what's the secret to cycle menus?

© COPYRIGHT 2016 SCHOOL NUTRITION ASSOCIATION – #ANC16 – SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS

WHAT’S THE SECRET TO CYCLE MENUS?

Monitoring Data to Achieve Desired Results


Speaker Bios • Mary Jo Tuckwell, MPH, RD

• Technical Director for Consulting Services at inTEAM Associates

• Former Director of Food and Nutrition for the Eau Claire Area School District and Nutrition Education and Training Coordinator for Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction

• Kimberly Coleman, RD • Senior Consultant at inTEAM Associates • Former Dietetic Educator for Kentucky Department

of Education and Nutrition Specialist for Citrus County Schools


Learner Objectives

• State advantages of using a cycle menu

• Describe characteristics of a successful menu

• Identify sources of data available to guide menu planning decisions

• List key metrics to monitor to evaluate menu plan results

• Describe a process for refining your cycle menu to achieve desired operational goals

MENU PLANNING…..

YOUR MOST IMPORTANT DECISION-MAKING PROCESS


What is a Cycle Menu?

A menu that offers different items daily, but repeats on a certain time frame, (example: every 3 weeks.)

Current best practice recommendations for K-12 market Shorter cycles - 2 to 5 weeks

Offer more daily choices to appeal to student preferences and achieve dietary specification requirements

Repeat popular food items during the cycle – i.e., pizza on Friday

Cycle length may vary between grade groups and be different for breakfast and lunch


Advantages to a Cycle Menu

Saves time in planning HHFKA compliant menus

Enables pre-costing of menus

Improves forecasting accuracy of weekly food orders

Streamlines inventory control

Stabilizes employee work schedules

Simplifies recognition of a “reimbursable meal” at POS

Permits tracking key metrics to create a set of “Successful Menu Combinations”


Successful Menus Are....


Four Measures of Menu Success

1. Ensure HHFKA Meal Pattern Compliance

2. Provide a High Degree of Customer Satisfaction

3. Balance High and Low Cost Food Items over a Week to Meet Budget Goals

4. Balance Daily Kitchen Work Load to Achieve Labor Efficiency


Comply with HHFKA…


Documentation of Meal Compliance

USDA Approved Tools

Customer Satisfaction

• Include Popular Food Items

• Daily Choices and Weekly Variety

• Colorful and Flavorful Foods

• Convenient - Easy to Select and Eat


Average Daily Participation • Why Should I Track my ADP?

• Increase Revenue / Sales

• Increase Productivity

• Increases Value and Success of Meal Program

• How do I track my ADP? • Reports and Records – Production Records, POS

• What can I do to Increase my ADP? • Evaluate PRs and determine the most popular food items

• Offer more Variety

• Offer what the Kids Wants!!


Production Record

Why Are Production Records so Important?

1. A tool for planning the foods to order, prepare and serve

2. A source of information about quantities planned to meet menu pattern requirements

3. A record of foods prepared and offered to customers

4. A record of amounts of food served to support meal reimbursement claim

5. Forecasting Tool – Past PRs, which must be kept on file, can help accurately plan future production and menu planning, which can help boost ADP and overall program success.


Surveys/Taste Tests/Food Shows • Get Your Students Involved!!

• Set Up A Student Nutrition Panel to Try New Foods and Introduce the Acceptable ones to the Main Population

• One Day a Year have a Student Food Show to gather input, the results will be amazing!

• Make the Kids a Part of Food Decisions and they will take PRIDE in the Food Service Department that they helped!

Balance Food Item Costs to Stay within Food Budget

• Determine Target Food Cost as a Percent of Meal Revenue

• Establish Weekly Average Per Meal Target Food Cost

• Pre-cost Menus

• Determine post-service food cost including waste


Average Revenue for a Lunch (Elementary)

CATEGORY

AVERAGE

NUMBER

SERVED

REVENUE BY

CATEGORY

TOTAL

REVENUE BY

CATEGORY

Paid

Free

Reduced-Price

Adults

TOTALS

AVERAGE

REVENUE

FOR A

LUNCH

Total Revenue _________

÷ Average Number Served _________

= Average Revenue for One Lunch $ _________


Example of Average Revenue for a Lunch (Elementary - <60% F/R w/$.06)

CATEGORY

(2015-2016)

AVERAGE

NUMBER

SERVED

REVENUE

BY

CATEGORY

TOTAL

REVENUE BY

CATEGORY

Paid ($.29 + $2.65) 215 $ 2.94 $ 632.10

Free ($3.13) 190 $ 3.13 $594.70

Reduced

($2.73 + $.40)

18 $ 3.13 $56.34

Adult/Second

Meals ($3.40) 10 $ 3.40 $34.00

TOTALS 433 $1,317.14

AVERAGE

LUNCH

REVENUE

$1,317.14 (Total Revenue) ÷

433 (Number Served) = $ 3.04 Revenue per meal


Sample Percent of Expense to Revenue

Revenue……………………………………….…..100%

Labor Costs (including fringe benefits)………....40-45%

Food Costs (including value of USDA Foods).... 40-45%

Supplies and Equipment…......………………......…...5%

Direct/Indirect Overhead……………………….... 6-8%

Margin.............……………………………………..1-2%

TOTAL……………………………………100%-105%


How much money can you afford to spend on food?

42%

44%

5% 8%

1%

Expense as a Percent of Revenue

Food

Labor

Supplies/Equip.

Overhead

Margin


If Target Food Cost as a Percent of Revenue is 42% ............

Calculation for Target Food Cost:

$3.04 (Ave. Lunch Revenue) X .42 (42%) $1.28 Target Ave. Food cost


Sample of Target Component Costs for Lunch

$0,50

$0,18 $0,16

$0,20

$0,24

TARGET FOOD COST $1.28

Meat/Meat Alternate Grains Vegetables Fruits Milk


Pre-costing sets a standard as to how much the menu should cost.


Post-costing or “actual food cost” checks against those standards.


Review Production Records to Determine Actual Cost

Balance Daily Kitchen Work Load to Maintain Labor

Efficiency.... • Use standardized

recipes & standard work methods for each item

• Create a daily production schedule to assign employee tasks

• Set realistic MPLH targets for “peer kitchens”


What is a Work Schedule?

Assigning someone to a specific job at a particular time until all jobs and duties are planned – daily,

weekly, monthly, or yearly


Factors That Affect Labor Productivity

• Menu – types of items offered and choices

• Degree of convenience foods purchased

• Type of food production system

• Layout and design of kitchen and serving area

• Equipment available

• Training and skills of employees

• Degree of standardization of recipes and work methods

• Serving times and methods

To achieve customer satisfaction in all cafeterias

To ensure meal pattern compliance at all cafeterias

Document component and nutrient contribution

Delivery same product quality and yield

Employees trained on s standardize d work methods

Consistent portion cost

To control food and labor cost

Importance of Standardized Recipes

Monitoring Labor Productivity Rate

Number of Meals and Service (Output)

Number of Labor Hours (Input)

= Productivity Rate or

Meals Per Labor Hour (MPLH)


Converting Number of Meals to Meal Equivalents:

1 Lunch Meal = 1 Meal Equivalent

3 A la Carte Dollars = 1 Meal Equivalent

3 Breakfast Meals = 1 Meal Equivalent


Calculating Staffing Level Productivity

DETERMINE MEAL EQUIVALENTS (MEQ)

216 Ave. Daily Breakfasts Served ÷ 3 = 72 MEQ

(Include all student and adult breakfasts)

297 Ave. Daily Lunches Served ÷ 1 = 297 MEQ

(Include all student and adult lunches)

$18 Ave. Daily A la Carte Sales ÷ $3 = 40 MEQ

(Catering and other sales may be included)

TOTAL MEQ 375


Planned Site Staffing Hours to Achieve MPLH Target

TO DETERMINE HOW YOU SHOULD BE STAFFED ACCORDING TO GUIDELINES:

375 Total MEQ ÷ 24 = 15.6 _

MPLH Target No. Labor

Hours


Site MPLH Calculation

DETERMINE YOUR PRODUCTIVITY RATE

375 Total MEQ ÷ 16.25 = 23 MPLH

No. Labor Hours Your Staff’s

At Your School Productivity


Establishing Benchmarks for MPLH: Comparing to Sites with Peer Characteristics

Example: 375 MEQ ÷ 15.5 Labor Hours = 24 MPLH

375 MEQ ÷ 16.25 Labor Hours = 23 MPLH

Heat & Serve

K-5

Target

MPLH

Site

MPLH

Ave. # MEQ

201-300 22

301-500 24 23

501-700 26


School Menus: Driving Forces • USDA Regulations

• Meal Pattern and Dietary Specifications • Procurement Processes

• Customer Preferences and Community Expectations

• USDA Foods Available • Brown Box, Processed Options, Fresh Produce

• Local Program Resources • Budget, equipment, staff skills, serving time

• National Trends: • Buying local, more “scratch-cooking” & less processed


Menu Planning Process: Perfecting Your Cycle Menu

Select/Refine Menu Items, Recipes, &

Pairing of Offerings

Gather CN Labels, Fact Sheets,

Standardized Recipes & Food Costs

Assess Meal Pattern Compliance & Pre-Cost Menu Items

Modify Recipes, Items & Pairing of Offerings

as Needed

Monitor Production Record Results,

MPLH, Food Cost, & ADP


Contact Us for More Info Mary Jo Tuckwell

[email protected] Kimberly Coleman

[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]






what's the secret to cycle menus?

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