I was invited to Bidfood‘s Innovation in Motion event on 7 July, held at a pub venue in Balham that had been transformed for the day, with a cinema screen and all.
After a chance to mingle with fellow attendees and the Bidfood team, I settled in for a presentation on the company’s research into food innovation. One finding stood out: while older adults weren’t the age group most eager to try new dishes, a significant proportion still were. It’s a reminder that “traditional” menus shouldn’t be a default assumption in care homes. There’s a clear appetite, so to speak, for chefs to keep expanding residents’ palates.
Next came a hands-on challenge: building my own salad from what might be the best salad bar I’ve encountered. Bowl loaded, I was then told my creation would be scored on nutritional balance, which turned a simple lunch into a genuinely fun bit of friendly competition. As a self-confessed salad enthusiast, I still found myself trying combinations I wouldn’t normally reach for, including black beans, crispy chickpeas, and a butterbean-and-sumac dressing.
I should have paced myself, because there was plenty more food to come.
The following session focused on plating and how presentation alone can transform a dish. Two plates made with identical ingredients were set side by side: one traditional, one elevated. Tasted blind, I found it genuinely difficult to believe they came from the same base recipe. This message was reinforced through tastings from the Discovery Kitchen range, including a creamy Malaysian coconut chicken curry, beef and fennel meatballs, spaghetti alfredo, and black bean birria.
Dessert followed, by which point I was regretting how much I’d already eaten. Three puddings were served, each paired with a suggested occasion and drink: coconut and lime sticky rice, banana bread tiramisu, and Basque cheesecake.
It was a genuinely useful day for thinking differently about food, not just what goes on the plate, but how it’s presented and paired. The unexpected combinations worked, and worked well, which is exactly the point Bidfood was making. For care home chefs, the takeaway is straightforward: innovation doesn’t mean abandoning familiar favourites, but there’s real value and evident appetite for keeping menus exciting.
