Digital
Transformation
in School Lunch
Like with many businesses, schools have moved many day-today operations online. Lunch programs are following the same
trend. Sending students to school with paper order forms and
cash is no longer the most effective way to conduct a school
lunch program. Many administrators have already switched to a
school lunch online model. Bringing school lunch online allows
both parents and foodservice providers to utilize the same
online system for any school lunch needs. Most households are
already used to using online systems to shop online. Bringing
school lunch online seamlessly integrates school lunch into the
regular cadence of online orders.
How Does it Work?
Parents can utilize the online system to browse menus. These
menus are easy to load and contain nutrition and allergy
information to help parents best choose the best hot lunch for
their children’s specific needs. Both on the mobile app and
website, parents can place orders for lunch items throughout the
week and may secure credit card payments. By ordering online
and ahead of time, all the students will have to do is state their
name or ID number to receive their lunch once they arrive at
school. Parents will not need to worry about their children
misplacing cash or paper order forms, as their lunch choice will
already be ready and paid for when they arrive at school.
Foodservice providers will login to the same website or mobile
app to manage lunch orders. They will view orders using the site
and use automatically generated reports to plan for future
lunches. Managers can update menus or send notifications to
parents as updates to the school lunch program arises. Reports
can also be generated for accounting records and to
accommodate for classroom-based distribution. Using reports
for classroom-based distribution allows lunch managers to
provide school lunch while maintaining social distance guidelines
more effectively. Foodservice providers who manage lunch at
multiple schools can utilize the same online system for all
schools, simplifying their process and reducing menial tasks.
An online system can also go beyond traditional school lunch
orders. It can also be used for yearbook sales, afterschool
fundraisers, and more. HotLunch.com has developed their
system based on decades of feedback from parents and
foodservice providers. The goal is to meet the demands of school
lunch providers and parents alike. Learn more by visiting
hotlunch.com.