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.”

For more tips on managing your district cafeterias’ inventory, download your free copy of
“Managing the Money on the Pantry Shelves: Inventory Management for Your Child Nutrition Department”