We’re Halfway Through the School Year; Now is a Good Time to Look at Your Inventory Levels

We hope you find these inventory management tips from our Child Nutrition Operations Consultant, Cynthia Sevier, SNS, helpful! For more information on Cynthia’s consulting services, contact us today.

As the first half of the school year quickly approaches, it is a good time to take a look at inventory levels in schools. Inventory control is having enough inventory on hand to meet expectations within a certain period of time, but not having excess that lends itself to spoilage or theft. High inventories tie up cash, take up storage space and are more difficult to count. Low inventories result in the inability to follow menus or standardized recipes, which can affect participation or acceptability of the finished products. It could also have a direct impact on whether or not federal and state program regulations are met.

So how much inventory is excessive or inadequate? Inventory level goals can be set for each school site based on food costs and the number of days of inventory that is on hand. Measure of inventory efficiency is the number of days on hand and the turnover rate.

Most authorities set the standard of having 7-10 days of inventory on hand and have a turnover rate of 2-3.

Using food cost goals as a percent to revenue and determining inventory levels can not only help managers to be aware of the processes of ordering, receiving, production and tracking food at their school, but to also look for ways to control waste and theft.

For additional information on inventory control for your child nutrition department, take a look at the white paper I authored, “Managing the Money on the Pantry Shelves.”