Best Practices for Financial Sustainability of Healthy Food Service Guidelines in Hospital Cafeterias

In February and March 2017 we examined barriers and facilitators to financial sustainability of healthy food service guidelines and synthesized best practices for financial sustainability in retail operations. We conducted qualitative, in-depth interviews with 8 hospital food service directors to learn more about barriers and facilitators to financial sustainability of healthy food service guidelines in retail food service operations. Analysts organized themes around headers in the interview guide and also made note of emerging themes not in the original guide. They used the code occurrence and co-occurrence features in Dedoose version 7.0.23 (SocioCultural Research Consultants) independently to analyze patterns across the interviews and to pull illustrative quotes for analysis. Two overarching themes emerged, related to 1) the demand for and sales of healthy foods and beverages, and 2) the production and supply of healthy foods and beverages. Our study provides insights into how hospital food service directors can maximize revenue and remain financially viable while selling healthier options in on-site dining facilities.