Groceries too expensive! Hospitals are now saving on food – Austria-News
The high food prices are also affecting local hospitals. That is why savings are now being made on hospital meals.
The price increases are now also being felt in hospitals. In Tyrol, even the menus are now being adapted because of the high food prices. Particularly expensive products should now be served less frequently. That’s why, for example, goulash will be on the menu instead of schnitzel in the future. Or you can just go without meat altogether.
200,000 euros more for groceries
More than three million dishes are served at the Tirol Kliniken every year. The largest hospital kitchen in the country is located in Innsbruck. 75,000 heads of lettuce, 60 tons of fresh vegetables, around 51 tons of potatoes, around 53 tons of fruit and 26 tons of meat and sausages are processed there every year. Cost point: 3.3 million euros.
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“We expect that this budget will be burdened by five to six percent more due to inflation,” says clinic spokesman Johannes Schwamberger to the “Tiroler Tageszeitung”. That would be an increase of around 200,000 euros. In order to reduce costs, they want to “cook more intelligently in the future. Products whose prices have risen sharply should be avoided wherever possible,” explains Schwamberger.
Ragout instead of beef escalope
The increased food prices are also noticeable for Erich Waldner, the kitchen manager at the St. Vinzenz hospital in Zams, Tyrol. Waldner believes that expenses for food at Zammer Hospital will be 20 to 30 percent higher this year. “It is becoming increasingly difficult to maintain the usual difficult level in the kitchen with the current budget. We are currently working with alternative products. Instead of the beef escalope there will be goulash or ragout in the future, so we can already save a few euros,” says the Kitchen manager opposite the “TT”.
If the Innsbruck clinic has its way, no compromises will be made when it comes to the quality and quantity of the food. “No smaller portions will be served, it will not be written with inferior food,” said spokesman Johannes Schwamberger and assured: “Consumers, patients and employees will not even notice the adjustments to our menus.”