- About Suggesting a Vendor Product be Linked to a Food Item
- Confirm if Food Item is in System
- Suggesting a Vendor Product be Linked to a Food Item
About Suggesting a Vendor Product be Linked to a Food Item
For a vendor product that is currently not linked to a food item, you can submit a "Suggest Link" request to have that vendor product linked to a food item. The request is sent to MealSuite Nutrition Services to verify and create the link. Once the product is linked, it can then be selected for the food item.
The following scenarios can warrant submitting a "Suggest Link" request:
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Vendor products were manually added, and now require linking to a food item in the system.
- For a food item with no matching vendor product, you can search for a currently unlinked vendor product and submit a "Suggest Link" request for that unlinked vendor product to be linked to the food item.
- If attempting to use an approved purchasing list (APL) to select a vendor product for a food item, and you do not see an existing verified product to select, then you can search for a currently unlinked vendor product and submit a "Suggest Link" request for that unlinked vendor product to be linked to the food item.
Once the vendor product is linked to the food item by MealSuite Nutrition Services, then that vendor product is available to be selected for the food item.
Confirm if Food Item is in System
For a vendor product to be linked to a food item, first confirm if the food item exists in the system. To do so see, Searching for a Food Item.
- If the food item exists, see Suggesting a Vendor Product be Linked to a Food Item below.
- If the food item does not exist, then you can request that it be added to the system via the following form: Ingredient Request Form. The form also allow you to enter the vendor product info that you want to link to the food item. The food item will be added by the MealSuite Nutrition Services team.
Suggesting a Vendor Product be Linked to a Food Item
After confirming the food item exists in the system, then complete the following steps to suggest a vendor product be linked to the food item:
- Open the Vendor Product Selection screen.
- In the Search field, enter the name of the food item and click the magnifying glass to return results (note that entering the food item ID in the Search field does not return results). You can also locate the food item using the necessary filter tools.
- For the food item, click the gear icon in the Actions column and select Edit (first screenshot below). The Similar Vendor Products window appears (second screenshot below).
- Select the All Vendor Products filter, and in the Search field enter the name or ID of the product to be linked and click Go. The screen refreshes with a list of vendor products that match your search (second screenshot below).
Note: If the product you are searching for is not available, it indicates it is not available in your vendor product list. If so, see What If a Vendor Product is Not On a Vendor Product List for options.
- For the product you want to link to the item, click Suggest Link (first screenshot below). The Specify Pack Size pop-up appears (second screenshot below).
Note: If the product you want to link states Linking Not Available (screenshot below), it means it is currently linked to an existing food item. If you are a facility account, then even though you cannot link the product to your food item, there is the ability to create a "soft link" by selecting the heart icon. When you create a soft link, the price of the vendor product will update the costing on recipes and menus, but the nutrient data of that vendor product will not be used. For more information on soft links and properly using them, see Facility Accounts: Favouring a Non-Verified Vendor Product ("Soft Link").
- Enter the following as needed (see Specify Pack Size Examples below to aid you in completing the fields):
- Stock Units per Pack - enter the number of stock units per pack/case.
- Qty of Single Stock Unit - enter the quantity of a single stock unit.
- Stock Unit Amount - enter the weight or volume amount of the stock unit. If the unit of measure is custom, such as "Each", then enter the amount of the custom stock unit of measure.
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Stock Unit - enter the unit of measure of the stock unit. You can also create a custom unit of measurement, such as "Each" by selecting Custom. Doing so refreshes the pop-up with the following fields:
- Name Other Unit of Measure - enter the custom unit of measure name, such as "Each".
- Weight or Volume of 1 - enter the weight or volume amount of the stock unit along with the appropriate unit of measure.
- Click the Submit Suggestion button to submit the suggestion to the MealSuite Nutrition Services team to implement; the Linking Action now states Link Pending to indicate the request has been received by MealSuite Nutrition Services.
Turnaround Time for MealSuite Nutrition Services
The turnaround time for MealSuite Nutrition Services to verify and create the link is within 24 hours.
Confirming the Vendor Product Has Been Linked to Food Item
To confirm if the vendor product has been linked to the desired food item by MealSuite Nutrition services, open the verified vendor products of that food item to see if the vendor product is listed. To do so, see Viewing Verified Vendor Products for a Food Item.
If the vendor product could not be linked to the desired food item by MealSuite Nutrition Services, then it most likely would have been linked to another appropriate food item. By searching for the vendor product you can see what food item the product is linked to via the Parent Food column (screenshot below). To set columns on a Vendor Product list screen, see Setting Preferred Columns on a Vendor Product List Screen.
Specify Pack Size Examples
The examples below can help aid you in completing the fields for the Specify Pack Size pop-up (step 5 above):
- A soda that comes in in 24-355 mL cans
- A soda that comes in 24-12 oz cans
- Flour that comes in 1-25 lb bag
- Flour that comes in 25-1 lb bags
- Watermelon purchased as 2- 1 each and each watermelon weighs 1 lb