Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Our innovative approach to texture modified meals can transform your commercial kitchen, offering substantial time and cost savings.

Time Savings

• Reduced prep work – our products significantly cut down on labour, as we’ve already done the cutting, washing, mixing, and cooking. This means less time spent preparing meals and monitoring cooking processes.
• Elimination of inconsistent recipes – we handle all recipe creation and food production, ensuring you receive consistent results without needing to adjust or manage complex recipes.
• Reduced HACCP risk – with us managing all cooking and blending processes, you don’t have to worry about HACCP compliance, reducing the need for safety checks and record-keeping.

With the various IDDSI textures, many commercial kitchens struggle to maintain consistency while providing multiple types of texture modified foods. Our service makes it easier and more efficient to meet these requirements.

Cost Savings

• Less food waste – our texture modified meals result in an average meal waste of only 15%, compared to 32.5% for traditional scoop-style meals. This reduction in waste leads to significant cost savings.
• Fewer supplements needed – because our meals are highly nutritious, you can reduce the need for additional supplements, further decreasing costs.

By streamlining your kitchen operations and minimising waste, our texture modified meal solutions can save you both time and money, allowing you to focus on delivering high-quality meals to your customers.

Absolutely! We use natural, wholesome ingredients in all our recipes. These wholesome ingredients uphold all the essential aspects of good food – flavour, aroma, and, most importantly, nutrition. This ensures that every meal we produce is delicious and nutritious.

We primarily use natural ingredients. In some products, we may incorporate gelatine, maize starch thickener, or even good old potato to help bind the water and maintain shape. Rest assured, we don’t use anything you wouldn’t find in an everyday kitchen.

A well-designed menu provides nutrition, choice, variety, and vibrant colours. When crafting a menu for texture modified diets, it can be challenging to maintain variety and appeal. Often, the colours are limited to brown, white, orange, and green, and there’s a tendency to offer only one option.

At TCF, we address these challenges by offering a wide range of texture modified products that bring variety and choice to your menu. Here’s how we can help:

Customisable protein products:

• Our protein products are designed to be versatile. You can flavour them to match your main menu, either by using your own sauces or choosing from our specialty-made options.

Extensive vegetable and vegetarian options:

• Our product range includes a wide selection of vegetables and vegetarian dishes, allowing you to create a balanced and appealing menu.

A variety of desserts:

• Don’t forget about desserts! Our range goes beyond the standard custard, yoghurt, fruit puree, mousse, and panna cotta. You can enhance desserts with cream, custard, coulis, or yoghurt for a more attractive presentation.

It’s easy to supplement and customise with our products. We can also provide additional services to help you design a menu that meets your needs. For personalised advice, contact our dietitian Dr Lisa Sossen at Lisa@texturedconceptfoods.com.au

Click here to see our full product range

Whether you’re planning a simple menu or a more elaborate offering, we’re here to support you. Let us know how we can help make your texture modified menu both varied and appealing.

Snap-freezing our moulded products helps preserve their shape and improves the texture (eg. smaller water droplet crystals). We also need to freeze our products so we can de-mould the soft textures.

No! Our snap-frozen foods are as nutritious as fresh because we use fresh, wholesome ingredients in all our recipes. Snap-freezing locks in nutrients, ensuring you get the same quality and nutritional value as you would from fresh foods.

Additionally, snap-freezing texture modified foods enables greater convenience and helps reduce food wastage overall by allowing you to store and use only what you need when you need it.

Our snap-frozen foods are akin to what you’d do at home – preparing extra meals and freezing them for convenience. We pride ourselves on differentiating our products from typical “convenience foods,” which are often perceived as unhealthy. Instead, our offerings are convenient, homemade meals that save you time without compromising on quality or nutrition.

Even though we operate on a commercial scale, we mirror the methods used in home kitchens – just amplified! Our approach isn’t different, just enhanced.

We employ the same cooking techniques you would at home: steaming, roasting, braising, sous vide, slow cooking, and mixing ingredients as you would in any recipe. We crack eggs, use beaters and whisks, and utilise machinery commonly found in aged care or hospital kitchens. Our commitment is to bring homemade quality to a commercial setting, ensuring delicious and nutritious meals for all.

Adding a sauce or gravy to our Pureed meats and Minced and Moist products enhances moisture and flavour, as the proteins themselves are a single ingredient. By incorporating a sauce or gravy, you lock in nutrition, reducing dilution, and providing a cohesive texture.

Additionally, sauces can complement and elevate the flavour of the protein better than infusing the flavour directly into the product. The variety of sauces available can transform menu items, offering thousands of flavour combinations and keeping meal options exciting and varied.

You can view, order, and purchase all our products via your distributor or online through our website. Just visit our Shop to see our full range. If you need help finding a distributor near you, don’t hesitate to call us at (03) 9357 6007.

Depending on whether you’re a commercial kitchen or home user, our recommendations are as follows:

For commercial kitchens:

• The quantity of items per carton is listed on our product page for your convenience.
• We recommend ordering enough for two main meals per day, which consist of one protein and two vegetable dishes, along with one morning/afternoon snack.

For home users:

• You can find the details for each product, including the number of items in each packet, on our Shop page.
• We suggest ordering enough for two main meals per day, which typically include one protein and two vegetable dishes, along with one morning/afternoon snack.

These suggestions are designed to help you plan your orders effectively, whether you’re running a commercial kitchen or catering to your family. If you have further questions about ordering, feel free to contact us at (03) 9357 6007.

We offer both individual portion-controlled packaged products and Pre-Plated Meals (PPM). All our individual meat, vegetarian, vegetable, dessert/snack, and fruit portions come in user-friendly, resealable packaging. This design ensures product integrity, easy handling, and reduced food wastage.

Our products and meals are snap-frozen, providing a shelf life of up to 12 months. This long shelf life allows you to stock up and always have texture modified food ready when needed.

For best results, we recommend storing all our texture modified products and meals in your freezer. This ensures they remain fresh and maintain their quality until you’re ready to use them.

Getting your meal ready is as easy as 1-2-3: Defrost, Heat, and Serve. Here’s a quick guide based on where you’re preparing the meal and what equipment you have:

In commercial kitchens:
For larger-scale meal preparation, our products are designed for steam ovens. Follow our instructions for optimal results in a commercial kitchen setting.
If you need more detailed instructions or specific recommendations, check the information provided with your purchase or visit our website for comprehensive guidelines.

At home:
If you’re using Pre-Plated Meals (PPMs), defrost them and heat them in the microwave according to our instructions.
For our packaged products, you can also use a microwave. Refer to the instructions for the recommended heating time and power setting.

• Our products in commercial kitchens (steam oven)
• Our products at home (microwave)
• Our PPMs at home (microwave).

To locate the distributor nearest you, please call us at (03) 9357 6007. We’re here to help you connect with a distributor in your area.