Budget Integrity

Providing True Value

CKC Good Food delivers true value with chef-created, USDA-compliant menus that entice more kids to participate – and continue participating – in your child nutrition programs, and our concierge-level services that save you and your staff countless hours. While our per-meal bid prices are sometimes pennies more than bargain-priced vendors, it reflects the cost of providing a choice of multiple 6-week menu rotations, delicious student-tested and approved meals, ongoing training and communications, regular site visits, promotional tools, USDA audit support and prompt attention to any concerns shared with us.

Our bid price includes:

• Daily food prep and, as needed, delivery
• Disposable/biodegradable utensils
• HACCP and server training
• USDA audit support
• Ongoing communications
• Promotional tools, including Cafeteria Connection, a newsletter you can send to your parents
• Regular visits by our Client Service Managers for training, compliance requirements and identifying areas for improvement

Maximizing Commodities

If you provide food service under the National School Lunch Program (NSLP), we will help you maximize your USDA Foods (commodities) entitlements and usage. Our menus use commodity foods first, which helps keep your food costs as low as possible and eliminates the potential of unused commodities sitting in storage. By growing the number of students participating in your school lunch program, we help increase your school's USDA Foods entitlements for the following year, further reducing your food costs. CKC Good Food promises to return to your school all USDA Foods reimbursements received on your behalf, less storage fees. Annually, we return between $700,000-$800,000 in commodities reimbursements to our client schools*.

Budget Integrity Calculator

Information is a powerful tool in decision making and implementation of effective changes. CKC Good Food has found kitchen managers - some of whom do not have budgetary authority - wanted a way to project revenues and expenses, and regularly evaluate factors affecting the profitability of their food service program or service in individual buildings. CKC developed a proprietary Budget Integrity Calculator that empowers kitchen managers to monitor their food service budgets and regularly report progress against the budget to their administrators.

The calculator projects a program's revenues and expenses, and total profit/loss for the year after inputting school-specific variables:

• days in the school year
• grade levels served
• 40% or 60% or N/A for percent of students on free/reduced meals (to calculate appropriate reimbursement rate)
• contracted meal prices for breakfast and lunch
• price for paid meals
• participation for breakfast and lunch
• hourly wages and average hours for individual staff members
• milk, if purchased separately from contracted meal price
• commodities' entitlements

This tool quickly demonstrates how increased participation can drive profitability and the importance of choosing a food service partner that provides food kids will eat. Your Client Service Manager will provide you with the calculator and train you how to use it.

*Excluding years during COVID-19 operations.