 CEO Spotlight - Surviving COVID-19
In my 40 years of running this company, I have never seen anything as destructive to the food service industry as this virus – or perhaps our government’s reaction to it. Needless to say, it has significantly impacted our entire client base which runs the gamut from the simplest to the most complex of food service companies. We all depend on each other, and while I can’t help in the kitchen, I might be able to offer some help with the biggest issue – cash flow. I recently sent a letter dealing with reducing inventory levels to maximize cash which you can read by following the link. I would also like to suggest getting accurate costs and contribution margin information on your recipes to better determine what should be offered on a take-out menu if that’s your only option. In addition to only offering items with the best margins, I suggest you select items for the take out menu that focus on the least amount of prep labor, the lowest possible spoilage costs for overestimated demand, and minimum number of total inventory ingredient requirements. I hope to send a much more detailed letter outlining these ideas next week.
We are using this slowdown period to get ahead of some of the projects we were not able to focus on with new business and existing client business setting the priorities. Now that things have slowed down, we have more time to do some projects that put us in a better place for the return of normal and hopefully even more robust business. I recommend the same for our clients. This might be a perfect time to work on cleaning up your FOOD-TRAK database and getting some extra training. We have put together a few options for those of you who would like to get your system and team well-oiled for the return and hopeful surge of business. Please be sure to check them out. And don’t forget to read about version 5.7 which will be out the first week of April, and the new FMP-NG which is out now with an extended special offer period.
Finally, let me personally extend my thanks, our entire team member’s thanks and our great appreciation for all of you, who have kept us in business for 4 decades. While the future is uncertain, at least we can be grateful for the past. Be strong, be safe, and I’m sure we will get through this better than ever.
Read the Article - Suggestions for Surviving COVID-19 Downturn
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 No Touch Take Out!
1. Collect payment in advance by phone or web form - include option for tips
2. Provide take out in paper containers - virus survives 4 hours on paper, 3 days on plastic
3. Provide curbside pick-up at predetermined time
4. Do not place orders on table at curb - carry out from inside
5. Wrap sanitizing wipe around handles
6. Carry out attendant wears gloves
7. Carry out attendant wears mask
8. Include sanitizing wipes in package
9. Change gloves after each delivery
10. Promote these no touch efforts on your web page - show you care
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 Special Training Offers!
NEW! Take advantage of the downturn to prepare for increased efficiency and profitability when business returns. We are offering a bundled set of FOOD-TRAK University courses to address the sales side of the business, and two bundled advisory service packages for individual clients looking to take things to the next level. Contact your account manager for details.
Bundled Course: Recipe Construction and Costing, Sales and Margin Analysis for Better Menu Creation and Engineering
Instructor-led class. Build and modify recipes and assign them target cost percentages. View the financial information about the recipes – selling price, cost, margin and food cost percentage – using the on screen cost modeling tool and the recipe data list. Generate the Red Flag report for notification on recipes that have exceeded their target cost. Analyze ranked contribution reports and menu engineering charts. (5 hours - $500)
Custom Advisory Bundles:
Focus Area 1: Advanced and Complex Recipe Management
This session is for clients with recipes that are looking for more advanced approaches to recipe construction, costing and handling complex recipe scenarios such as choices, cycle menus, all-you-can-eat portions and recipes with multiple levels of production. Create FOOD-TRAK recipes for fabricated items, buffets, specials, banquets, multi-level batch production and key items. (4 hours - $800)
Focus Area 2: Database Clean Up
Tackle your database clean-up project with help from our experts. Review the concept of duplicate items and the report inaccuracies they introduce. Perform a database truncation to remove old transactions from a site in order to freely delete unwanted items. Search and replace recipe ingredients. Revise templates. Inactivate items. Deploy auditing techniques to keep the database clean. (6 hours - $1200)
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 Development News - v5.7 Coming Soon!
• Requisition improvements. Getting reqs into the right hands quickly is the best way to efficiently receive the goods you need! This version includes TWO significant improvements in this regard! First, you can setup a list of email addresses per profit center that will automatically be notified via email that the req is complete and can be filled. Second, we’ve added a routing feature for requisitions. If you print the requisition form, a PDF copy of the req is displayed and you can route it to a specific printer or email it for immediate routing. Both of these enhancements should help streamline the entire requisition process for you.
• Numerous reports have been added with profit center grouping structures.
• New profit-center level costing approach to make costing by individual profit center more accurate.
• The procurement template manager has been modernized with a new grid and enhanced features and now has the same streamlined look and feel of the recently updated Inventory Template Manager. If you don’t use these template managers, we highly encourage you to check them out as it’s the quickest, easiest and most efficient way!
• Additional Profit Center Level reporting for Enterprise Procurement licensees is now available for the Cost of Goods, Management Summary, Inventory Level Variance and Inventory Extension reports.
• Several reports have been optimized for quicker processing times.
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 New Product Release: FMP-NG!
We are thrilled to announce the release of our latest mobile scanning product. The FOOD-TRAK Mobile Partner - Next Generation (FMP-NG) is by far the best and most technologically advanced inventory, receiving, requisition and transfer scanning product we have ever developed. And for a limited time, we are offering two free FMP-NG FOOD-TRAK University training classes - a $250 value for each scanner purchased.
Built from the ground up on an Android platform, the FMP-NG is being released as an upgrade to our previous FMP version, which was based on the now discontinued Windows Mobile platform. While we will continue to support the previous FMP software (extended warranties on the older hardware are also available from Zebra), we will no longer be offering the Windows-based software or devices. While writing code for a new operating system is a from-scratch development effort, this rewrite offered us an opportunity to rethink and develop the product using the most current languages, tools and technologies.
As with the previous FMP, the FMP-NG is a self-contained FOOD-TRAK system and does not require a constant connection to the host FOOD-TRAK server. The FMP-NG uses WiFi for synchronization with the host system resulting in super-fast data transfer to allow synchronizing on the fly whenever a connection is available. No more cradling or connection to a desktop required as was the case for the previous FMP. And no need to set up a download package on the host. The device automatically downloads all data needed based on the user login access and security rights. It also uploads all completed forms and barcode additions or changes. And the software is updated when necessary at the same time so the device always runs the most current version.
The user interface has been completely redesigned. Based on our popular FOOD-TRAK® Mobile App, the screens and menus are graphical and utilize the latest design approaches including touch screens, slide down and over menus, intelligent swiping, graphical selection screens with filters, and many of the most current approaches to mobile-based design.
The FMP-NG has a completely new function for adding barcodes to items independently of any forms, making barcode collection fast and simple. It also provides streamlined navigation between functions and a more intuitive approach to progressing through forms and filtering data. Reconciliation reports and routing slips can be generated and printed on any network or Bluetooth printers. In short, virtually every aspect of the previous FMP has been dramatically improved. This truly is the next generation system.
The current FOOD-TRAK system (version 5.6 or later) supports the use of both versions of the FMP at the same time. For example, your team could be using the old FMP and the new FMP-NG to take inventory of different profit centers, create requisitions and transfers or receive different orders, so you don't have to stop using one to get another. In that case, you would simply buy the new FMP-NG scanner and device license together. You also have the ability to stop using the old scanner and swap the old device license for the new version for just the cost of the scanner hardware - no license fee is required.
We offer three Zebra ruggedized scanner models. The TC-52 which resembles a smartphone, and two versions of the MC3300 which resembles the previous and most popular MC55 and has a physical keyboard. The MC3300 comes with or without a trigger grip. Both devices are ruggedized, can stand freezer and extreme heat, and have much faster processors and more RAM than the previous versions. They can also run most Android apps.
Click here for the product brochure.
Pricing for the new scanners is as follows:
MC3300 (no trigger grip): $1824 + optional $311 3-year warranty
MC3300G (with trigger grip): $2083 + optional $311 3-year warranty
TC-52 - Looks like a smartphone: $2336 + optional $353 3-year warranty
Clients with active software maintenance agreements for the previous FMP can upgrade to the FMP-NG at no cost (other than hardware). Clients with active maintenance FMA or FMA-SV licenses can swap those licenses for FMP-NG licenses for $500 plus maintenance if purchasing a scanner. Purchasing the FMP-NG licenses is exactly as it was for the FMP. The price is $1495 for the license alone, or $995 if purchased with a scanner.
We have prepared a special offer for early adopters! Clients who purchase a scanner from us between now and May 31, 2020 will receive a certificate for two FMP-NG training classes (a $250 value). The web-based classes have a live instructor and cover using the FMP-NG to collect barcodes and take inventory. Each class is approximately 1-hour in length.
Zebra is also offering a trade-in rebate for clients with existing FMP scanners they wish to swap for the Android models.* Zebra offers a $200 rebate for each scanner traded for an MC3300 and a $75 rebate for any scanner traded for a TC-52. *Exclusions apply.
Mobile data collection is by far the most efficient, accurate and real-time way to use the FOOD-TRAK System. We are dedicated to our various mobile platforms, and will continue to innovate as we have since we offered our first scanners in 1983. Clients who have them would never go back to paper forms. If you have not used these scanners in the past, there will never be a better time to start, and if you have our previous FMP version, you are going to love this new one even more! Please contact your account manager at 800.553.2438 for more information and to place orders.
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 Trainer's Tip
As described in the COVID-19 introduction, contribution margin information can be extremely helpful when pricing and engineering take out menus. It is calculated by determining the profit on a menu item and multiplying that by the number sold of that item. You can produce a variety of reports (listed below) with your FOOD-TRAK System that deal with contribution margin. One valuable approach is to have the system rank your menu items by contribution. That approach provides an easy way to look at which items are most profitable, which are least profitable and everything in between. Given the current situation, you would want to focus on your highest contribution items for your take out menu. Keep in mind that beverages, even though the margin per unit might be low, the fact that so many are sold could make beverages the highest contributors to your deposit slip! The ranked report will make that obvious. A grouped version of the report provides an analysis of menu item profitability within a product group as well as how the profitability of all product groups compare to other product groups.
FOOD-TRAK reports that include contribution information include Product Cost, Product Contribution, Red Flag, Menu Engineering, and Sales Analytics.
To view recipe margin information without sales impact the cost modeling function on the recipe or sales information screens can be used along with Recipe data list or a Red Flag report.
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Welcome New Clients
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Welcoming our new client:
Windsor Club
Vero Beach, FL |
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Welcoming our new client:
Husson University
Bangor, ME |
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Development News - v5.7 Coming Soon
Trainer's Tip
