen of Australia. Tibor is totally Hungarian and totally Aussie – a fabulous mix of passion, innovation, detail and fun. He’s also the noagroup’s consultant chef.
If you spend any amount of time with Tibor, you’ll soon find yourself in a conversation about the importance of food, the importance of food to older people and his unwavering belief that age should NOT be a trigger for food becoming bland, tasteless, unattractive, made and delivered by others at times that suit an operational routine not a life being lived.
To make his points (and keep making them) the Facebook page Tibor’s Kitchen, 365 days of food in our life was created. It’s a blog where stories, thoughts, ideas and recipes on food and the role it plays in the lives of the group living at TTHA are shared. The noagroup’s interest is in monitoring the engagement, feedback and comments and what the principles of Consumer Directed Care might look like in relation to food in an aged care setting.
The blog has been running for just over two months, has 170+ ‘likers’ and reaches over 2000 people. Remember, this is a Facebook page on food in aged care! Given this situation, the noagroup like any professionals interested in making a difference and wanting to see genuine and long lasting change in our sector, is absolutely intrigued over why the conversations in Tibor’s Kitchen have gained such traction. What can we learn?
Apart from Tibor’s engaging style, here’s some other feedback we have on why people like the conversations and what they are interested in:
Food generally
Tasty, nutritious food that offers people choice, including European cultural choice, specifically at TTHA
The different things with food that are happening at TTHA
Making your own breakfast (just like you always used to)
Buffet experiences offering choice
Pureed food molded to their original shape to make the meal more appealing
Bread making machines that fill the place with that irresistible smell of fresh bread baking
‘Masterchef’ classes and seminars
Fresh seasonal food
A menu featuring European cultural delights
The evident shift in control from ‘doing for – to doing with.’
Our conclusion: People want to engage in the conversations going on in Tibor’s Kitchen because they matter. Many of us spend a lot of our lives enjoying food not only because it sustains us but because it provides the opportunity to connect, socialise and create memorable moments.
Food is about life. People want to be reassured that if they can no longer create and make their own food they want to be somewhere where they have control over what they eat, when they eat it and who they share it with…they want food to continue to play a role in their lives. The conversations in Tibor’s Kitchen reassure them that it is possible.
And for providers….food is ‘willing and able’ to be part of your competitive advantage! Ignore its importance to your consumers at your own risk!
If you haven’t ‘liked’ Tibor’s Kitchen or joined the conversations please do, they’re great.
Awesome!
At the beginning of the year we helped TTHA management and staff develop their strategic plan. Their future directions and accompanying strategic outcomes not surprisingly concentrated on financial sustainability, viable growth, workforce planning, building their reputation and consumer engagement. However, there was also one other direction ‘To celebrate our culture through food and events with the key outcome around food being ‘consumer engagement and control over their food’.