It’s been five years since we celebrated our Telstra Business Finalist announcement. We dressed up and attended the awards night after being in operation for just four years.
Being a 2017 Telstra Business Vic Finalist, Textured Concept Foods was noted for its innovation, entrepreneurial spirit and community-mindedness in the Small Business Award.
And five years on since the awards announcement and after a decade in business, we continue to lead in transforming the management of texture modified meals in the healthcare sector.
Our vision then was to see unsightly, unappetising texture modified meals relegated to healthcare catering history.
Typically we saw people in healthcare settings with swallowing difficulties having to endure bowls of unrecognisable mush at every meal which impacted their interest in eating and the quantity of food they consumed often resulting in malnutrition and negative health and wellbeing.
Our business has grown. We’re no longer considered a small business. Our team, then and now, continues to produce innovative food solutions that help improve the dining experience and overall health and wellbeing of people living with dysphagia (swallowing difficulty) who are on texture modified diets.
Producing a variety of IDDSI compliant Pureed Level 4 and Minced & Moist Level 5 food products and meals that are reshaped to resemble the actual foods that they are ensures every meal is recognisable and creates dignified dining experiences.
One of the key features of our product range is that we produce conveniently frozen moulded food items. We reshape our cooked food into moulds that resemble the actual food product so each item on a plate is visually appealing and easily recognisable.
Our distribution partners support the delivery of our texture modified food products and meals across Australia in aged care and hospitals. We’re proud to work alongside PFD Foodservice, Bidfood, EWH Food Services, Max Stocks Food Service and Cadell Food Service and build long-term relationships.
As part of our new brand and digital launch in 2021, our website offers an eCommerce store of our entire range of texture modified food products and meals. Visitors can now order and pay from our shop or via our distributor network if outside the Melbourne metro area.
DIY (do-it-yourself) or in-house production of texture modified products and meals in healthcare settings continues to cause havoc in aged care and hospital kitchens. Plagued by incorrect texture consistency, recipe dilution, malnutrition due to insufficient nutritional content and diners’ inability to identify what food is on their plate.
Today, healthcare kitchens are required to meet certain food and IDDSI standards. The investment required in specialised production equipment including small and large machinery plus the need to hire or train skilled chefs and kitchen staff adds significant pressure on already busy healthcare kitchens. This is our production process that ensures we deliver quality products that are safe and consistent for people living with dyphagia.
As a business, we continue to pivot in a changing and challenging healthcare environment that’s being shaped by the 2018 Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety and impacted by 2020 COVID-19 and ongoing workforce shortages.
But what remains the same as it was in 2017 is our commitment to innovation, entrepreneurial spirit and community-mindedness. Our texture modified food products are part of the healthcare solution.
As part of our decade-long promise to make a difference for people living with dysphagia, we will continue producing attractive, nutritious meals for those who deserve it.
Transform people’s lives by transforming the food they eat. We’re up for the challenge, are you?
Click on our Company Brochure for more information and get in contact with our team on (03) 9357 6007 or info@TexturedConceptFoods.com.au and let us support you at meal times.