About Favouring a Non-Verified Vendor Product (i.e., "Soft Link")
As a facility account, it is possible to select a vendor product for a food item when that vendor product is already linked (i.e., verified) to another food item. This is known as a "soft link" between the vendor product and the new food item because the vendor product is not verified for the new food item.
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.
Using soft links may be required for a recipe ingredient that does not match exactly a product that you have. For example, the recipe states to use low sodium bacon; however your facility does not purchase low sodium bacon and instead uses regular bacon. While MealSuite recommends updating the recipe with your available ingredient (i.e., regular bacon), this may not always be feasible. Therefore you can "soft link" the regular bacon vendor product to the low sodium bacon food item for your costing purposes.
Creating a Soft Link
To create a soft link between a vendor product and a food item, complete the following steps:
- From the left navigation pane, select Procurement > Buying Preferences.
- Select the Vendor Product Selection tab (if not already selected). The Vendor Production Selection screen appears.
- 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.
- Click the gear icon in the Actions column for the item and select Edit. The Similar Vendor Products window appears.
- Select the All Vendor Products filter. The system places the key word of the food item into the Search field and generates a list of potential vendor products for that food item. (Right-click screenshot below to open and expand in new tab). You can also search for a product by entering its name or product ID in the Search field.
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.
- A vendor product that is currently linked (i.e., verified) to another food item can be soft linked. Such a vendor product is identified with Linking Not Available and an empty heart icon, as per the screenshot below. Hovering your cursor over the question mark displays the food item the product is currently linked to.
Note: If the vendor product you want to soft link displays Suggest Link, then it cannot be soft linked until it first has been linked (i.e., verified) to an accurate food item by the MealSuite Nutrition Services team. Click Suggest Link to do so and specify the pack size; for more information and further instructions, on suggesting a link, see Suggesting a Vendor Product be Linked to a Food Item.
- To soft link for the vendor product, click its heart icon. The heart turns red to indicate the vendor product is now soft linked to the food item.