It is coming up to one of the best times of the year for our care sector… it’s time for afternoon tea! So, pop the kettle on, make yourself a brew and discover how we can help you plan your care home afternoon tea parties using our award-winning ecommerce platform, Bidfood Direct!
The Global Tea Party as part of Nutrition & Hydration week is on the 13th of March 2024. As well as the National Tea Day on 21st April 2024.
Our Chef Wayne says, “recognising these national days is not only a great excuse for a celebration, but a helpful reminder on how important nutrition is for our residents.” Our Chef Wayne is passionate about nutrition and has built an endless catalogue of recipes in Bidfood Direct ready for you to use.
Our award-winning ecommerce platform, Bidfood Direct, is the perfect tool to help you plan your afternoon tea ready for all your celebrations. Check out our 5 top tips to planning your afternoon tea below and if you need support logging into your Bidfood Direct account then check out the end of this blog post.
1. Browse our specially crafted afternoon tea recipes
Whether it’s a chocolate cherry scone or your residents are more inclined for a savoury cheesy bacon scone, our culinary chef team have created the perfect afternoon tea recipes to help you host the best afternoon tea for your residents – browse our afternoon tea recipes here!
Top tip from our Chef Wayne, “when making scones, serve them in half portions for small bite size portions.” Check out more of Chef Wayne’s top tips for making afternoon tea here.
If there is a specific recipe you like from our collection, please contact your account manager and they will be able to add the recipe directly into your Bidfood Direct account – it’s as easy as that!
Now you’re inspired with more cake and scone recipes than you could ever imagine… let’s get planning!
2. Create your recipes and plan your menu
Step 1: Log in to your Bidfood Direct account . If you’re yet to become a customer or you don’t yet have an online account with us, check out how you can set up your account at the end of this blog post.
Step 2: Navigate to our MyRecipes tool and start to create your recipes by adding your ingredients and quantities, remember to state the number of portions required and the ingredient quantities will automatically update for you so you know how much to order.
Step 3: Once you have created all your recipes, add them to your menu. Remember to name it ‘afternoon tea’ so you can use it future celebrations. You can either load ingredients to your basket per recipe or directly from your full menu by simply clicking ‘Load to basket’.
Need help? Check out our short 2 minute tutorial on how to use our MyRecipes & Menu Planning tool.
3. Cater for residents’ dietary requirements and manage your allergens
Do you have specific dietary requirements or allergens you need to cater for in your care home? Our MyRecipes tool automatically updates your nutritional data and allergen information, so you don’t need to worry about manually maintaining allergen profiles.
Once you’ve built your menu, you can easily check your allergens and manage the dietary requirements needed for your residents. Each recipe will display clear and easy to understand allergen icons, nutritional data and traffic lights.
Bidfood product information is live and automatically updated, so if you wish to alter any recipes in the future, the allergen information will be automatically updated. We are here to support you and remove the stress and manual labour – this is why our MyRecipes tool is award-winning!
4. Adapt number of servings and cater for all sized parties
Our MyRecipes tool allows you to easily edit the number of servings you require for each recipe. Having the flexibility to automatically adapt recipes means you can cater to all sized parties. Whenever the number of servings is updated, the MyRecipes tool will automatically calculate and update the quantities of ingredients, removing the risk of error, helping you to save costs and reduce ingredient waste.
So, you will always know how many bags of flour to order, after all, a cake without the flour, is just a very gross omelette… yuck!
5. Create an order form and host future afternoon tea occasions
But remember… your care home afternoon tea isn’t just for National Tea Day! Why not set up an order form, so you can easily order your afternoon tea menu for future occasions. You can incorporate your new menu into you weekly menu rotation and serve your residents an afternoon tea delight every Sunday!
Bidfood Direct allows you to create order forms for meal occasions, specific functions or event product categories, ultimately saving you time.
Check out this simple 3 minute video tutorial on how to set up an order form on Bidfood Direct:
We hope our 5 top tips help you with planning your care home afternoon tea. Don’t forget to tag us on social media (@BidfoodUK) showcasing your recipe creations and celebrations with your residents!
Visit our Bidfood Direct webpage to set up your account.
To learn more about all our support for your care home, visit our dedicated page: Care home food suppliers & menu ideas.
