Different by Design

Data-driven decision making in school nutrition should be the norm, and we make it possible by targeting every detail of our functionality with the user’s end goals in mind. We don’t rely on blueprints of existing K12 software, and that’s by design. We feel strongly that the status quo just isn’t cutting it. We are calling the tune of what a school nutrition solution should look like.

Hover over each icon to learn how our features compare…

Dashboard & Reports
Production Record
Lookup & Forecast

Data Visualization Capability

Profitability:

District, Site, Menu, Item

Participation:

Accuracy

Participation:

Usability & Practical Value

Participation:

Team Transparency & Communication

Menu Performance:

Execution & Monitoring

Nutrition:

Planning & Post-Production

Waste:

Cost & Quantity

Production Issues & Opportunities

Compliance:

Meets Production Record Requirements

Compliance:

Served Requirements Met

Oversight & Quality Control

Non-Program Foods Revenue & Expense

Labor & Overhead Expenses

Other Existing K-12 Software

Spreadsheets

Meets Compliance Standards

Organization & Ease of Use

Source Data Quality

Data Analysis Integrity

Accuracy & Completion Review

Planning Decision-Support

Manager-Focused Insights

Menu Item Setup

Menu Item Ease of Use

Other Existing K-12 Software

Spreadsheets

Organization & Ease of Use

Menu Cycles

Menu Processes:

Planning

Menu Processes:

Monitoring Performance

Nutrition:

Meal Component Validation

Nutrition:

Optimization

Cost Analysis & Targets

Profitability Analysis & Targets

Labor Analysis

Recipe Analysis & Communication

Other Existing K-12 Software

Spreadsheets

Menu Items:

Usage Lookup

Menu Items:

Usage Forecast

Menu Items:

Change Impact

Labor Productivity (MPLH):

Lookup

Labor Productivity (MPLH):

Change Impact

Other Existing K-12 Software

Spreadsheets

Dashboard & Reports
Production Record
Lookup & Forecast
Data Analysis Capability

MenuLogic K12

Specially designed and standardized input required to produce meaningful, aggregated output

Other Existing K-12 Software

Reports transactional (not aggregated) data and provides little useful visualization

Input not standardized enough for meaningful analysis

Spreadsheets

Way too much data to be possible or practical

Profitability - District, Site, Menu, Item

MenuLogic K12

Only software that combines expenses and revenue to understand profit

Considers real-life variables like customization, waste, ala carte, condiments, OVS, and more

Other Existing K-12 Software

Does not combine expenses and revenue, so profitability not possible

Does not consider other real-life variables and makes invalid assumptions instead

Spreadsheets

Way too much data to be possible or practical

Participation - Accuracy

MenuLogic K12

Considers menu frequency, attendance variations, ability to mark outliers, and more variables

Other Existing K-12 Software

Does not consider these variables

Spreadsheets

Does not consider these variables

Participation - Usability & Practical Value

MenuLogic K12

Provides district-wide and by site, but also drill down to understand what is driving (or hindering) participation: menu cycle day, item, date range, more

Other Existing K-12 Software

Provides summary (district or site) snapshot view only

Spreadsheets

Way too much data to be possible or practical

Participation - Team Transparency & Communication

MenuLogic K12

Manager visibility into participation for site and menu cycle day, as compared to other sites

Other Existing K-12 Software

Must be shared manually via report or spreadsheet

Spreadsheets

Must be shared manually via spreadsheet

Menu Performance - Execution & Monitoring

MenuLogic K12

Monitor whether menus are executed properly and performing as desired so targeted adjustments can be made before it's too late

Other Existing K-12 Software

BYO (bring your own) data analyst

Spreadsheets

BYO (bring your own) data analyst

Nutrition - Planning & Post-Production

MenuLogic K12

Monitor whether menus are executed properly and performing as desired so targeted adjustments can be made before it's too late

Other Existing K-12 Software

Post-production nutrient analysis snapshot

Spreadsheets

Way too much data to be possible or practical

Waste - Cost & Quantity

MenuLogic K12

Understand by district, site group, site, menu cycle day, item

Considers impact of waste cost as part of menu and item performance evaluation

Other Existing K-12 Software

Snapshot view of data, no aggregation

Spreadsheets

Snapshot view of data, no aggregation

Production Issues & Opportunities

MenuLogic K12

Identify easily and remotely to lead most productive site visits:
-Over-production (waste)
-Under-production (lowers participation)
-Discrepancy (POS, recipe, server error)

Other Existing K-12 Software

Rely solely on random site visits (without data leading you) to identify and correct issues at sites

Spreadsheets

Rely solely on random site visits (without data leading you) to identify and correct issues at sites

Compliance - Meets Production Record Requirements

MenuLogic K12

Production records that meet USDA compliance prototype standards

Other Existing K-12 Software

Production records that meet USDA compliance prototype standards

Spreadsheets

Production records that meet USDA compliance prototype standards

Compliance - Served Requirements Met

MenuLogic K12

Ensure minimum # of meal components served as compared to # of meals

Other Existing K-12 Software

Manually review data from hundreds (or thousands) of individual production records

Spreadsheets

Manually review data from hundreds (or thousands) of individual production records

Oversight & Quality Control

MenuLogic K12

Monitor % completion, trust built-in validations, review alerts to possible error(s)

Other Existing K-12 Software

Manually review the data from hundreds (or thousands) of individual production records

Spreadsheets

Manually review the data from hundreds (or thousands) of individual production records

Non-Program Foods Revenue & Expense

MenuLogic K12

Captures values accurately and without effort to be easily plugged into USDA tool

Other Existing K-12 Software

Not included

Spreadsheets

Difficult, time-consuming, and inaccurate to track via spreadsheet or off invoice

Labor & Overhead Expenses

MenuLogic K12

Provides real-time insight into the impact of labor and overhead expenses on the menu and the overall profit/loss of the operation

Other Existing K-12 Software

Not included (or considered)

Spreadsheets

Not possible or practical to connect to menu decisions using this method

Meets Compliance Standards

MenuLogic K12

Other Existing K-12 Software

Spreadsheets

Organization & Ease of Use

MenuLogic K12

Thoughtfully designed by (and with input from) experienced school nutrition pros to include value-added features

Other Existing K-12 Software

Meets minimum requirements

Spreadsheets

It works, but requires significant manual input and has great potential for error

Source Data Quality

MenuLogic K12

Allows for district or site setting customization, but maintains structured input to allow for meaningful output

Other Existing K-12 Software

Input too variable to produce meaningful output

Spreadsheets

Way too much data to be possible or practical

Data Analysis Integrity

MenuLogic K12

Specialized item types and production record features that capture bar customization, OVS, condiments, ala carte, more

Other Existing K-12 Software

Does not include these variables

Spreadsheets

Way too much data to be possible or practical

Accuracy & Completion Review

MenuLogic K12

Alerts to review potential errors

Multiple validations within production record

Other Existing K-12 Software

Manual review of digital or printed production records

Spreadsheets

Manual review of digital or printed production records

Planning Decision-Support

MenuLogic K12

Suggestions based on historical data while planning

Smart Notes to carry planning reminders or directions forward to present or future days

Other Existing K-12 Software

Historical data not aggregated for use while planning

Relies on manual review of digital or printed production records

Spreadsheets

Manual review of digital or printed production records

Manager-Focused Insights

MenuLogic K12

Visibility into participation averages and comparisons to other sites

Ability to report attendance deviations for accurate participation analysis

Transparency in profitability and costs (if turned on/off)

Other Existing K-12 Software

Not included, relies on manual review of digital or printed production records

Spreadsheets

Manual review of digital or printed production records

Menu Item Setup

MenuLogic K12

Menu Items include only the most important fields (cost, nutrition, price)

Managing fewer items data fields makes accuracy more achievable

Other Existing K-12 Software

Must complete hundreds of data fields (accurately) to properly connect all ingredients, recipes, and inventory stock item price

More data fields means higher margin of error to have confidence in per serving cost analysis

Spreadsheets

Menu Items manually added to production record templates or individually by end user

Menu Item Ease of Use

MenuLogic K12

Cost per serving automatically scales with varying serving sizes

Pricing group feature makes ala carte and meal price updates easy

Other Existing K-12 Software

Cost per serving does not always scale with varying serving sizes

Does not consider cost and price (revenue) of item

Spreadsheets

Cost per serving does not scale with varying serving sizes

Does not consider cost and price (revenue) of item

Organization & Ease of Use

MenuLogic K12

Easily create, copy/swap, and schedule daily menus into menu cycles all in one process

Other Existing K-12 Software

Organizing daily menus and cycles by name alone can become cumbersome over time

Spreadsheets

Effective if you’re a spreadsheet wizard (or your team wizard is 100% available)

Menu Cycles

MenuLogic K12

Create and schedule menu cycles

Other Existing K-12 Software

Create and schedule menu cycles

Spreadsheets

Create and schedule menu cycles

Menu Processes - Planning

MenuLogic K12

Confidently design menus that meet and exceed USDA requirements by leveraging historical data to know how to optimally arrange menu items and menu cycle days

Other Existing K-12 Software

Planning based on projections and assumptions not backed by historical data

Spreadsheets

Planning based on projections and assumptions not backed by historical data

Menu Processes - Monitoring Performance

MenuLogic K12

Ability to monitor menu performance results means a shift in time and focus from planning to monitoring (and adjusting to ensure) success

Other Existing K-12 Software

Not a monitoring tool

Spreadsheets

Not a monitoring tool

Nutrition - Meal Component Validation

MenuLogic K12

Other Existing K-12 Software

Spreadsheets

Nutrition - Optimization

MenuLogic K12

Projections in planning from actual / real historical data provide ability to optimally arrange menu items and menu cycle days to understand how to meet weighted nutrition requirements

Other Existing K-12 Software

Projections based on limited historical data means projected nutrition analysis less accurate

Spreadsheets

Way too much data to be possible or practical

Cost Analysis & Targets

MenuLogic K12

Per meal cost targets calculated and provided while planning

Cost breakdown by weighted meal category

Other Existing K-12 Software

Cost analysis does not consider historical OVS and does not provide meaningful breakdown

Spreadsheets

Way too much data to be possible or practical

Profitability Analysis & Targets

MenuLogic K12

- Combines revenue and cost
- Considers ala carte impact
- By site, menu cycle day, item

Considers real-life factors
(OVS, customization, Labor/Overhead, Popularity)

Other Existing K-12 Software

Does not combine revenue and cost, so profitability not possible

Spreadsheets

Way too much data to be possible or practical
Labor Analysis

MenuLogic K12

Applies Labor and Overhead costs at the point of menu design

Other Existing K-12 Software

Does not include

Spreadsheets

Does not include

Recipe Analysis & Communication

MenuLogic K12

On our development roadmap…
Recipe organization and recipes that are easy to read, scale, and use

Other Existing K-12 Software

Usability oftentimes difficult, making analysis less dependable.
Readability and ease of scaling many times lacking

Spreadsheets

Usability oftentimes difficult, making analysis less dependable.
Readability and ease of scaling many times lacking

Menu Items - Usage Lookup

MenuLogic K12

Quickly view a menu item’s usage history, cost, revenue, profit/loss by district, site group, site, date range

Other Existing K-12 Software

Relies on snapshot reports, without consideration of menu frequency

Spreadsheets

Way too much data to be possible or practical

Menu Items - Usage Forecast

MenuLogic K12

Historical sales and menu frequency are applied to future projections (usage, cost, revenue, profit/loss)

Other Existing K-12 Software

Spreadsheets

Menu Items - Change Impact

MenuLogic K12

Adjust attributes (cost, price, menu frequency) and instantly see projected results/impact

Other Existing K-12 Software

Spreadsheets

Labor Productivity (MPLH) - Lookup

MenuLogic K12

Quickly view Meals Per Labor Hour (MPLH) by district, site group, site, menu cycle day, date range

Other Existing K-12 Software

Data needed to calculate MPLH available, but must be manually combined in single snapshots per calculation

Spreadsheets

Data from POS software could be manually combined via spreadsheet, but at a very high level and snapshot view

Labor Productivity (MPLH) - Change Impact

MenuLogic K12

Change attributes (meal or ala carte sales, labor hours) and instantly see projected results/impact

Other Existing K-12 Software

Spreadsheets

Read More About Our Features Here:

Dashboard

Production Record

Menu Design

Lookup & Forecast

Reporting

Resources & Support

Dashboard

Production Record

Menu Design

Lookup & Forecast

Reporting

Resources & Support

Let’s Clear the Air

We color outside the lines and don’t fit into the mold you might be used to.   Allow us to explain ourselves…

Point of Sale

We are not a Point of Sale (POS) software…we will leave that work to our friends! POS software functions are integral to any operation, but also includes data we use for understanding the full scope of menu performance and program profitability. MenuLogic K12 works alongside your existing POS solution to capture information needed to aggregate, analyze, and action data with optimization top of mind.  

Inventory Management

We do not provide inventory counting or tracking functions.  MenuLogic K12 does provide insights to support decisions that can impact inventory usage and ordering projections, based on historical data.  If the purpose of the inventory value your team is tracking is to understand Cost of Goods Sold (COGS), we provide you a link to reality with the detail to back it up:  a clear understanding of what your COGS should have been. 

Recipe Analysis

You don’t have to build a new ingredient and recipe database to use MenuLogic K12. We understand how long that process can take and the end result, no matter what existing software or method you choose, will likely look the same.  We wanted to create the shortest path possible to the information you need.  Our solution works alongside your existing recipe development tools to maximize impact and minimize hassle.