Design the choices before you sell them
Every choice multiplies. Three proteins in three portion sizes, with three bases and four vegetables, makes 108 different meals. That sounds frightening, but your kitchen doesn't cook 108 meals. It cooks 3 proteins, 3 bases and 4 vegetables, then portions them.
So a good build-your-own menu has few ingredients and many combinations. Start small, with two or three proteins and two portion sizes, and add more once packing runs smoothly. Before you add a choice, ask two things. Does it use something you already cook? Can a packer portion it quickly?
- Set fixed portion steps, such as 4, 6 and 8 oz. "A little extra" can't be counted, weighed or priced.
- Price the portions. An 8 oz portion costs you more than a 4 oz one, so it should cost the customer more. Work out the margin on the largest portion as well as the smallest.
- Say what can't change. If a sauce is already in the rice, it can't come out. Say so on the menu, and you won't be answering that question by email.
Total by component
Total your orders by what the kitchen makes, one line for each component and portion. The cook then has a simple list, however wild the orders got. Keep your order sheet in columns, one for each choice, so you can count each one. Our prep list guide shows how.
Sample data.
Packing is where combinations bite. Each container is different, so each needs a label that says exactly what goes in it. Pack from the label, one component at a time, and check every order with an allergy against its label. Then pull a few other containers at random and check those too. Our labels guide covers how to print them.
Get the macros right, or don't print them
You can start from your suppliers' labels, or from the USDA's free FoodData Central. Work out the macros for each ingredient for a set amount, such as per 4 oz, then add them up for each portion. Use cooked numbers if you portion cooked food, and keep to that. A cooked ounce of chicken and a raw ounce are not the same food on paper.
The math is simple. Say your numbers give 35 g of protein in 4 oz of cooked chicken. That is 8.75 g an ounce, so a 6 oz portion has 52.5 g. Do the same for carbs, fat and calories, then add up the components in the meal.
These numbers are a promise to someone who is tracking every gram. Weigh your portions, and recheck your numbers when a supplier or a recipe changes. Printing macros on a label can also change what a label must carry, which our labels guide explains.
Run it on a form and a sheet
While the menu is small, you can do all of this without new software.
- Ask one required question per choice. Protein, portion, base, vegetable. A required dropdown stops an order with no base, and it keeps your spelling the same for the totals.
- Keep your prices in one table. List each portion's extra charge on its own tab, and let a formula add them up. Then you price each order from the sheet, not from memory.
- Charge after they choose. A form can't change its price as the customer picks an 8 oz portion. So total the order, then send a payment request for that amount.
- Publish a macro chart. A form can't show live macros either. A simple chart of protein, carbs, fat and calories for each portion lets customers work out their own meal.
General stores let a product have options, but each new choice multiplies the combinations you have to set up. You would still total by component yourself.
The Eat Fresh Tech way
Here's how we handle custom macro meals.
We set up your meal categories with you when you start. After that, customers build their meals on your order page, and each choice reaches the kitchen's reports.
- Meal components hold your proteins, bases, vegetables and sauces, each in the portions you set, such as "4 oz, 6 oz (+$2), 8 oz (+$4)". The price updates as the customer builds the meal.
- Your rules hold. You choose which categories a meal shows and which are required. A meal can't go in the cart until the required ones are filled.
- Live macros update protein, carbs, fat and calories as the customer picks. You enter the macros once per ingredient.
- The Totals Report counts every component and every combination, and linked components flow into the Grocery List Report.