- About Uploading or Adding Vendor Products
- Importing a Vendor Product List (e.g., Order Guide) from Excel® File
- Manually Adding a Product
- Confirming if Vendor Product Requires Linking to a Food Item
- Editing a Vendor Product
- Excel File Requirements
About Uploading or Adding Vendor Products
If your account uses a non-partner vendor (i.e., a vendor without an interface that automatically populates your vendor product list), you have to upload your vendor product list by importing an Excel® file of vendor products, such as an order guide or product catalog. You can also add individual products.
Vendor products uploaded/added to your account will then need to be verified and linked to a parent food item (i.e., ingredient or prepared food) in the system.
Once a product is verified and linked, it can then be selected for the food item for use as the ingredient in a recipe or, if a prepared food, added to a menu itself. For more information, see Verified Vendor Products and the Selected Product for a Food Item.
The method of how a vendor product is verified and linked to a parent food item depends on the non-partner vendor type.
- If the vendor is a system vendor (aka "managed vendor"), there is a possibility that the vendor product will be automatically verified and linked to a food item. This automatic linking will occur if the vendor product had been previously added by another MealSuite account, and then subsequently verified and linked by the MealSuite Nutrition Services team. If the vendor product does not get automatically linked, then you will have to request that the product be linked to the appropriate food item; to do so see Suggesting a Vendor Product be Linked to a Food Item.
- If the vendor is an account-specific vendor (aka "user-maintained vendor"), you will have to request that the product be verified and linked to the appropriate food item in the system; to do so, see Suggesting a Vendor Product be Linked to a Food Item).
Importing a Vendor Product List from Excel® File
Prior to importing your vendor product list, such as an order guide or product catalog, ensure the requirements of the Excel file are met; see Excel File Requirements below.
To import your vendor product list file:
- Select Procurement > Vendors & Products. The Vendors screen appears.
- For the vendor and DC who you want to import the file for, click its name. The Product List screen specific to the vendor appears.
- Click the Import Order Guide button. The Import Products slide-out panel appears.
- Click Browse to navigate to and select the order guide.
- If there is more than one customer number/business relationship associated with the vendor, then the Customer number field is available for you to select the customer number/business line the products apply to.
- Click the Upload File button. The Map and Import section appears.
- If you are a MealSuite corporate or system account, then the Publish to Child Accounts check box is available for you to publish the order guide to the MealSuite child accounts for any child account that has added the vendor and associated DC to their account.
- If importing the guide for the first time, then it does not matter if Replace Order Guide or Add to Order Guide option is selected. If importing the guide when an existing guide has been imported, then you have the option to replace the existing guide by selecting the Replace Order Guide option or adding to the existing guide by selecting the Add to Order Guide option. It is recommended to select the Replace Order Guide option to have an up-to-date vendor product list with current pricing, and if an existing product in your current vendor product list is not in the order guide, the status will be set to a dropped or out of stock status (depending on the vendor nomenclature) for that product. Therefore, if the vendor product is currently linked (i.e., verified) to a food item, then that link continues to be maintained in the system
- Proceed to "Mapping the Fields" section below.
Mapping the Fields
When you import the file, you may be required to map certain column names in the file to the appropriate MealSuite fields via the Map and Import section (screenshot below). For example, you will map “Item Number” from the file to the Product ID field in MealSuite.
The left side of the table in the Column Header for CSV column displays the column names in the .csv file. The right side of the table contains Map To drop-down fields from which you can select the appropriate MealSuite fields to map to.
At a minimum the following MealSuite fields need to be mapped to from their corresponding column in the Excel file:
- Product ID
- Description
- Brand
- SU per Pack (stock units per pack)
- Stock Unit & Stock Unit Measure*
- Pack Price
*The Stock Unit & Stock Unit Measure is the weight or volume of the individual stock unit and its associated unit of measure. For example, 100 oz (i.e., an individual stock unit weighs 100 ounces). This field can be mapped from the Vendor Pack Size in the file.
Note that MealSuite system will automatically attempt to select the appropriate Map To field.
You have the option of not mapping a column name by selecting Do Not Map This Field.
If the vendor product contains an allergen, you will have to select Do Not Map This Field, as the system does not allow an allergen associated with a vendor product to be mapped.
Aside from the mandatory Map To fields listed above, there may be additional fields to map to, such as the following:
- Catch Weight - the method of pricing food items that have a variable weight, such as meat, cheese, and vegetables. The price of a catch weight item is based on its average or approximate weight. Upon delivery or receiving of a catch weight item, its actual weight is known, and as such its final price is adjusted accordingly.
- Breakable - the pack is breakable to allow for the purchase of individual stock units instead of a full pack.
- Unit Price - price of an individual stock unit if the pack is breakable.
Finishing Steps
When you finish selecting the Map To fields, complete the following steps:
- Click the Import button to apply your changes. The Import Confirmation slide-out panel appears to validate the records being mapped.
- Any invalid data that is detected from the validation process is listed, meaning the affected product rows from the file will not be imported. If so, you can cancel the import process by clicking the Cancel Product Import button and open the file to readjust the affected rows, or you can click the Reconfigure Product Import button to return to the mapping (step 1 above) to readjust the mapping.
- To begin the import process after the validation is completed, click the Confirm Product Import button.
- When the import process is complete, a success message appears.
- Click the Return to Product List link to close the slide-out panel and return to the product list, where the products from the file are now listed.
- The products that were uploaded will then need to each be verified and linked to an appropriate parent food item (i.e., ingredient or prepared food) in the system. The method of how a vendor product is verified and linked to a parent food item depends on the non-partner vendor type and therefore may require you to request the link. See Confirming if Vendor Product Requires Linking to a Food Item below.
Manually Adding a Product
You can manually add a product to the vendor product list if the vendor is not a partner vendor (i.e., vendor with an interface to automatically populate your vendor product list). To determine the source of your vendor product list, see Determining Source of a Vendor Product List.
To manually add a product, complete the following steps:
- Select Procurement > Vendors & Products. The Vendors screen appears.
- For the vendor who you want to add products to, click its name. The Product List screen specific to the vendor appears.
- Click the Add Products button. The New Vendor Product slide-out panel appears.
- Enter the product information in the available fields. Fields with an orange left border are mandatory.
-
Product ID - the product ID is specific to the vendor and not the actual product.
-
UPC (universal product code) - the UPC is specific to the actual product.
-
GTIN (global trade item number) - the GTIN is specific to the actual product. The system uses the GTIN to attempt to pull in the nutrient profile from a GS1 GDSN data pool: 1WorldSync for US products; GS1 Canada for Canadian products.
-
Description - enter a description for the product (e.g., "Bread Wheat Loaf").
-
Brand (if applicable) - if you do knot know the brand, select Generic.
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Attributes - optional values that help identify product specifics. For example, “Locally Produced”, “Peanut Free”, “Halal”, etc.
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Customer number (available if vendor has more than one customer number/business line relationship) - select the customer number/business line to be associated with the product.
-
SU per Pack (level 1) - enter the selling unit of the vendor product. For more information on this field with specific examples to help you understand what to enter, see Vendor Product Pack Size and Weight.
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Stock Unit (i.e., the stock unit of measure; level 3) - enter the weight or volume of a single stock unit. For example, for read-to-serve applesauce cups that weight 4 oz each, enter 4 oz; for tomato juice cans that weight 5.5 oz, enter 5.5 oz. If a standard unit of measure is not applicable for the product, then you can create a special unit of measure (SUoM), such as “each”. To do so, see Entering Special Unit of Measure below. For more information on the Stock Unit field with examples, see Vendor Product Pack Size and Weight.
-
TI-HI - indicates how many packs/cases are on a pallet (TI = number of packs/cases stored on a tier/layer, and HI = number of tiers/layers that are stacked high on the pallet). If a value is entered for TI-HI, the Pallet Price field becomes available for you to enter the price of a pallet.
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Pack Weight - the weight of a pack/case (automatically calculated)
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Items per SU (level 2)- depending on the vendor product, you have the option to define how many items are contained. For example, if the vendor product is a six pack of ready-to-serve applesauce cups, then enter 6. For more information on the Items per SU field with examples, see Vendor Product Pack Size and Weight.
-
Catch Weight - the method of pricing food items that have a variable weight, such as meat, cheese, and vegetables. The price of a catch weight item is based on its average or approximate weight. Upon delivery or receiving of a catch weight item, its actual weight is known, and as such its final price is adjusted accordingly.
-
Breakable - select this option if the pack is breakable to allow for the purchase of individual stock units instead of a full pack. Upon selecting the Breakable option, the screen refreshes with the following options:
-
Always Purchase - select your purchase preference: individual Stock Unit (
) or Full Pack (
).
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Unit price - enter the price of an individual stock unit.
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Always Purchase - select your purchase preference: individual Stock Unit (
-
Pack Price - the price of a pack/case. For example, if a pack of 12 loaves of bread is $15.00, then enter 15.00.
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Pallet Price (only available if a value for TI-HI is entered) - the price of a pallet of packs/cases.
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Availability - this field is available for situations in which you discover the availability status of the vendor product and it needs to be indicated. For example, “Out of Stock”, “Discontinued”, etc.
-
Product ID - the product ID is specific to the vendor and not the actual product.
- To upload an image of the product, hover your cursor over the bottom right corner of the image placeholder and click the edit icon that appears. You can then navigate to and select the desired image.
- If you are a MealSuite corporate or system account, and more than one distribution center (DC)/store is associated with the vendor, then you can select the DCs/stores of the product by clicking the Add link and selecting the DC/store. More than one DC/store can be selected for the product. Your MealSuite child accounts with that vendor and DC/store will have access to the products of that DC/store.
- Click the Save button to apply your changes. The newly-added product appears in the product list.
- The product will then need to be verified and linked to an appropriate parent food item (i.e., ingredient or prepared food) in the system. The method of how a vendor product is verified and linked to a parent food item depends on the non-partner vendor type and therefore may require you to request the link. See Confirming if Vendor Product Requires Linking to a Food Item below.
Entering Special Unit of Measure
For the Stock Unit, if a standard unit of measure (i.e., oz, lb, gram) is not applicable, then you can create a special unit of measure and define its weight. For example, the special unit of measure is "each", and an "each" weighs six ounces. To create a special unit of measure, complete the following steps:
- Adjacent to the Stock Unit field, select Other from the unit of measurement drop-down (first screenshot below). The Custom stock Unit pop-up appears (second screenshot below).
- In the Name field, enter your custom stock unit name (e.g., Each).
- In the Weight/Volume field, enter the approximate weight or volume of the custom stock unit, and in the adjacent field, select the appropriate unit of measure (i.e., grams, ounces, quarts, etc.).
- Click Save to apply your changes and close the pop-up.
Confirming if Vendor Product Requires Linking to a Food Item
When a vendor product list is uploaded or a product manually added, a product needs to be verified and linked to a parent food item (i.e., ingredient or prepared food) in the system. Depending if you added a product for a system vendor (aka "managed vendor") or an account-specific vendor (aka "user-maintained vendor"), refer to the appropriate subsection below.
- If Vendor is a System Vendor (aka "managed vendor")
- If Vendor is an Account-Specific Vendor (aka "user-maintained vendor")
If you need to confirm the type of vendor, see Determining the Type of Vendor below.
If Vendor is a System Vendor (aka "managed vendor")
If the vendor is a system vendor (aka "managed vendor"), there is a possibility that the vendor product will be automatically verified and linked to a food item. This automatic linking will occur if the vendor product had been previously added for use by another MealSuite account, and then subsequently verified and linked by the MealSuite Nutrition Services team or their AI process.
To confirm if the product is automatically linked, open the vendor product list screen and search for and open the product to see if it has a parent food item; see Searching for and Opening Specific Vendor Product. Alternatively, you can ensure the Parent Food column is displayed on the vendor product list screen to see parent food items for the products displayed; if a parent food is not displayed, then the Request Food link is available to suggest a link.
If the vendor product does not get automatically linked, then you will have to request that the product be linked to the appropriate food item; to do so see Suggesting a Vendor Product be Linked to a Food Item.
If Vendor is an Account-Specific Vendor (aka "user-maintained vendor")
If the vendor is an account-specific vendor (aka "user-maintained vendor"), you will have to request that the product be verified and linked to the appropriate food item in the system; to do so, see Suggesting a Vendor Product be Linked to a Food Item).
Determining the Type of Vendor
To determine the type of vendor:
- Open the Vendors screen (Procurement > Vendors & Products).
- The vendor type is displayed in the Type of Vendor column (screenshot below). If the column is not displayed, then click the Set Columns button to add the column.
Editing a Vendor Product
You can edit a product if the vendor is not a partner vendor (i.e., vendor with an interface to automatically populate your vendor product list). To determine the source of your vendor product list, see Determining Source of a Vendor Product List.
To edit a product, complete the following steps:
- Select Procurement > Vendors & Products. The Vendors screen appears.
- Click the name link of the vendor you want to open. The Product List screen for the vendor appears.
- For the product you want to edit, click its gear icon and click Edit.
- The product slide-out panel appears. Make your edits as necessary. Rather than repeat details regarding the fields here, the same details can be found in the Manually Adding a Product section above.
Note: If you can only edit the Pack Price of a product (screenshot below), it indicates that the vendor product list is controlled by your parent account. To have other details of the product edited, please contact your parent account. If you are a parent account, edit the product as needed, and then update the product list to your child account via the following instructions: Corporate or System Account: How to Publish Vendor Product List to Child Accounts?
- Click the Save button to apply your changes.
Excel File Requirements
The requirements of the Excel file being imported with vendor products are documented below. In addition, a PDF is available for you to download and distribute as needed.
Note: The MealSuite system will not perform any formatting or apply any logic to the imported data. The data from the file will be imported and displayed “as is”.
File Must Be in .xlxs Format
The file must be in .xlxs format (per screenshot below).
Required Columns
The file must contain columns with the following data:
- Product ID
- Description
- Brand
- Stock units per pack
- Stock unit weight/volume and unit of measure*
- Pack price
*The stock unit weight/volume and unit of measure is the weight or volume of the individual stock unit and its associated unit of measure. For example, 100 oz (i.e., an individual stock unit weighs 100 ounces). This data can be the vendor pack size on a file.
No Leading Spaces in Product ID Cells
Ensure there are no leading spaces in the product ID item number cells.
PDF of Excel File Requirements
The attachment below contains the Excel file requirements in PDF for you to download and distribute as needed: