We'll See You at ANC 2015!
 See the award-winning Meals Plus cafeteria management system at the SNA Annual National Conference in Salt Lake City! Learn more about how our system works, what exciting new enhancements are on the horizon, and how Meals Plus can help keep your lunchline moving.
Stop by Booth 1413 between July 13-15th and be sure to pick up a collectible Meals Plus ANC pin!
Meals Plus Customer Cookbook
To show our appreciation to our customers, we are publishing our first edition of the 'Meals Plus Customer Cookbook'! This free cookbook will be filled with the most popular recipes from school cafeterias across the country in an effort to help increase participation in the lunchroom while still meeting USDA meal pattern regulations. It will also include creative promotional ideas, Meals Plus software tips, and advice from our Child Nutrition Operations Consultant, Cynthia Sevier, SNS.
We just need your recipes! If you'd like to include one of your favorite lunchroom recipes in the Meals Plus Customer Cookbook, please email them to recipes@mealsplus.com and we will take care of the rest. You may submit more than one recipe, and at least one recipe from each school district submitting will be included in the book.
Every Meals Plus Customer will receive one cookbook free of charge, and additional copies will be available for purchase. The proceeds from the additional cookbook purchases will be donated to the No Kid Hungry Campaign.
How Switching POS Software Saved this School District 8-10 Hours a Week
Overview
Beaumont Unified School District (USD) in Beaumont, CA consists of 10 school cafeterias. The 57 members of their Child Nutrition Department serve approximately 5,000 students daily. In the 2013-2014 school year, they served over 640,000 breakfasts and 846,000 lunches.
District Obstacles
The point of sale system Beaumont USD was using didn't communicate between school sites, causing district staff to email and print reports for cafeteria managers on a daily basis. Valuable time was being wasted that could have been utilized elsewhere. Furthermore, the reports were lacking information to reconcile the daily and monthly numbers that were needed, so the district was forced to create their own spreadsheets to meet their needs.
Finding the Answer
A single, centralized database needed to be implemented for the district, which would allow all data (not just point of sale data) to be shared between school sites. The system needed to include reports with all of the data that needed to be shared, including accountability of cash handling and financial information. Both of those criteria, along with a system that is user friendly and very easy to learn led Beaumont USD to choose Meals Plus cafeteria management software system. The transition to the new system was "effortless."
Results
According to the Child Nutrition Department's Bookkeeper II, Kristi Casey, who was heavily involved in the Meals Plus implementation and continues to be the district's "go-to" Meals Plus expert, "Meals Plus is continuously improving the system. Just when you think Meals Plus can't possibly improve the system any more, they add something to make it easier to run." Not only do the robust reports contain all of the data they need, they are easily shareable within the district. District staff have saved approximately 8-10 hours per week of manual labor, which means they can now focus on the most important things – like serving the students!
Beaumont USD's Child Nutrition Department uses Meals Plus Point of Sale, Menu Planning and Nutrient Analysis, Inventory and Production Records, Accountability, Time Clock and Student Eligibility 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!
Tips from Cynthia Sevier, SNS,
Child Nutrition Operations Consultant
In Cynthia Sevier's white paper, "Fiscal Survival 101 for Child Nutrition: Financial Success in the Era of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act," she examines the four indicators of evaluating your child nutrition program's financial health. One of these is Meal Cost, and she highlights twelve practices to control food costs. Below are four of the practices; to read more, download your free copy of the white paper here!
 1. Use of production records show how much food was produced, served and left over or discarded. If used wisely, production records show trends of what items students are eating, and if too much or too little food is being served and/or prepared.
2. Use "offer versus serve."
3. Cooperative purchasing if possible. Joining other school districts creates a bid with more volume. Volume buying often results in lower per item cost.
4. Batch cooking or preparing food "just in time" controls leftovers and lessens holding time resulting in a fresher, more appealing product. Work schedules help guide assistants in managing time wisely.
To read more about the four indicators of financial health,
download your free copy of
"Fiscal Survival 101 for Child Nutrition: Financial Success in
the Era of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act"
Fixed Assets Software that is
Comprehensive, Efficient and Automated
Meals Plus helps you easily manage more than your food, staff and students. Managing your equipment is just as important. Meals Plus Fixed Assets is designed to help you effectively document and track the fixed assets in your cafeterias.
Schedule a web demo or email us for more information!
Meet the Team: Gordon
Meet the Meals Plus Team! Gordon is a Technical Account Specialist, so if you call the Meals Plus Help Desk or receive onsite training for your school lunchroom software, Gordon may be the one to provide you with excellent customer support.
 The Dish: How long have you been at Meals Plus?
Gordon: I have been with Meals Plus since January 2015.
TD: What duties and responsibilities does your position entail?
G: As a member of the Help Desk, I am responsible for assisting Meals Plus Customers both on the phones and in person.
TD: What aspects of your position do you enjoy the most?
G: I enjoy helping people solve puzzles, so I enjoy finding solutions for our customers.
TD: What do you enjoy doing in your free time?
G: Photography is my current hobby, but I get a new hobby about every six months. In the last two years, those include: origami, ukulele, cooking, board games and puzzles. Also, I like to climb the world's smallest mountains.
TD: What was your favorite lunch when you were in school?
G: Corn dogs!
Visit our blog to meet the rest of the Meals Plus Team!
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Components
- Point of Sale
- Free & Reduced
- Online Services
- Inventory
- PowerSchool
Connector
- Menu Planning
- Nutrient Analysis
- Accountability
- Financial
- Time Clock
- Fixed Assets
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
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