Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
What do I have to provide?
What’s the turnaround time?
How will I receive my results?
Why not do it ourselves?
What do I have to provide?
Detailed steps of our process are outlined here. First and foremost, we need your recipes, subrecipes, and prep notes in as much detail as possible.
Equally important, we need a direct contact with a kitchen expert in your restaurant. That person needs to be familiar with all the finished menu items, the ingredients, and all the recipes you use. We will keep your contact informed on our progress, as well as have them clarify any questions that may arise.
We need to receive an electronic copy of every recipe you use in your restaurant. That includes every “sub recipe” as well. A sub recipe is used as an ingredient in another recipe, like a sauce, that may not show up directly on your menu. The format is not critical, but some can be processed faster than others.
Your restaurant’s planning or plating guide is next so that we know everything that goes on a specific menu item, complete with sides. Finally, there are times we may need your help in collecting the manufacturer’s information for specialty or proprietary ingredients.
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What is the time frame for our menu items to be analyzed?
We have found that menus vary greatly and it does in fact depend on how organized you are at the start. As one client recently said, “I thought I was organized before we began, I now know just how disorganized I actually was.” We are fond of saying if you do not have your menu and recipes together before we begin to work with you most certainly will by the time we are done.
Turnaround time can be as little as 1 to 2 weeks for the restaurant that has the information we need ready to go. It will take longer if we are helping you to create your recipe book and plate make ups. During the process your MenuTrinfo account representative will ask questions to clarify instructions or resolve ambiguities. The faster you are able to answer questions the faster you will see your final results.
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How will I receive my results?
At MenuTrinfo we deliver your results in many different formats and views for your immediate use. They can be taken to your menu experts, graphic artist, or web site developer to present this information to your customers. You can see an individual menu item in detail for nutritional content or look at each menu item in a traditional label format. Most reports are in Excel spreadsheets, some are in a text document, and traditional labels are individual graphics files.
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Why use the MenuTrinfo service vs. doing it ourselves?
There is indeed software that allows you to analyze your recipes for an apparently low up-front cost. However, there are some hidden costs about equipment, time, and expertise that also fall on your shoulders. In today’s world there are always more things to accomplish than time to do them. Do you have the employees, equipment, and time budgeted to learn the software, add specialty products into someone else’s database, review and enter all of your recipes and sub-recipes? It takes longer than you think. And you’ll miss out on the experience of the nutrition data technologists of our staff.
Read this chart for some more points to ponder, remembering the adage “You get what you pay for”.
If you think you are “less than prepared” to take this step, give us a call. We’ll find a way to extend our expertise to your kitchen.
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