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By Paul Wright, Managing Director, Quenelles
In today’s volatile economic climate, every penny counts. Staffing shortages, regulatory requirements, and rising expectations from residents and families are all familiar challenges. But in 2025, the financial strain has intensified further. Increases to National Insurance contributions and changes to statutory sick pay have pushed up the cost of employment. Energy costs remain volatile. Inflation continues to affect almost every line on the balance sheet.
Against this backdrop, care home operators are being asked to deliver the highest standards of service while working within ever-tighter budgets. It’s an incredibly tough balancing act - and one where the definition of ‘value’ becomes critical.
Food: a major cost driver
For most homes, food is one of the largest controllable costs after staffing. And unlike energy bills or insurance premiums, catering spend is an area where decisions made at home level have a direct impact on both costs and resident outcomes.
The challenge is that food provision in care homes isn’t straightforward. Residents’ needs are complex and diverse. Homes must accommodate everything from medical diets and texture-modified meals to cultural preferences and personal tastes. Getting it right is fundamental to wellbeing, dignity and quality of life.
At the same time, suppliers are grappling with their own rising costs. Ingredient prices have been unpredictable in recent years, while labour shortages and logistics pressures have added to the strain. All of this filters through into the prices charged to care homes.
The question is: in such a complex environment, how can you be sure you’re genuinely getting value from your food procurement?
The limits of price-cutting
When budgets are squeezed, the instinct is often to chase lower prices. But as many homes have discovered, cheaper isn’t always better. A reduced unit price may mask smaller pack sizes, variable quality, or inconsistent deliveries. Staff time can be wasted managing unreliable supply chains or working around product substitutions. And if the quality of meals falls, resident satisfaction and health outcomes can suffer.
In other words, price alone doesn’t equate to value. Value has to be assessed holistically. That means taking into account not just the headline cost, but the hidden impacts on quality of care, staff workload and resident wellbeing as well as whether the spend is competitive, sustainable, and aligned to the needs of the home.
Benchmarking: a clearer picture
This is where benchmarking comes in. By comparing your purchasing against a comprehensive database of care sector pricing, operators can understand whether they are paying a fair rate - not just in headline terms, but across the full range of products and categories.
Benchmarking helps answer key questions:
· Are our food costs in line with sector norms?
· Are we paying more than similar homes for the same products?
· Do our suppliers offer the right balance of cost, quality, and service?
· Are we making the best use of available frameworks or negotiated agreements?
With that visibility, decision-makers can move beyond instinct or anecdote and make evidence-based choices about procurement.
Seeing the whole market
At Quenelles, we’ve built one of the most comprehensive benchmarking databases in the sector. It draws on live data across thousands of products and multiple suppliers, updated constantly to reflect the reality of the market. That means when we assess a care home’s spend, we can provide a true, current picture of competitiveness.
This isn’t about catching suppliers out or pushing them into unsustainable deals. The aim is to give operators confidence - to know they are buying well, and to identify opportunities where efficiencies can be made without compromising on the quality of care.
Sometimes the findings confirm that a home is already achieving strong value, which offers reassurance. In other cases, they highlight where adjustments can lead to significant savings or service improvements. Either way, the process brings clarity at a time when uncertainty is the norm.
Value beyond the balance sheet
Ultimately, the purpose of benchmarking isn’t just about saving money. It’s about protecting the ability of homes to deliver the very best for their residents. When food budgets are managed effectively, homes can reinvest in quality ingredients, more varied menus, and staff training. Residents benefit from nutritious, enjoyable meals tailored to their needs - and operators benefit from smoother operations and greater resilience against external cost pressures.
In a sector where every penny counts, the question ‘do you know you’re getting value?’ is more important than ever. Answering it requires more than simply scanning invoices. It requires context, evidence, and an understanding of the bigger picture. That’s what benchmarking delivers. And in the challenging landscape of 2025, it’s a tool no care provider can afford to overlook.
To find out more about how Quenelles can help you achieve better value email paul@quenelles.co.uk
