Meals Plus Monthly E-Newsletter - September 2015

"The Best Installation, Training and
Go-Live Process" for Palm Springs USD

It was a team effort to choose Meals Plus, fueled by the need for accuracy and strong customer support.

Overview
Palm Springs Unified School District consists of 25 schools in some of the fastest growing regions in California. Their Child Nutrition Services Department supports student learning by promoting healthy habits for lifelong nutrition and fitness practices.

District Obstacles
Nutrition Services Director Stephanie Bruce had been using her previous point of sale system for over ten years. She noticed the level of customer support slipping over time; for example, when she notified her software vendor that many of her system-generated reports were inaccurate, she was instructed to simply "not use those reports."

When the vendor was purchased by a larger corporation, the number of software problems quickly rose. Meal application processing and reporting issues were becoming more frequent, and changes were made to the point of sale system that weren't communicated to customers beforehand. Obviously, this caused undue stress and frustration among parents, students and staff. When the response from her software vendor was actually "Oh, well," Stephanie knew she had to start looking for a new system.

Finding the Answer
Stephanie began her search for a new cafeteria management software system at the California School Nutrition Association Conference - and she included her team. She invited roughly 40 employees to the conference and required that they visit every software vendor's booth, ask questions that were important to them and let her know which one was their favorite. Overwhelmingly, Meals Plus was the favorite among her staff.

Results
Switching to a new software system was much easier than Stephanie and her team expected. The Meals Plus Team was so effective, that the transition was "seamless." Stephanie says, "…it was by far the best installation, training and go-live process that I have ever had with a point of sale company."

And it just kept getting better! With the introduction of POS+ to the Meals Plus Product Suite, Stephanie had a helpful tool for her cafeterias that were serving supper. According to Stephanie, "POS+ has automated the process just like breakfast, lunch and snacks and made it easier to track meals and file reimbursement claims."

Meals Plus Support is Working to Reduce
"Back to School" Stress

Our Meals Plus Technical Support Team understands that the "back to school" season can be intimidating, and maybe even nerve-wracking, but it doesn't have to be! We make sure cafeteria software technical issues that may arise are quickly taken care of, so you have one less thing to stress about during the busiest time of the year.

We receive more technical support calls in August than any other month of the year, yet our customer support statistics don't suffer.

Here are just some of the comments from Meals Plus customers via our randomly generated support call follow-up survey:

If you experienced technical issues and didn't receive this caliber of technical support during your "back to school" season, contact us today to see how Meals Plus can help keep your lunchlines moving!

Tips from Our White Paper Library

In our most recent white paper, "The 5 P's of Promoting Your School Meal Program," Child Nutrition Operations Consultant Cynthia Sevier, SNS, examines how you can promote your child nutrition program, and shares real-life experiences in school districts across the country. "The 5 P's" are Product, Placement, Promotion, Price and People. Here is a real-life example of how you can implement "Promotion" in your program:

Kurt Chou, School Nutrition Director for Los Nietos School District in Whittier, California has increased participation by trying to change the image of the program. First, Kurt increased his marketing efforts. He has implemented the use of salad bars and updated the point-of-sale system for efficiency. "Second Chance Breakfast" has been implemented to offer students an opportunity to get breakfast if they are not hungry or present when the first breakfast was served. Kurt also felt that it was important to include his staff in the reimaging of the program and purchased uniforms for his employees.

To read more about marketing your school meal program
download your free copy of
"The 5 P's of Promoting Your School Meal Program."

USDA Agriculture Marketing Boards Help Utilize USDA Foods with Tasty Recipes

Malissa Marsden, SNS, collaborates with agriculture marketing boards (or USDA Commodity Boards) across the country, using her child nutrition expertise and Meals Plus Menu Planning software to create recipes and cycle menus for use in school districts. When new USDA Food becomes available, organizations, such as the Mushroom Council and American Egg Board send their products to Malissa, who creates recipes with three main goals - to create recipes that will meet USDA requirements, will not be labor intensive and that kids will love! She also aims to create recipes that decrease labor and are speed scratch simple, can be eaten with a spork and utilize packaging that schools already use.

Malissa's "test kitchen" is actually her local church's kitchen. It is equipped with a six-burner stovetop and four-rack convection oven, similar to what many school kitchens use. She is able to test her recipes when there are church functions, such as Vacation Bible School, which means feedback from a variety of people, including school-aged children.

One of her most recent success stories was a breakfast pancake parfait, which she created by layering (1) USDA whole grain frozen pancake, ½ cup vanilla yogurt and ½ cup frozen USDA Tart Cherries in a parfait cup. This is a "make today, serve tomorrow" concept for Grab-and-Go or Breakfast in the Classroom entrees that are prepared in-house and not prepackaged. Malissa was able to create an item that uses USDA Foods in a new way while using packaging schools use, and the kids loved them!

The newest USDA Food Malissa has been experimenting with is IQF Diced Mushrooms, which are now available for direct delivery. Malissa especially likes the IQF Mushrooms because a large amount of them can be produced with a small carbon footprint, they are sustainable and are never "out of season." They are also low in calories and a great option for vegetarian recipes. Click here for all of their mushroom recipes, including Malissa's newest recipe: Margherita & Mushroom Pizza.

Through these partnerships with agriculture marketing boards, Malissa educated the boards on how the schools can use the products and what tools and information the schools need to incorporate the product into school meals. Using Meals Plus Menu Planning and Nutrient Analysis software is a key tool in achieving a winning partnership because it allows her to create recipes that she is confident will be useful for schools. With the software, she can determine meal equivalents and nutrients, provide benchmarks, and remain confident that the recipes can be standardized by the school for their operation.

Malissa's recipes will be featured in our upcoming Meals Plus Customer Cookbook; stay tuned to our blog and e-newsletter for more information and helpful recipes as they are available!

Meet the Team: Judd

Get to know the Meals Plus Team! Judd is the Manager of the Development Team that continually improves the Meals Plus system with enhancements and upgrades. Because Meals Plus software is developed and supported solely by Meals Plus employees, you can be sure your feedback is considered by the Development Team when it comes to adding enhancements to our software!

The Dish: How long have you been at Meals Plus?
Judd: Since the Spring of 2005.

TD: What duties and responsibilities does your position entail?
J: I manage all aspects of the software development process.

TD: What aspects of your position do you enjoy the most?
J: Problem solving. It could be a problem in our software or a creative solution to a new requirement or improving internal processes.

TD: What do you enjoy doing in your free time?
J: I enjoy being active, the outdoors and coaching my daughters' sports teams.

TD: What was your favorite lunch when you were in school?
J: Munchos, Cool Ranch Doritos and chocolate milk. This was before parents could monitor your lunch. :)

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:

In This Issue

- Palm Springs USD
  Case Study
- "Back to School"
  Stress
- Promoting Your
  Program
- Tasty Recipes with
  USDA Foods
- Meet the Team
- Conferences

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