Adjusting Forecasting Percentages for a Menu Item

• About Adjusting Forecasting Percentages for a Menu Item
• Adjusting Forecasting Percentages for a Menu Item
• What Happens on the Associated Forecasting Worksheet?
• What Happens if the Default Percentages are Changed in Forecasting Settings?
• FAQs
  • Does percentages forecasting take into account the therapeutic substitute items that are extended for a recipe?

About Adjusting Forecasting Percentages for a Menu Item

Percentages forecasting is configured with default forecasting percentages (either via the Percentages Forecast Method, the Set Method by Meal Forecast Method, or a forecast exception) and then applied to a menu that has choices.

For a menu item served on a particular day during a week in the menu cycle, you can adjust the default forecasting percentages with custom percentages, which the forecasting uses to generate new serving amounts on the forecasting worksheet and the production reports. The ability to adjust your percentages allows you to make the forecasting more accurate as you learn the popularity of the menu items during the menu cycle.

For example, assume that during week 2 of your menu cycle you discover that on Tuesday for dinner your entree item is not as popular as the default percentage of 90%, and instead only half of your residents are choosing it. Therefore on week 2 Tuesday for dinner, you adjust the entree item to 50%. When the menu cycle rolls around again to week 2 Tuesday, your adjusted forecasting of 50% for your dinner entree item will apply. 

Adjusting Forecasting Percentages for a Menu Item

To adjust the forecasting percentages for a menu item:

1. Open the menu to the menu day view for the desired week and day.
    
2. Click the Forecasting button. The Forecasting slide-out panel appears. 
   
   
    
3. From the Meals field, select the desired meal period (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner).
    
4. For the item to adjust forecasting for, enter its new percentage amount in the Percentage field. You can enter percentage numbers that equal more than 100%, so as to “pad” or “buffer” your serving numbers accordingly.
   
   Note the following:
   • If the menu is assigned to more than one menu service location (MSL), and separate default forecasting percentages are set up across the different MSLs, then the MSL tabs are available for you to select from. 
     
     
      
   • If the advanced ordering census is included to be forecast, and separate forecast methods are applied to the service types, then the Service Type drop-down is available for you to select from:
     
     
      
5. Click the Save button to apply your changes.

What Happens on the Associated Forecasting Worksheet?

When you adjust percentages for menu item, and the associated forecasting worksheet is not locked, then that new percentage is applied on the forecasting worksheet. 

If the forecasting worksheet is locked, then the percentage adjustments made for a menu item will not apply on the forecasting worksheet. To apply these adjustments to a locked forecasting worksheet, you need to either unlock the worksheet or click the Recalculate button on the locked worksheet. 

What Happens if the Default Percentages are Changed in Forecasting Settings?

If the default percentages are changed in the forecasting settings (either via the Percentages Forecast Method or the Set Method By Meal Method), then those default percentages overwrite any custom percentages set for the menu items and the forecasting worksheets.

FAQs

Does percentages forecasting take into account the therapeutic substitute items that are extended for a recipe?

Yes. The percentages forecasting takes into account the therapeutic substitute items that are extended for a recipe. For example's sake, assume the following: 

• 50% forecasting is applied to choice 1.
• 50% forecasting is applied to choice 2.
• Diet order census: 14 residents are assigned the regular diet/texture type, and 4 residents are assigned the regular diet/pureed texture type. 

The percentages forecasting is calculated as follows for the pureed (PU4) items: