Meals Plus Monthly E-Newsletter - October 2015

6 Ways Meals Plus Helped Improved Nauset Public Schools' Child Nutrition Operations

There are multiple features of Meals Plus' cafeteria software system that led Nauset Public Schools' Director of Food and Nutrition Services Susan Murray to choose it for her school district. Among the top of the list is that since it is internet-based, she is able to work from any location and get the same reports or information she needs at a moment's notice. And because Meals Plus has the ability to host the district's server, the district has increased flexibility and access to real-time information for their seven schools.

Susan and her team appreciate the system's ease of use, which makes training district staff stress-free. Since implementing Meals Plus during the 2012-2013 school year, they have been able to generate management reports on participation, financial information and tracking food choices. Because the system holds the free and reduced information discretely, the district has seen an increase in participation of free and reduced students at their high school. Day-to-day operations have been streamlined, decreasing the number of staff hours because of paperwork. Overall, Susan said, "...adding Meals Plus has been a huge benefit to all of our schools," and we are happy to have them as a member of the Meals Plus Family!

Nauset Public Schools' Child Nutrition Department uses Meals Plus Point of Sale, Menu Planning and Nutrient Analysis, Accountability and Free and Reduced software that is built especially for K-12 school districts. Request a free 30 day software trial here or call 1-800-541-8999 for more information!

Sneak Peek -
Meals Plus Customer Cookbook

In honor of National School Lunch Week, we shared some of the recipes submitted by Meals Plus Customers for our Meals Plus Customer Cookbook. The cookbook features tasty recipes for K-12 schools from Meals Plus Customers and Consultant Malissa Marsden, SNS, who creates school recipes using USDA Foods. Every school district that uses Meals Plus cafeteria management software receives a free copy of the cookbook, and additional copies will be available for sale, with the proceeds going to the No Kid Hungry campaign.

We hope you enjoy these sneak peeks from our cookbook.

Meals Plus Spotlight

Malissa Marsden, SNS

Malissa Marsden, SNS, is a consultant that collaborates with USDA Agriculture Marketing Boards (aka Commodity Boards) to connect USDA Foods with child nutrition professionals. She uses Meals Plus Nutrient Analysis and Menu Planning software to create recipes for school districts using USDA Foods. (Click here to read more about her latest recipes with IQF Diced Mushrooms!)

The Dish: How long have you been using Meals Plus Menu Planning and Nutrient Analysis software?
Malissa Marsden, SNS: Just over one year, and still learning more about the system and its capabilities every day.

TD: What duties and responsibilities does your position entail?
MM: The short answer is "playing with food and feeding kids." My clients are agricultural boards and branded manufacturers who want to promote their products to school nutrition. Many of their products currently are or will become USDA Foods that are available to school nutrition programs via direct delivery and/or diversion.

I educate myself on what K-12 schools need to better utilize the USDA foods and branded products for school nutrition. I then work to create the tools that schools need. This part often involves working with ad agencies to create the vision we have developed. I have been at photo shoots of my recipes and it is always fun to watch them come alive. Now I generally assist in the photo shoots long distance.

TD: What aspects of your position do you enjoy the most?
MM: Working with kids, Dayle Hayes from School Meals That Rock, and my clients. I am blessed to work with so many others that are committed to promoting healthy, tasty school meals we are all proud of.

TD: What do you enjoy doing in your free time?
MM: I enjoy visiting my six grands and hanging out on our boat, watching the Intracoastal go by!

TD: What what your favorite cafeteria lunch when you were a student?
MM: We walked home from school and ate whatever our Great Aunt Margie cooked and it was all great!

Follow our blog for more of
Malissa's recipes using USDA Foods!

Tips from Cynthia Sevier, SNS,
Child Nutrition Operations Consultant

In our white paper, "Managing the Money on the Pantry Shelves," Child Nutrition Operations Consultant Cynthia Sevier, SNS, shares tips to managing your child nutrition department's inventory. Menu planning, supply chains, food costs, tracking foods and more are examined. Below is the "Procurement" section of this free white paper.

"After a menu has been developed, the procurement processes of product search and bid development begins.

Some argue that the menu cannot be developed before a product search is done. However, the cost of experimenting with products on menus that have not been tested with students could prove to be costly.

Whichever is preferred, menus must be completed in adequate time to order commodities and to develop bids. In order to accommodate changes in student preferences, availability in the market or changes in commodity purchases, plan menus with some flexibility.

Inventory management includes the purchase of quality products at reasonable prices. Inferior products may result in a decrease in participation or spoiled inventory that has be discarded. The possible success of a recipe begins with quality ingredients."

To read more about how to effectively manage
your cafeterias' inventory, download your free copy of
"Managing the Money on the Pantry Shelves."

Meet the Team: Sidney

Get to know the Meals Plus Team! Sidney is our Senior Account Manager, working primarily in the southeastern region of the United States. You've probably met Sidney at one of our state or national school nutrition conferences; get to know her in this edition of "Meet the Team."

The Dish: How long have you been at Meals Plus?
S: Over ten years!

TD: What duties and responsibilities does your position entail?
S: As Senior Account Manager at Meals Plus, I manage, develop and market to child nutrition directors. It's my job to make sure Meals Plus' cafeteria technology is the best fit for our clients. I listen to child nutrition departments' problems and determine how we can solve their issues with our software.

I connect prospective customers with Meals Plus Customers so that they can visit their districts to see Meals Plus in action. And customer referrals are a major part of building our client base, so it's also my job to make sure our customers are happy.

TD: What aspects of your position do you enjoy the most?
S: Meals Plus is constantly enhancing our software to give child nutrition departments the functionality to effectively run their programs. We strive to keep our customers happy, make easy-to-use software that fits the K-12 environment, and that's what makes Meals Plus the best in the industry. I enjoy working for Meals Plus because we are like a family, including our customers!

TD: What do you enjoy doing in your free time?
S: I enjoy spending time with my husband, family and friends, going to the beach, boating, and of course, shopping!

TD: What was your favorite lunch when you were in school?
S: My favorite meal in school was pizza!

Visit our blog to meet the rest of the Meals Plus Team!

School Nutrition Conferences

We are spreading the word on how Meals Plus makes managing your school's students, staff, menus, finances and inventory easier. Come see us at the following conferences:

Welcome to Meals Plus

We'd like to welcome the following school districts to the Meals Plus Family!

Components

- Point of Sale
- Free & Reduced
- Online Services
- Inventory
- PowerSchool
  Connector
- Menu Planning
- Nutrient Analysis
- Accountability
- Financial
- Time Clock
- Fixed Assets

In This Issue

- 6 Ways Meals Plus
   Improved
   Operations
- Customer
  Cookbook
- Meals Plus
  Spotlight
- Inventory
  Management Tips
- Meet the Team
- Conferences
- Welcome to
  Meals Plus!

Free Resources

The Five P's of Promoting Your School Meal Program

Fiscal Survival 101: Financial Success in the Era of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act

Keeping the Lunchline Moving: Tips to Increase the Speed of Your Lunchlines

Managing the Money on the Pantry Shelves: Inventory Management for Your Child Nutrition Program