Geertrui Klostermann, senior category manager at Spar Netherlands, said the ‘Enjoy your Meal’ service offered customers a wide and varied range of freshly prepared meals which had been specially formulated for elderly people with a focus on nutritional value and special dietary requirements.
In April 11 Spar stores launched a trial of the new service and now an additional 30 stores will launch the service, before a planned nationwide roll out across all 282 outlets in the Netherlands begins in January 2015.
Expansion to the UK may be on the cards after that, where Spar operates 2,400 stores.
Klostermann said: “This was very well received, both by the store retailers and our customers, as a result of this success, we decided to properly roll it out.
"The ‘Enjoy your Meal’ range offers freshly prepared meals, diverse menus and salads, soups and desserts, including low salt, and lactose and gluten-free options to customers.
"All meals are prepared by professional and experienced cooks who ensure that they meet the guidelines of the Nutrition Centre Foundation."
He added: “Through this service, we’re catering to the needs of the elderly who no longer wish to or are unable to cook for themselves, but who still like to eat a warm meal which also meets certain dietary requirements.
“This is also in line with government policy, which encourages the elderly to continue living independently for as long as possible. This means that the need for meals for this population group is growing enormously.”