SAN FRANCISCO —Twenty-two-unit Specialty’s Cafe & Bakery, based here, tried the “do-it-yourself” approach to nutritional analysis of menu items using desktop computer software about three years ago. Things did not turn out well, acknowledged Dawn Saxton, the chain’s co-founder and vice president of product development.
“We saw the writing on the wall” about future government mandates to disclose calories and other nutritional information, Saxton said of Specialty’s motivation to try food analysis. From the start, she said, her company had problems integrating the analytical software’s data with other business applications and began tallying significant expenses beyond the price of the program, including the worker needed to input recipe information. —Twenty-two-unit Specialty’s Cafe & Bakery, based here, tried the “do-it-yourself” approach to nutritional analysis of menu items using desktop computer software about three years ago. Things did not turn out well, acknowledged Dawn Saxton, the chain’s co-founder and vice president of product development.
The bottom line about the previous endeavor was that after spending much time and about $5,000 for labor, “the only final analysis we had gotten was about the salads,” and even that data “had a lot of misinformation,” Saxton said. —Twenty-two-unit Specialty’s Cafe & Bakery, based here, tried the “do-it-yourself” approach to nutritional analysis of menu items using desktop computer software about three years ago. Things did not turn out well, acknowledged Dawn Saxton, the chain’s co-founder and vice president of product development.
Today, Specialty’s Cafe & Bakery is racing to comply with pending menu disclosure regulations in multiple markets in which it operates, including California and King County, Wash. In doing so, it is spending significantly more—$20,000 to $25,000 in all—than it did on its previous stab at nutrition analysis. —Twenty-two-unit Specialty’s Cafe & Bakery, based here, tried the “do-it-yourself” approach to nutritional analysis of menu items using desktop computer software about three years ago. Things did not turn out well, acknowledged Dawn Saxton, the chain’s co-founder and vice president of product development.
The difference between then and now: Saxton said she couldn’t be happier with her results using the Web-based software and services of MenuCalc, a division of FoodCalc LLC of San Mateo, Calif. —Twenty-two-unit Specialty’s Cafe & Bakery, based here, tried the “do-it-yourself” approach to nutritional analysis of menu items using desktop computer software about three years ago. Things did not turn out well, acknowledged Dawn Saxton, the chain’s co-founder and vice president of product development.
Among current MenuCalc users are independent Cavalli Pizza of Irving, Texas, and Asian Chao, a 39-unit mall and college food court concept from Longwood, Fla.-based Food Systems Unlimited Inc. —Twenty-two-unit Specialty’s Cafe & Bakery, based here, tried the “do-it-yourself” approach to nutritional analysis of menu items using desktop computer software about three years ago. Things did not turn out well, acknowledged Dawn Saxton, the chain’s co-founder and vice president of product development.
“I can’t say enough nice things about it,” Saxton said of MenuCalc’s software and assistance from company founder Lucy Needham and her team, including registered dietician Alyson Mar. —Twenty-two-unit Specialty’s Cafe & Bakery, based here, tried the “do-it-yourself” approach to nutritional analysis of menu items using desktop computer software about three years ago. Things did not turn out well, acknowledged Dawn Saxton, the chain’s co-founder and vice president of product development.
Some services do all the nutrition analysis work for restaurant companies, while others sell to operators specialty software for hundreds or thousands of dollars and provide or rent access to large databases of ingredient nutrition information. —Twenty-two-unit Specialty’s Cafe & Bakery, based here, tried the “do-it-yourself” approach to nutritional analysis of menu items using desktop computer software about three years ago. Things did not turn out well, acknowledged Dawn Saxton, the chain’s co-founder and vice president of product development.
MenuCalc users can pay the company to do the analytical work for them at a rate that is competitive with or below the industry standard of $100-$150 per menu item, the company said. Operators, for as low as $3,000, may opt to subscribe to MenuCalc’s online-software platform, which automates nutrition analysis for recipes they enter. Do-it-yourself analysts have access to a large nutrition information database. —Twenty-two-unit Specialty’s Cafe & Bakery, based here, tried the “do-it-yourself” approach to nutritional analysis of menu items using desktop computer software about three years ago. Things did not turn out well, acknowledged Dawn Saxton, the chain’s co-founder and vice president of product development.
Under a third hybrid option—the one chosen by Specialty’s Cafe & Bakery—MenuCalc performs the initial analysis of all menu items at a set, per-item rate. At the same time, such clients may enroll in a follow-up subscription program at a nominal fee to use MenuCalc’s software and database to analyze new foods from scratch or modify items tackled by the vendor. —Twenty-two-unit Specialty’s Cafe & Bakery, based here, tried the “do-it-yourself” approach to nutritional analysis of menu items using desktop computer software about three years ago. Things did not turn out well, acknowledged Dawn Saxton, the chain’s co-founder and vice president of product development.
Saxton said the hybrid approach would permit her company to cost-effectively leverage the initial analytical work done by MenuCalc and, through interaction with Needham’s team, prepare Specialty’s employees for solo analytical work later. —Twenty-two-unit Specialty’s Cafe & Bakery, based here, tried the “do-it-yourself” approach to nutritional analysis of menu items using desktop computer software about three years ago. Things did not turn out well, acknowledged Dawn Saxton, the chain’s co-founder and vice president of product development.
“They are holding our feet to the fire,” the restaurateur said of MenuCalc’s imposed discipline related to such things as standardizing recipe measures—non-rounded versus rounded tablespoons, for example—and preparation techniques, so that nutrition analysis is meaningful and conforms to law. —Twenty-two-unit Specialty’s Cafe & Bakery, based here, tried the “do-it-yourself” approach to nutritional analysis of menu items using desktop computer software about three years ago. Things did not turn out well, acknowledged Dawn Saxton, the chain’s co-founder and vice president of product development.
“We’re a from-scratch bakery, and a lot of variation [in preparation] can occur because of human touches,” Saxton said of why such reminders are helpful and, ultimately, will improve operations. —Twenty-two-unit Specialty’s Cafe & Bakery, based here, tried the “do-it-yourself” approach to nutritional analysis of menu items using desktop computer software about three years ago. Things did not turn out well, acknowledged Dawn Saxton, the chain’s co-founder and vice president of product development.
“The beauty” of centrally hosted MenuCalc, Saxton said, “is that it “is software I don’t have to load” and “something I don’t have to own.” —Twenty-two-unit Specialty’s Cafe & Bakery, based here, tried the “do-it-yourself” approach to nutritional analysis of menu items using desktop computer software about three years ago. Things did not turn out well, acknowledged Dawn Saxton, the chain’s co-founder and vice president of product development.
MenuCalc, with a wizard-style interface that walks users through the process, also alerts them whenever their recipes meet Food and Drug Administration guidelines for claims such as “low-sodium” or “low-fat.” Also, Saxton said, MenuCalc associates point out if a simple ingredient substitution or change in portion size may yield the right to make such a claim or otherwise result in a more nutritious offering. —Twenty-two-unit Specialty’s Cafe & Bakery, based here, tried the “do-it-yourself” approach to nutritional analysis of menu items using desktop computer software about three years ago. Things did not turn out well, acknowledged Dawn Saxton, the chain’s co-founder and vice president of product development.
Saxton said she appreciates MenuCalc’s use of the GoogleDocs online file-sharing and collaboration system for communicating project notes and logging progress, as it virtually eliminates the mountain of e-mail and duplicate documents that might normally flow from such collaboration. —Twenty-two-unit Specialty’s Cafe & Bakery, based here, tried the “do-it-yourself” approach to nutritional analysis of menu items using desktop computer software about three years ago. Things did not turn out well, acknowledged Dawn Saxton, the chain’s co-founder and vice president of product development.
Beautiful Brands deploys Web-based POS management software TULSA, OKLA.—Beautiful Brands International, based here, parent of Camille’s Sidewalk Cafe and the FreshBerry Frozen Yogurt Cafe and Coney Beach startups, is using Enterprise Data Manager, or EDM, software from Xpient Solutions LLC to update and maintain point-of-sale systems in franchised units. —Twenty-two-unit Specialty’s Cafe & Bakery, based here, tried the “do-it-yourself” approach to nutritional analysis of menu items using desktop computer software about three years ago. Things did not turn out well, acknowledged Dawn Saxton, the chain’s co-founder and vice president of product development. “EDM will greatly reduce the time and effort it takes to manage price changes, limited-time offers and product rollouts for all store locations,” said David Rutkauskas, president and chief executive of BBI, whose Camille’s chain has more than 90 units in 28 states and others in development in the United States and overseas. —Twenty-two-unit Specialty’s Cafe & Bakery, based here, tried the “do-it-yourself” approach to nutritional analysis of menu items using desktop computer software about three years ago. Things did not turn out well, acknowledged Dawn Saxton, the chain’s co-founder and vice president of product development. Rutkauskas said Web-based EDM integrates with the Xpient software already used at 30 franchised locations and kicks in during routine end-of-day processes. Those restaurants are using Xpient IRIS software for POS terminals and SQL on back-office systems, Rutkauskas indicated, adding that other franchised locations now running Panasonic or POSItouch POS software are expected to convert to IRIS by year’s end. —Twenty-two-unit Specialty’s Cafe & Bakery, based here, tried the “do-it-yourself” approach to nutritional analysis of menu items using desktop computer software about three years ago. Things did not turn out well, acknowledged Dawn Saxton, the chain’s co-founder and vice president of product development. Franchisees using EDM and IRIS, once they are notified by e-mail of a new product or promotion, will “see the [data] changes already made [overnight] in their POS system,” Rutkauskas said. —Twenty-two-unit Specialty’s Cafe & Bakery, based here, tried the “do-it-yourself” approach to nutritional analysis of menu items using desktop computer software about three years ago. Things did not turn out well, acknowledged Dawn Saxton, the chain’s co-founder and vice president of product development. By using EDM and IRIS in tandem, he said, Beautiful Brands also can troubleshoot franchisee computer software problems remotely and manage POS maintenance and application updates centrally. —Twenty-two-unit Specialty’s Cafe & Bakery, based here, tried the “do-it-yourself” approach to nutritional analysis of menu items using desktop computer software about three years ago. Things did not turn out well, acknowledged Dawn Saxton, the chain’s co-founder and vice president of product development.
The program uses drop-down menus for fast selection from among options and dynamically recalculates nutrition data to reflect any changes in ingredients, ingredient measure, cooking technique or portion size. Foods that might be used in a variety of applications, such as condiments, sauces and dressings, can be analyzed and saved as unique “ingredients” to be recalled for future recipes. —Twenty-two-unit Specialty’s Cafe & Bakery, based here, tried the “do-it-yourself” approach to nutritional analysis of menu items using desktop computer software about three years ago. Things did not turn out well, acknowledged Dawn Saxton, the chain’s co-founder and vice president of product development.
Saxton believes Specialty’s now has the analysis part of nutrition disclosure under control and will, to simplify things, provide systemwide the data required by the strictest of the measures under which the chain operates. But she pointed out that her group is still is being challenged by some aspects of the disclosure laws in its markets. Among them: printing specifications that may render menu boards indecipherably cluttered or limit the number of menu items that can be displayed on such boards. —Twenty-two-unit Specialty’s Cafe & Bakery, based here, tried the “do-it-yourself” approach to nutritional analysis of menu items using desktop computer software about three years ago. Things did not turn out well, acknowledged Dawn Saxton, the chain’s co-founder and vice president of product development.
The operator indicated that she is holding off for as long as possible the decision on how to disclose the information generated using MenuCalc because the data required may change if Congress passes a proposed nationwide disclosure law pre-empting all others. —Twenty-two-unit Specialty’s Cafe & Bakery, based here, tried the “do-it-yourself” approach to nutritional analysis of menu items using desktop computer software about three years ago. Things did not turn out well, acknowledged Dawn Saxton, the chain’s co-founder and vice president of product development.
