Catering Supply Pool
Care Homes & Residential Settings
Fresh, chilled, ambient and frozen food supply for UK care homes. Food supply is the highest-profile non-staffing operational cost in care — this pool extends procurement discipline to deliver contracted volume pricing unavailable to individual homes.
📍 Yorkshire · 4 providers📍 North West · 3 providers📍 Midlands · 3 providers📍 South East · 3 providers📍 South West · 2 providers📍 East of England · 1 provider
Food cost discipline — taken further through collective buying
Care home catering managers are typically more procurement-aware on food supply than any other category. The difference between an individual wholesale account and a pool of 25–40 homes aggregating weekly food spend is typically 8–14% on fresh and ambient categories. A 60-bed home spending £120,000 annually on food supply achieving 10% saves £12,000 — equivalent to reducing food cost per resident per day by approximately £0.55.
IDDSI compliance and nutritional specification included: Care home catering has specific requirements — IDDSI-compliant texture modified foods, fortified products, allergen management. IQ incorporates these into the tender specification. Suppliers must demonstrate compliance capability, not just price competitiveness.
What this pool covers
Full catering supply for care settings
Fresh fruit and vegetables, dairy, meat and fish, bread and bakery, ambient grocery, frozen products, specialist dietary products (texture modified, fortified, allergen-free), soft drinks, catering consumables. IDDSI compliance for texture modified food is specified as a requirement. Allergen management and labelling compliance verified at evaluation.
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A care procurement community — not a one-off event
The Care Catering pool runs every year. Members stay between cycles.
72-hour early access when the next cycle opens
Monthly care sector bulletin — regulatory updates, market intelligence
Member since badge on your Bundle IQ profile
Results archive — every previous pool saving documented
IQ alerts you when the next cycle opens
Supplier pool re-qualified every cycle — compliance assured
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Monthly care sector bulletin included. CQC updates, regulatory changes, energy market direction, infection control guidance. Specific intelligence for care providers.
Previous pool results
First cycle opening. Results published here once awarded — permanent record.
How it works
Four steps. IQ does the work.
1
Register your interest
Tell us your provider type, approximate annual spend, and county or region. Ten minutes. No commitment.
2
IQ builds the pool
We match your requirement with other providers of similar scale and need. Combined spend creates buying power no individual home can achieve.
3
IQ runs the competitive process
Qualified suppliers compete. IQ evaluates on price, compliance, regulatory credentials, and reliability — quality and compliance first.
4
You see the price and decide
Switch or stay — always your call. No pressure, no obligation. But now you know what the market offers.
Live market intelligence
What the market is doing right now
Live market intelligence
Market data
Connects when Supabase is live
Sources: ONS · DESNZ · Bank of England · Ofgem · Updated nightly
🍽️ Join the Care Catering pool
Ten minutes. Free. No obligation to switch — you see the price, then you decide.
Your details are used only to manage this buying pool. We never sell your data. Privacy policy
Know another care provider who should be in this pool? More providers means more buying power — a better price for everyone in the pool.