Food Item

Food items are the most involved of the maintenance screen, as it puts all of the other building blocks together to form the core of the inventory management. This will contain all of the items, both branded and generic in all of the measurements that you carry the items in. While items can be added on the fly when receiving orders, it is recommended that you set up as many food items as you can as early as you can.

Expand the Maintenance section on the Navigation bar and select Food Item to open the Food Item maintenance screen

Add New Food Item

Always be sure that the item you are trying to enter does not already exist before attempting to add it to the system. The search fields provided should be used to ensure that duplicates are not entered.

Click the Add Food Item to the right of the search functions to open a new Add Food Item window. With the 2.3 release, we've also made it so a user can scan a food item which will automatically add the item to the pantry database if the item exists in the USDA's branded food items database. This method of adding food items should only be used for adding branded items. For more information, see the article linked here.

Defining a Generic Item

In the following section, we will be using the term "Generic" throughout the text. Please bear in mind that the use of "Generic" here is not in relation to an item being an off-brand or generic version of another item (for example "Great Value Corn Flakes" being an off-brand "Kellogg's Corn Flakes" cereal) but rather a way to categorize multiple items together. In our system, we'd have a generic "Cereal" item, and both "Great Value Corn Flakes" and "Kellogg's Corn Flakes" would be branded items using the generic "Cereal" item.

Before attempting to add a Food Item, you should first check to make sure that a Generic version of the item exists. Those who order from you will do so on a generic level, be that other Pantries or Pantry Members. If a Generic item exists you can move on to the step "Defining a Branded Item." Otherwise, you will have to Define the Generic Item

Define the fields in the dialog, ensuring the Checkbox labeled "Is Branded" is NOT checked.

Category - The Food Category that the item belongs to. This is usually the food group of the food item. If the Category desired is not on this list, you can add it using the Food Category Maintenance screen.

Is Active - Toggles whether the item is active. Inactive items will usually not appear as viable items when receiving inventory, setting up a pantry menu, or most other activities. Marking an item as inactive is functionally similar to deleting it, but allowing it to still appear on reports

Is Branded - When defining a Generic Item this will be unchecked

Allow Order - Allows Pantries and Pantry Members to order this item. Since this is a generic item, it will always be checked.

Track Expiration - If the item has an expiration or sell-by date, check this and it will be enabled to track those dates when receiving the items. It will also enable the items to appear on reports that track inventory that is expiring soon.

Allow Order UOM Each - This will allow Pantries to order the "Each" unit of measure instead of ordering from a warehouse by cases. This should almost never be enabled; as pantries should not be ordering individual items; however, it is available if it is needed for a specific purpose. Note that Pantry Members always order the "each" unit, so this does not affect pantry members.

Food Package - Food Packages are special inventory items in the system that contain other food items. For more information on food packages, please view our Pantry Packaging article.

Food Item Name - The name of the Generic Item. This is how the item will appear when it is being ordered by pantry members. Please note that there is a 50-character limit to the name that can be given to a food item.

It is advised to include the each UOM for an item in it's Food Item Name so that it easy to differentiate between similar items of different sizes. Example: Applesauce 32 oz or Milk Half-Gallon

Barcode - This field is used to store barcode data for items; which will largely be on a Branded level; so you can skip this field when defining a generic item.

Language Fields - The system will automatically translate the name of the Food Item into Languages that you define either whenever the item name is changed or whenever the Translate button is clicked. If Translate Manually is clicked, the system will not translate automatically and will expect you to enter the Food Item Name in that language manually.

If a Language is added after Food Items have already been defined, you will have to go into the existing Food Items to translate them into the new Language

Food Item Image - Here you can upload an image of the food item. This is the image that will be used on the menu when ordered by a pantry member.

Point Value - If your organization is set up as a point enabled system, setting a point value will work in conjunction with the category/overall point limit set on the menu to limit the number of an item that a member can order.

Buffer Limit - If your organization is inventory controlled, the system will only show an item on an order if there is more than the value entered in the Buffer Limit value available. So, as an example, if you set the Buffer Limit to 5, the item will stop showing an item on an order once there only 5 of the item remaining, ensuring there will always be 5 of the item in inventory.

Sequence - Used specifically for auto menu's, Sequence controls the position of the item on the menu. The lower the sequence, the higher the item will show on the menu. Leaving sequence blank will but the item behind all items that have a sequence. If there are two or more items with the same sequence, the items will be ordered next by the name.

Auto Menu Quantity Limit

With the July 2021 update, we have added the ability to control the number of items a member can order from Auto menus. To setup the limits, please use the "Auto Menu Quantity Limit" grid.

Note that this grid is only visible if the item has the "Allow Order" checkbox show, so it may not appear on some branded items.

Setting the "Quantity" column will restrict the maximum number of this item a member can order when they are placing an order against an "Auto Menu". The Auto Menu Quantity Limit grid was designed to handle a few different scenarios (in order of the scenario that takes priority in the case there of overlap).

  1. A quantity limit for a specific site and a specific family size
  2. A quantity limit for a specific site and any family size
  3. A quantity limit for any site and a specific family size
  4. A quantity limit for any site and any family size

If no quantity limits are added, the limit on the food item will be based on the limits placed on the food category on the menu.

Note that you may receive an error if one of the rows in the "Auto Menu Quantity Limit" grid has a "0" quantity. If this occurs, simply remove the "Site" that was added and then save to remove the row.

UOM's

Here you will fill out the UOM information for the item. In most cases, the UOM for the generic item will also be used for all Branded versions of the item. At a minimum, you should have an "Each" measurement defined, which is the item as it is distributed to the Pantry Member. You will also usually include a Case, which is what Warehouses generally receive items in.

Defining UOM

Define the fields in the Dialog for all units of measurement that will be used for this item.

Base Unit - This is used to determine the relative size of the unit. It is standard for each item to have one each and at least one case, although the specifics of the unit of measurement is up to you to define.

Description - This is the name of the unit of measure which can be the same as the base unit or different depending on an item. Some examples of "each" descriptions may be a "Bag" of apples, a "Jar" of peanut butter, or a "Gallon" of milk. In some situations, the description may be simply "Case"

Abbreviation - The abbreviation shown for the UOM when ordering the item. This should be standardized within your organization so that users know what the measurement is at a glance.

Existing Unit - This is usually going to be the defined "Each" unit for the item. It is used to convert the UOM into the "Each" category when used with Quantity

Quantity - This is how many of the "Existing Unit" selected is included in the unit being defined. In the example above, we define that a Case of Apples contains 10 of the already-defined "Bags" of apples. The system will use this information when you are converting inventory between units of measure within the system

Note that the Existing Unit will not be available for the Each base unit, as that is the smallest unit that item will be measured in. In almost all situations, the quantity for the Each unit of measure should be 1.

Dimensions - These fields are used for reporting purposes and track the size of the items in the Unit of Measure defined. If your organization does not use them and would like them removed, please contact Unicentric through the Feedback system.

Weight - Used for reporting purposes as well as used to attempt to calculate weights when receiving orders. 

Notes - Notes for internal usage by your organization

Once all of the information is entered, click Save to continue defining the Food Item or click Save and Add New to define another UOM

After this information has been complete, you can move on to Allergies and Certifications

Defining a Branded Item

The basic information for a Branded Item is very similar to Generic information except for some key differences in setting up the beginning options.

Category - The Food Category that the item belongs to. This is usually the food group of the food item. If the Category desired is not on this list, you can add it using the Food Category Maintenance screen. This list also filters what is available in the Generic Item list.

Is Active - Controls whether the Food Item being defined or edited is considered active.

Is Branded - When defining a Branded item should be checked.

Allow Order - This will almost never be checked for a branded item as pantries and pantry members should be ordering generic items and you should be distributing branded items based on available inventory. If checked, however, it will allow entities to order the branded item directly.

Track Expiration - Allows the system to track the expiration date when receiving the items. Also allows the item to show on reports that track items based on expiration dates.

Generic Item - The generic item equivalent to this item. This will allow users to distribute these branded items to orders with the generic equivalent. Also causes the item to inherit certain properties from the Generic items.

Use Generic UOM - This will usually be checked; it allows the Branded item being defined to inherit the UOM defined when creating the Generic item equivalent. If unchecked, you will have to define the UOM for this item as is done in the above Defining UOM section.

Food Item Name - Name of the Food Item, you will usually want to include the "Each" UOM and the Brand for easier distinction between items. 

Barcode - Barcode for the item being defined. This will allow the item to be found on the Receive Order screen with scanners if they are used by your organization.

Languages - The name of the food item in the designated language. This should translate automatically when you change the item name but if Translate Manually is checked you will have to enter the name yourself. 

Food Item Image - An image of the item being defined.

Allergies and Certifications

Here you will select Allergies that are a concern for the food item being defined. For example, if you are defining a dairy product, like milk or yogurt, and your organization is tracking Lactose Intolerance, you will want to mark that as a concern in the allergy grid. If an allergy concern your organization would like to track is not found in the grid, you will have to add it using the allergy maintenance screen.

Note that if you add an Allergy concern after relevant Food Items have already been defined, you will have to go back to those food items and mark the allergy.

In the screenshot above you will see an example of the "Basic" Certifications view. In the basic mode, you can add up to one certification for each certification type added in the system by selecting it from the dropdown menu. If a certification type is not included, you can add a new one using the Certification Types maintenance screen. If a Certification is not present, you can add a Certification using the Certification maintenance screen.

If you click the Advanced button to the top right of the Certifications section, you can switch to the Advanced view, which will allow you more control over the certifications associated with the food item.

Keep in mind that if you are defining a Generic item the certifications selected will be inherited by any Branded items, so if a Branded item doesn't have a certification defined by the Generic item, you will either have to define a new Generic item without the certification or take the certification off the Generic item and move it to the Branded level.

Within the Advanced view you are not limited to one certification per certification type, just check all of the certifications that are relevant to the Food Item being defined.

Nutrition Facts

Here you will be able to add Nutritional information about the Food Item that your organization wishes to track. It is used only for reporting purposes. This may only be defined on a Branded item since not all brands will always have the same nutritional value. 

Serving size - the serving size for the food item being defined

Servings per Container - How many servings are in the container used for the "Each" measurement.

Use the Add Nutrition button to add a new row to the grid, where the below items will be defined.

Nutrition Name - Name of the nutrition being tracked (such as Calories or Facts). If the Nutrition you wish to track is not included in the dropdown list, you can add it using the Nutrition maintenance screen.

Measure - The number of units of the nutrition that is contained in the item

NFUOM - Nutrition Fact Unit of Measure is the unit that the item is being measured in (grams, milligrams, etc.)

PercentDV(%) - Percent Daily Value is the included percentage daily value (which is usually calculated for a 2000 Calorie/day diet)

The Add Standard button will add a group of pre-selected nutrients to the nutrients grid with one button click so that you do not have to click the Add Nutrition button for each nutrient. Defining Standard Nutrients is also done within the Nutrition Maintenance screen.

After all nutrients have been defined, you can also do the following

Nutrition Facts Image - Here you can upload a picture of the Nutrition label to the system.

Finally, you can save the item and it will be ready for use within the system.