Successful Food Service

Quite some time ago, I instituted an “Advertiser Loyalty Program” for folks who belong to Entrecard, an advertising community for bloggers.

Here’s the deal on my “Advertiser Loyalty Program”.

Every time you purchase a 24-hr ad spot from me, I enter you into a pool of that month’s advertiser. That means, at least, you have a 1 in 31 chance of winning at least 60 EC from me. I have five blogs, so you are welcome to advertise across all five and compete for each of the pools.

I also keep track of how many times you advertise with me. See that “Most Loyal Advertisers” in my Blogroll? Each of those bloggers have advertised at least 10 times with me. They may have advertised two times on each blog, or 10 times in just one blog. Either way, they all earned a permanent link for their efforts.

I also have a “big pool” made up of all the advertisers. I set aside 25% of the credits I receive from advertising, and when that totals 500, I go to a random number generator and select a winner, awarding them all 500 EC.

Who’s been winning? That’s where the link love comes in… Be sure to check out these folks. They each received at least 60 EC from this blog.

May Winner: Internet Marketing

June Winner: Tiffany In NYC

July Winner:  Harvesting Dollars

August Winner:  In Moon GoddessLae’s Pocket

If you’d like to get in on the action, join me at Entrecard It’s where bloggers really have come together to create a program that works.

I’ve been able to input at least three months of recipes/menus to their proprietary software.

This has enabled me to do portion costing, nutritional analysis, and also look at trending. With all the upheaval in costs, this software is priceless.

So, the word to the wise…

When you are formulating your business plan, be sure to research your supply line early in your planning process. Don’t be afraid to go to them and ask for assistance. The really good and honest purveyors will partner with you. After all, their success is dependent upon your success as a customer.

Because I’ve been using  a software program called “Now You’re Cooking”, I’ve had access to hundreds of thousands of recipes. All I’ve had to do is choose the one’s that work best for our situation. In all honesty, that’s easier said than done, as not every recipe has been “tested”, let alone proof-read.

Once I’ve selected a recipe, my own background has allowed me to pretty much make adjustments “on-the-fly”. The fun has been translating those recipes into the professional software of our purveyor.

A word about our purveyor…

We’re in an isolated area. While I’m accustomed to working with competitors, and even putting them one against the other a bit, that’s not the case here. In our area, we’re thankful when someone agrees to deliver without surcharges.

Our purveyor has been nothing short of awesome. Just as soon as contacted them to tell them of my intentions, they invited us to their annual Food Show (all expenses paid, except for fuel), and have patiently answered all our questions. They even sent the district supervisor out to install the software.

They did all this, knowing it could be months before we even get to compete for this contract.

I’d find the background legislation that tells me all about the “Older Americans Act Nutrition Program”.  I found references to the fact that rural meals programs may be less than 5 days a week upon an admin ruling by an Assistant Secretary. What it didn’t say is how few meals can be provided per week… something I’ll be keeping a close eye on, as we’re very rural.

I also found the directive that sets out the nutrition standards. Each meal provided must contain 1/3 of the Daily Nutrition Requirements as set forth in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2005. It looks like we’re well iside the regulations as we’re allowed 600 to 700 calories per meal. We’ll need to provide 2/3 cup of fruit, 2/3 cup vegetable, 2.6 oz from the Grain Group (bread, potatoes, rice, pasta), 2 oz meat (with at least 1 or 2 meals containing nuts, seeds or beans), 1 cup milk product (could be a cheese instead of milk). Additionally, they’d prefer we stay fairly low fat, and only provide a little additional sugary items.

This Dietary Guide is up for review and revision in 2010. Beyond the insistence of five servings daily of fruits and vegetables, I’ve been able to find precious little real direction.

My own intuition tells me that our meals should be free of trans-fats, and that the type of fats we use should be monosaturated (olive oil) or poly-unsaturated (canola, safflower), and that butter is better than margarine where we use it in cooking. We’ll be serving “Promise” as the preferred table spread.

One thing I’ve been unable to find is a direct requirement for a beverage. I find references to juices in place of fruits, and cheese in place of milk. We may very well take advantage of those changes, as many older people are “lactose intolerant”.  The cost/ease of serving an alternative lactose-free product makes it quite a challenge, and I’m not real sure of the acceptance level by our seniors.

Why on earth would I even consider going back to work, even for just 3 days a week?

Well, first there’s the opportunity to serve a growing population who needs the services offered by the Senior Center. That fits with my “Life Purpose”. God put me on this earth to serve others.

Secondly, the income is relatively stable and with three of us sharing the duties (and the profits) both Bev and I won’t earn more than we’re allowed by either SS or Medicare.

With that in mind, here are the particulars that are so intriguing.

This Senior Center serves parts of two counties. Because we are pretty remote, in terms of where the major poulations are in Utah, we’re kind of left to serve ourselves as best we can. I live in Iron County, and the Senior Center is in Enterprise (Washington County).

Located about 55 miles from Cedar City and 40 miles from St. George, this area has been growing up for the past several years. With gas well over $4.00 a gallon, things could all change rapidly as there is little employment in this valley. I seriously expect retirees to remain here, though, rather than relocating or even travelling.

At this time, this particular Senior Center provides Meals-On-Wheels as about 80% of the total meals provided. The remaining 20% are consumed by senior citizens, who come to the center on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.

There is a local senior “dial a ride” service that picks up and returns senior citizens who would rather not drive. That is a very nice service during the winter, as we often have snow and ice on the roads.

So, what’s the point?

The point of this blog is to share my experiences as I develop a food service business plan, which leads to obtaining a contract for a Senior Center, where my team will provide both “in house” and “Meals on Wheels” food service.

The challenges are budgetary, logistical, philosophical, nutritional, and physical. In time, I’ll discuss each challenge in detail.

Why would you want to read this blog?

Well, I have a “certain style” that may keep you entertained. If you’re a food service professional, you may find new tips, tricks, and techniques that you can then apply to your own situation. You may even become compelled to comment on certain posts.

If you’re the “average reader” who isn’t a food service professional, I’ll be including things you can do in your home kitchen, too. If you’re a recipe collector, you’re gonna love this site as I will be including a number of recipes. I’ll also be advocating for some “standardized” ways of putting your recipe on line.

So, stay tuned while I get content and goodies loaded up!

Shari Thomas