Earlier this year, after more than a decade in the hospitality industry, award-winning Perth chef Daniel Sterpini made what could be considered an unusual career choice.
EARLIER this year, after more than a decade in the hospitality industry, award-winning Perth chef Daniel Sterpini made what could be considered an unusual career choice.
Instead of continuing to serve up culinary delights for fine diners at establishments such as The Chifley on the Terrace, he decided to cook for the aged residents at the Embleton Care Facility after an initial approach to research the catering needs of its residents.
“Aged care was something I never thought of,” Mr Sterpini told WA Business News.
“After eight months of research, working in a few hospitals and talking to people, I realised how far behind aged care was when it came to cuisine and the dining experience. So I decided targeting the sector was a good business decision.”
Mr Sterpini established White Kitchen Enterprises and his team of seven got to work.
It was quickly established that everything, from the meals to the taste, variety, texture and flavour, nutrition, and presentation needed updating.
“I used my own experience and research findings and created a menu of 185 new recipes for a four-week period of meals,” he said. “There were 50 before.”
But bringing the culinary plan to fruition wasn’t easy, especially with a tight operating budget.
Because the use of fresh ingredients, fruits and vegetables was so important to Mr Sterpini, he had to make savings in other areas. The only solution was to cut back on labour. But how?
“I developed a culinary software system which all the recipes were linked to,” he said.
“It also included the nutritional information of each meal, the cooking procedure and a picture.
“And depending on which meals were on the menu, it could calculate which ingredients to order and the quantities.”
Essentially, the software cut the time needed by staff to order ingredients, with the saving put into the food budget for fresh fruits and vegetables.
After only a few months of operation, Mr Sterpini is looking to expand White Kitchen Enter-prises, either as a contractor to other aged care facilities or as a con-sultant for his software package.
And if the praise coming from Embleton patients was not enough, Mr Sterpini recently won the food innovation category in the national Minister’s Awards for Excellence in Aged Care.
