Evaluation of Food Service Program

1
Evaluation of Food Service Program

• Lois Chait, MBA, RD, CDN, SNS
• Nutrition Consultant

2
Purpose of this report

• Assess operation of the Districts Child
  Nutrition Program regarding overall operation
• Suggestions to rework some of the issues to
  improve total operation of program and decrease
  costs.

3
Discussion

• Bidding
• Labor
• Enrollment and Participation
• Breakfast Program
• Snacks
• Meal Charges and Policy

4

• Visited on June 2
• Talked to Food Service Manager, Clerical Staff
• They gave me
• Revenue Reports
• Expense Reports
• Reimbursement Reports
• Invoices
• Bids

5
School Lunch Programs A Juggling Act between
Healthy Nutrition and Finances

• Pressure to ensure that there is a positive
  bottom line.
• Child nutrition is a revenue source.

6
Operating costs are increasing.

• Food Costs
• Fuel/Delivery Costs
• Service/maintenance
• Labor Costs
• Employee Benefits
• This year costs 30, 072.96.
• State Reimbursement has not seen
• an increase in 20 years and in fact this year
  was decreased by 8.
• Vending and a la carte sales need to be
  reevaluated, prices need to be increased.

7
School Lunch Program need to be treated as a
business and as such there will be difficult
decisions to make if the goal is to increase
student participation and reduce expenses
8
What Does it Cost to Prepare a School Meal?
Cost Type Cost Food Costs 1.15 Non-Food
Costs 0.14 Labor Costs 1.26 Indirect
Costs 0.11 TOTAL COSTS 2.70 (national
school lunch cost average 2.60 to 3.10)
Pocantico approximately 4.12. (Profit and Loss
statement
Source SNA Preliminary
9
Purchasing

• 16,000 was spent last year on items that are
  bought in a local supermarket. There is a loss of
  control when one individual is purchasing items
  without regards to the bidding process.
• Berkshire Foods had invoices over 10,000 which
  is above limit set by municipal law.
• BOCES has bid for some items but not all items.
  Can discuss with them adding those items that are
  being used.

10
BIDDING PROCESS

• MUNICIPAL LAW and Pocantico School District
  Regulations
• 1,000.00-4,000.00 Discretion of Purchasing Agent
• 4,001.006,000.00Quotations from at least
• 3 separate vendors (Quotes need to be awarded to
  lowest and responsible bidder
• 6,000.00 - 9,999.00 Formal written quotations
  from at least 3 separate vendors

11
Bidding Process

• With quotations over 8,001.00-19,999.00 Formal
  written quotes should be received from at least
  three (3) separate vendors (if available) It is
  strongly suggested that you bid out those items
  like snacks that are apt to be bid by the current
  vendors and other vendors.
• Certain foods are exempt from bidding, local
  produce, food products grown, produced or
  harvested and./or processed in NYS. You can
  separately purchase eggs, livestock, fish, dairy
  products, species of fresh fruit and vegetables
  directly from producers or growers. But these
  items must be produced in New York, careful
  planning must be done so that you know it is from
  New York.

12

• PROGRAM OPERATIONS
• Labor
• The district operates with
• Full time cook-manager working at least 7 hours
  per day plus overtime.
• 2 other full time employees working 7 hours per
  day working plus overtime.
• 4th Employee that is part-time but working
  overtime.
• I was unable to collect the amount of
  overtime that is actually being used. This still
  needs to be reviewed by Pocantico.
• It is imperative that your total goal be
  generating a positive fund balance and
  maintaining it.

13
Labor

• The Direct Labor cost includes social security
  and health insurance is 66 of Pocanticos costs.
• Goal should be approximately 55, you can see
  that you are either not serving enough meals to
  support the labor hours or are overstaffed.
• Pocanticos goal should be to stabilize expense
  and slowly lessen the subsidy.

14
Meals per Labor Hours

• One method of evaluating the amount of labor that
  a program needs is to calculate Meals Per Labor
  Hours (MPLH). This determines how many hours of
  labor Pocantico needs and how many meals do these
  labor hours produce.
• 15 MPLH in a program that uses a combination of
  convenience (frozen entrees) foods and on-site
  scratch production. This applies to Pocantico.

15
Meals Per Labor Hours

• A review of the Meals Per Labor Hours with snack
  foods included is 12.5 . This is far below the
  MPLH goal of 18. The a la carte items sold are
  small which in your case would bring up the MPLH.
  
• The size of your district is obviously at a
  disadvantage but less labor hours would reduce
  the sizable amount of money that this program is
  losing each year.

16
2007-2008 Costs
SALARIES 125277.4 54 Total Labor Costs
FICA 9506.59 4 67
HEALTH 20481.12 9
CONTRACTUAL 1011.77 4
REPAIRS 900 4
FOOD 65843.3 2.8
SUPPLIES 10199.14 4.3
17
By the district improving purchasing techniques
it will

• Save staff time
• Reduce paperwork
• Increased competition by vendors would give
• Better Pricing
• Better Product Selection
• Improved product quality
• Reduces labor of manager who shops in store

18
Pocantico School DistrictEnrollment and
Participation in Child Nutrition Program
Number of Students Number of Students Eating Lunch Number of Students Eating Breakfast Number of Hours Breakfast/Lunch
327 150 -46 9 2.7 B 2 per day/ L 26 per day
19
BREAKFAST
Breakfast expenses are very high in comparison to
revenue. Very low participation at breakfast
and revenue is small. Total revenue for the
year until June 2nd is 2,439.19. Food service
manager uses approximately 2 hours to serve and
prepare breakfast as the students come into the
cafeteria until 1000 A.M. Total for breakfast
with reimbursement and revenue received is
4243.19 for the entire year. 2 hours per day
for food service manager is 17,000.
20
Point of Sale

• Microcheck has not given adequate support to the
  program.
• Pre-Payment plans with a credit card system would
  encourage school lunches to be purchased.
• Microcheck has not helped lunch manager to
  separate the pre-paid students from the cash
  students.

21
Student and Staff meal charges

• Student meal charges have typically been
  absorbed by the cafeteria fund. Just recently
  this has changed. All leftover charges must go
  into general fund according to State Education
  Department.
• As of June 2nd charges were 883.00. Staff are
  charging and not paying after 1 charge. State
  Education Department has written a policy that no
  staff should be charging
• Snacks are being charged.

22
Recommendations

• Use more BOCES bids. Request additional items
  that are being used on your bids
• Bid on snacks, beverages, meat produce, dairy and
  commodity delivery.
• Manager should have access to all bids so she can
  do the appropriate ordering.
• Do not go shopping at the supermarket. No
  control and auditing problems.
• Eliminate breakfast one needs to determine who
  needs it and provide those children with cereal,
  milk and commodity fruit or juice without a
  breakfast program.

23
Recommendations

• Increase price of lunch to 2.75. That would
  increase revenue by 15,187.50. 2.50 would
  increase it by 13,500.00.
• Eliminating breakfast would decrease costs from
  labor reductions.
• Only two employees are needed one being the
  lunch manager. Another employee should be
  available as a substitute.
• Establish Charge Policy.
• Do not allow staff to charge.
• Determine what is the maximum meals to be charged
  and what would be the substitute meal.

24
Summary

• Tough decisions to be made
• Examine costs (labor, food, other) and make
• changes in areas that you do not feel
  compromise the quality of service or
  participation
• Significant meal price increases will be needed.
• Charge policy that is consistent
• Bidding changes
• Instruction of staff in meal planning, sanitation
  and improved school lunch knowledge