DERBYSHIRE RENEWS APETITO MEALS ON WHEELS CONTRACT

The company was asked to re-tender at the end of the contract period against a number of competitor service providers. The new contract covers 3,500 meals on wheels users throughout the county. The county will continue to offer a totally frozen meals on wheels service, with meals delivered once a fortnight. There will continue to be home help support for those customers who need help t heat their meals. And Derbyshire has now added Apetito's Mikrofix equipment to its service. This allows users to reheat individual meals by simply entering the two-digit code from the meal label. Councillor Anne Western, the Council's Cabinet Member for Health and Social Care said: "Our meals on wheels service is enormously important, both to us and to our local residents. "For many, it is the only way to secure a hot meal in their own on a regular basis and our service also provides an important point of home contact and care. "Our re-tender was rigorous yet fair to all parties who were tendering. Nevertheless, Apetito came out on top for each category. It offers a cost-effective service that treats nutrition, variety and simplicity with the utmost importance and at the end of the day – the food stood up and spoke for itself." The meals will be delivered by Apetito's sister company, Wiltshire Farm Foods which has five distribution centres to cover deliveries across the county. Graham Russell, managing director Apetito Services, said: "I'm delighted to have won the tender and I look forward to continuing the strong relationship with Derbyshire County Council. "This ongoing relationship reflects the strong public-private partnership that Apetito has with local authorities across the UK and demonstrates how the private sector can add value to local government through applying our many years of experience in the provision of frozen meals to the ever-growing area of community care."