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

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

Input not standardized enough for meaningful analysis

Only software that combines expenses and revenue to understand profit

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

Does not combine expenses and revenue, so profitability not possible

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

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

Does not consider these variables

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

Provides summary (district or site) snapshot view only

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

Must be shared manually via report or spreadsheet

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

BYO (bring your own) data analyst

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

Post-production nutrient analysis snapshot

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

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

Snapshot view of data, no aggregation

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

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

Production records that meet USDA compliance prototype standards

Production records that meet USDA compliance prototype standards

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

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

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

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

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

Not included

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

Not included (or considered)

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

Meets minimum requirements

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

Input too variable to produce meaningful output

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

Does not include these variables

Alerts to review potential errors

Multiple validations within production record

Manual review of digital or printed production records

Suggestions based on historical data while planning

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

Historical data not aggregated for use while planning

Relies on manual review of digital or printed production records

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)

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

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

Managing fewer items data fields makes accuracy more achievable

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

Cost per serving automatically scales with varying serving sizes

Pricing group feature makes ala carte and meal price updates easy

Cost per serving does not always scale with varying serving sizes

Does not consider cost and price (revenue) of item

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

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

Create and schedule menu cycles

Create and schedule menu cycles

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

Planning based on projections and assumptions not backed by historical data

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

Not a monitoring tool

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

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

Per meal cost targets calculated and provided while planning

Cost breakdown by weighted meal category

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

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

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

Does not combine revenue and cost, so profitability not possible

Applies Labor and Overhead costs at the point of menu design

Does not include

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

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

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

Relies on snapshot reports, without consideration of menu frequency

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

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

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

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

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