- About the Special Event Menu
- Methods to Create a Special Event Menu
- Printing Special Event Menus
- Forecasting for Special Event Menus
- FAQs
About the Special Event Menu
A special event menu is a single day menu designed for festive occasions or emergencies in which the standard menu is not served. When a special event menu is scheduled, it will be served in place of the standard menu for that day. Once the day passes, your standard menu goes back into effect.
Special event menus can also be created for a single meal period (breakfast, lunch or dinner). Therefore, if you are serving a lunch holiday meal, you can just create a special event menu for lunch. On the day such a special event menu is active, the breakfast is served from the standard menu, lunch is served from the special event menu, and dinner is served from the standard menu.
Methods to Create a Special Event Menu
To create a special event menu, you have the following options:
- Copy an existing special event menu as a base and modify as needed.
- Create a new blank special event menu from scratch and add items to it or copy menu items from another menu to it.
Printing Special Event Menus
- To print a menu report of a special event menu, select the special event menu from the Search by Menus field in the base settings for menu reports.
- When printing the Week-at-a-Glance (WaaG) Report (Menus), ensure the Include Weekly Service Date option is selected so that you can can select a start date of a menu cycle. Doing so will print the weekly service dates within the menu cycle on the report, and allow any special event menu that falls within the menu cycle to print on its scheduled date in the report (assuming the special event menu is scheduled for the same menu service location of the standard menu).
- Special event menu items will automatically populate on people reports, such as the Tray Menu Tickets Report (People), the Person Specific Select Menus Report (People) or the Generic Select Menus Report (People).
Forecasting for Special Event Menus
You apply forecasting to a special event menu when you schedule the menu.
If the special event menu is extended (supports therapeutic substitute recipes) and has choices, then the Percentages Forecast Method, the Set Method By Meal Forecast Method or the Census Forecast Method can be applied.
If the special event menu is non-extended (i.e., does not support therapeutic substitute recipes) and does not have choices, then the Total Needed Forecast Method or the Census Forecast Method can be applied.
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If using percentages forecasting, then the default forecasting percentages can be adjusted directly for a menu item (see Adjusting Forecasting Percentages for a Menu Item) or on the worksheet (Overview of a Forecasting Worksheet > Adjusting Percentages). If needed, you can then manually adjust the auto-calculated serving amounts, which is done on the forecasting worksheet; see Manually Adjusting Serving Amounts on a Worksheet for more information.
- If using total needed forecasting, then the forecasting amounts can be adjusted directly for a menu item (see Adjusting Total Needed Forecasting Amounts for a Menu Item) or on the worksheet; see Manually Adjusting the Serving Amounts on a Worksheet for more information.
Note that when you adjust the serving amounts on a forecasting worksheet, the worksheet will lock, meaning any forecasting auto-calculation no longer updates the worksheet so as to not override the manually-adjusted amounts. See Locked Forecasting Worksheets for more information.
FAQs
I created a special event menu for the Wednesday dinner meal, but am I able to add the Thursday lunch meal to that same special event menu or do I need to create new special event menu?
You will need to create a new special event menu for the Thursday lunch meal. A special event menu is for a single day only.
Can a special event menu be used again after its date has passed?
Yes, you can reuse a special event menu after its date passes. You simply just reschedule the menu to the desired date. For example, assume you serve a Valentine Day's menu on February 14, 2025. After February 14, 2025 passes, you will reschedule the Valentine's Day menu for February 14, 2026.