「限界げんかいだ」食費しょくひ高騰こうとうが経営けいえいを圧迫あっぱく 赤字あかじの高齢こうれい者しゃ施設しせつも

Organizations made up of elderly care facilities across the country that provide meals to residents have released survey results showing that, due to rising prices, monthly food expenses have increased by more than 340,000 yen compared to two years ago.

The organization plans to request the government to expand its support, as the management of the facility is under pressure.

Average food expenses at facilities: 3,678,000 yen Ten organizations, consisting of elderly care facilities and home care service providers nationwide, conducted a survey among their members regarding wage increases and rising prices. On the 8th, they announced the results, which were collected from over 11,200 businesses.

According to this, the total expenditure on food at the facility in January this year, including the cost of ingredients and outsourcing fees to external vendors, averaged 3,678,000 yen, which is an increase of 342,000 yen compared to the same period the year before last.

Of this, the cost of ingredients was 1,263,000 yen, an increase of 169,000 yen compared to the year before last.

The government has set the daily meal cost per resident at 1,445 yen and covers this expense for low-income individuals, while also providing emergency support to facilities in response to rising prices.

However, the organization that conducted the survey says that the support is not sufficient, and since the system does not allow them to ask residents whose food expenses are covered to shoulder the cost, the rising food expenses are putting pressure on the management of the facilities.

For this reason, they have not been able to sufficiently raise staff salaries, leading to a loss of personnel, so they plan to request the government to expand its support.

Kentaro Higashi, the chairman of the National Association of Geriatric Health Services Facilities, which compiled the survey, said, The soaring cost of food is having a particularly serious impact on the management of special nursing homes for the elderly, which provide three meals a day.

I would like to ask the government to take prompt action, he said.

There is no prospect of eliminating the deficit for special nursing homes with their own cooking facilities. Meals at elderly care facilities are provided either by being prepared in their own kitchens or by outsourcing to external companies for delivery.

A special nursing home for the elderly in Kyoto City, which houses about 100 residents, procures ingredients through a supplier and provides three meals a day using its own kitchen facilities.

The food expenses for the past year were a little over 55 million yen, which is an increase of over 3.5 million yen in the past three years. Due to the rise in utility costs as well, the facility has been operating in the red for the past four years.

This year, things have become even tougher, and in March this year, the purchase price of ingredients—such as rice—was 1 compared to March last year...

Increase by 5 times, cabbage is 2

They say it has tripled.

In an effort to do something about this situation, since last autumn the facility has switched to blended rice, reduced meat dishes, and increased dishes using eggs and beans.

However, they say that even with these continued efforts, there is currently no prospect of eliminating the deficit.

Masayuki Ishida, the director of the special nursing home for the elderly, said, We have never experienced such a rapid rise in prices before, and our own efforts have reached their limit. If this continues, we may face a crisis of survival. A special nursing home in Tendo City, Yamagata Prefecture, which outsources meals: Maintaining the facility is at its limit. This special nursing home for the elderly in Tendo City, Yamagata Prefecture, outsources the preparation of three daily meals for its 29 residents to an external company’s facility called a central kitchen, and provides the meals by reheating them in its own kitchen.

By using a central kitchen that purchases and prepares ingredients in bulk, they are able to reduce food costs by about 10% compared to cooking in-house, and they also outsource the dispatch of three cooking staff.

However, due to the impact of rising prices, the outsourcing fees paid to kitchen staff at the central kitchen have increased by about 350,000 yen per month compared to two years ago, and the cost of procuring rice has increased by more than 70,000 yen per month compared to last year. As a result, food expenses have increased by approximately 7.2 million yen over the past two years.

In this situation, they are trying to reduce expenses other than food costs by introducing a special machine that can heat a large amount of food at once to cut down on outsourcing fees for cooking staff. Additionally, they are working on saving electricity by using a system that allows them to constantly monitor the facilitys power consumption, which has reduced their electricity bills by more than 10%.

At the moment, the facility as a whole is not operating at a loss, but they say that if the increase in food costs continues, it will become difficult to manage.

Director Junya Ito of the special nursing home for the elderly: Not only food costs, but also personnel expenses and utility costs are soaring, and maintaining the facility is reaching its limit.

“We have no choice but to keep taking whatever measures we can now.” Expert: “The current system hasn’t caught up with the present economic situation.” Professor Yasuhiro Yuuki of Shukutoku University, an expert on nursing care issues, commented on the fact that the government’s system to subsidize meal costs for low-income people is only reviewed once every three years: “The system hasn’t kept pace with the current economic situation, where prices are rising rapidly.”

He pointed out, Unless we introduce new systems, such as revising them once a year, the situation at nursing care sites will only become more difficult.