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THE FOLLOWNUTRI BUSINESS PROPOSAL
DFM 353- Foodservice Systems Management
Nhung Le
May 13, 2015
San Francisco State University
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Introduction
Media has strong influence on food choices in young children. Food companies in the
United States spend more than one million each year to attract children’s attention by their
cartoon-adorned packages (Klein, 2010). In fact, most foods advertised are high in fat, sodium or
added sugars (Brown, 2011). In addition, the popularization of video games has also had a
negative influence on children’s diet habits and health. As a result, childhood obesity has
reached epidemic levels in the United States (acphd.org, 2014). It is important to realize that in
order to reduce the incidence of chronic diseases throughout adulthood, children must develop
healthy eating habits. In the long-term perspective, FollowNutri will help to slow down this trend
in childhood obesity. We will begin a partnership with Women, Infants, and Children (WIC)
program to join our efforts to improve the health and well-being of individuals in East Oakland.
FollowNutri’s role will help to reduce the epidemic of childhood obesity by allowing children to
play an active role in our meal preparations. At FollowNutri, young children will be exposed to
fruits and vegetables and learn to prepare healthy recipes. We recognize that nutrition is
extremely important for young children. Therefore, we strive our best to enlighten children with
nutritional knowledge and educate how cooking can be fun, colorful and satisfying.
Mission statement
In cooperation with WIC, the mission of FollowNutri is to support and maintain the
health of young children by promoting and serving healthy foods in our restaurant. FollowNutri
is dedicated to care for elementary school-age children because we hope to have a positive
impact on their diet habits before they are established. Introducing healthy and nutrient dense
food to our target population at an early age is a great starting point.
Concept: Goals and Objectives
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Our primary goal is to promote healthy eating in our restaurant. To exemplify our
commitment to providing heart healthy food, our restaurant serves a variety of healthy food
choices from fruits and vegetables, low in sodium, saturated fats and trans-fat free. On Saturday
and Sunday, we will promote three recipes from WIC to school-aged children in our restaurant.
By April, we aim to reach a minimum of twenty children who successfully attend our cooking
demonstrations. Besides promoting healthy eating, we want to enlighten children with nutritional
knowledge and educate how cooking can be fun and enjoyable. To meet our goal, we will
employ two part-time community health peer educators from WIC to host the cooking
demonstrations for every weekend. The FollowNutri wants to children to enjoy working with
different types of shapes and colors. Children learn through play, so cooking with children will
be a great way to play and have fun.
Classification and Type of Foodservice
We named our restaurant as FollowNutri because we want children to follow our healthy
recipes and be able to prepare their own healthy meals. In our restaurant, we will have a unique
eating setting. The first floor will be the kitchen station where our main chef will do his
preparation and cooking; the second floor is more spacious and can accommodate more than
twenty tables. With this space, we want our customers to enjoy family meals and able to view
healthy recipes. Since there will be a high demand of customers on the day of the cooking
demonstration, we need two more kitchen staff and one server. To our special young customers,
a great care is taken. Children tend to picky eaters and like crunchy unhealthy foods (Hewlings
& Medeiros, 2009). A great way to motivate children to eat healthy is simply request them to
have one bite of each food. Furthermore, by showing the cooking demonstrating in our
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restaurant, children will become accustomed to preparing their own healthy food as they develop
into adults.
The FollowNutri is an on-site foodservice that provides a space for any types of event.
The type of service we have at FollowNutri is conventional foodservice. Foods are purchased in
unprepared state and prepared to serve at the peak of freshness. For some of the hot foods, we
have to hold at hot temperatures until they are served. We use only high quality, organic and
seasonal ingredients from local farms for all of our meals. In terms of the menu style, we have
chosen a selective type of menu. Our menu offers a variety of food choices that change with the
seasonal availability of ingredients.
Target Population and Location
Our restaurant is located at Fruitvale Village in Oakland aiming to target Latino and
African-Americans’ children from early and middle childhood. Obesity has reduced the quality
of life for many residents in Oakland and further puts people at risk for having chronic diseases
like diabetes, heart diseases, hypertension and cancers. The rates of obesity are high in the lowincome communities, especially in East Oakland. In 2014, 42.3% of adults and children from
school-aged are either overweight or obese (acphd.org, 2014). As more children in East Oakland
are being diagnosed with pre-diabetes, they deserve a special care. Efforts are made to serve a
heart healthy diet that focuses on the important of health problems. Addition to the health risks
of overweight and obesity, affordable is another barrier for many people in East Oakland. The
average income of East Oakland was less than $35,755 (acphd.org, 2014). In addition, some
people in Oakland believe it is more affordable to feed the family of four at a fast food than to
cook a healthy meal at home (Bittman, 2011). Since our target population has financial
limitations, FollowNutri will set a reasonable price for people to come for their daily meals.
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Since young children are exposed to unhealthy food by their social determents of health, we
strive our best to reduce the traditional foods in their diet and encourage enjoying healthy meals.
Besides the financial limited, eating out has been a concern for many parents due to the hidden
calories in the menus. FollowNutri will provide a nutritional value for all of our menus. Overall,
we are looking forward to bring all the nutritional healthy information to our community.
Sample Menu
On weekdays, our single-use menus focus on fruits and vegetables, whole grain products,
soy products and low-fat foods. A meal will include a choice from two appetizers, two entrees
and one dessert. The two appetizers are Roasted Carrots and Asparagus or Zucchini Soup. The
asparagus is rich in fiber and a great source folic acid which provides an important vitamin for
growing children. The kale in the Zucchini Soup provides full nutrients which may help to
decrease the risk of cancer (Romey, 2010). For the entrees, we have Green Pasta and Grilled
Vegetable Kabobs. For the pasta, we use low fat milk to reduce the fat and calories. Kabobs will
be a great way to give children choice for their favorite fruits and vegetables. Lastly, the
delicious Banana Wrap with selected fruits is the dessert. The wrap is easy to take to go and will
make children satisfied. Our meals are put together with the healthy benefits in mind. For the
healthy purpose, the herbs and spices are used in place of salt and olive oil is used for the
majority of the recipes. Sugar, sodium, and fat are minimized throughout the menu. To provide
safety when serving our customers who have food allergies, all food service staff including
managers, servers, and kitchen staff must be familiar with the allergens and able to answer
guests’ questions and demands. The three recipes which will be demonstrated on this weekend
are Mango Salsa, Pineapple Fried Rice and Yam Bean burrito. (Please refer to appendix for the
recipes).
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Layout and Design
FollowNutri is dedicated to care for young children in Oakland to support and maintain
the quality of their lives. We have a strong ambition to help children adapt to healthy eating
habits at a young age by promoting health-eating in our restaurant. Besides the care we provide
for our target population, employees’ wellbeing is important for FollowNutri. The work place is
designed to make our employees feel comfortable and to have a great flow to minimize the risk
to our employees while working in FollowNutri’s kitchen. We believe that by creating a healthy
clean working area, it will bring safe meals for our customers. We try our best to develop a
design and layout where both food safety and employee wellness are achieved.
The design and layout of FollowNutri is carefully designed. As you entering the back
entrance where receiving takes place, there will be a dry storage space on the left. A large dry
storage room holds a variety of shelving to accommodate all of the non-perishable items and
another storage area is available for cleaning supplies, chemicals and other nonfood materials
( Puckett & Byers,2004). Raw materials entering the facility will immediately get stored without
interfering with other stations. For transport time and labor costs, the receiving area and food
preparation areas are right next to the dry storage, refrigerated and frozen storage (Puckett &
Byers,2004). This arrangement between the storage and preparation area prevents workers from
interfering with the cooking area and allows an immediate access to materials. Next to the coldprep counter, there will be a hot prep area. By making these two stations close to each other, hot
and cold food production workers can communicate and work as a team. Across from the
preparation station, you will find a cooking station. The cooking area is located in the center of
the kitchen to save labor time, space needs and get rid of the duplication of some equipment
(Puckett & Byers, 2004). As you pass the cooking area, a window is installed for air circulation.
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Natural lighting from the adjacent window creates a bright and pleasant working environment as
well as providing a good lighting for staff to recognize the condition of the food ( ServSafe
Mannager,2013). As mentioned above, there is a back entrance for receiving entry and there will
be a front entrance as well. These entrances allow employees to get in and out the facility as well
as protecting employees in case of an emergency. Next to the front entrance, there is an office.
As you walk out the office, straight ahead is the restroom with lockers for our employees to use
at their convenience. A three- compartment sink and a dishwasher are placed in the back near the
receiving area to remain out of view from the customers. Near the dishwashing area, food
preparation and the end of the cooking area, a hand-washing sink is required for these three
locations for employees to wash their hands before and after doing any tasks (ServSafe Manager,
2013). Our kitchen is fairly large facility that creates to meet all of our needs.
As we promise to serve fresh and high quality fruits and vegetables, fruits and vegetables
will get stored in a huge double door stainless steel refrigerator. To keep the food fresh and avoid
the time-temperature abuse, a smaller capacity refrigerator is needed at the serving area for the
desserts and fruits. Since the numbers of customers are not consistent at the cooking
demonstration days, soup will be made over the tilting kittle to meet the customer needs. For the
healthy purpose, FollowNutri uses a lot of grilling or baking method as a substitute for deep
frying method. Moreover, in most products, oven cooking is the only method can be efficient
enough to achieve a desired food quality (Puckett & Byers, 2004). A Combination oven-steamer
offer quickness and flexibility as they roast bake and steam. Since FollowNutri does not fry food,
deep-fat frying and pan frying equipment does not need. Baking equipment includes mixers,
portable bins, scales, dough divider, small steam-jacket kettle are needed at the baking station.
Our appliances are chosen thoughtful to provide high quality and healthy food. In order to get the
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high quality service, we will follow strict guidelines to keep equipment clean and sanitized.
Overall, by using the right equipment, we will able to keep the food fresh and safe.
The materials and equipment in our operation not only protect the safety for our
employees but also play an important role in keeping food safe. A thoughtful choice of materials
is set up to protect the safety of our employees. With five-feet of space on the main traffic aisle is
wide enough to allow our kitchen staff to move effortlessly and prevent any accidents from
preparation to cooking station (Smitt, 2015). Floor surfaces are installed with quarry tales can
prevent slipping, have the best durability and are easy to clean and sanitize (Foodservice Layout
and Design, 2015). For foodservice equipment selection, according to the NSF standards, if
foodservice equipment come in contract with food, food equipment must be nonabsorbent,
smooth, easy to clean and durable(ServSafe Manager, 2013). Stainless steel equipment will be
the best option for FollowNutri. Stainless steel equipment is last for years, simple to maintain
and have a good appearance. Beyond the quality, stainless steel can be cleaned and sanitized
easily to prevent bacterial build up and inert chemically that will not affect the flavor of food
(Foodservice Layout and Design, 2015). Therefore, quality equipment is essential for running a
safety and sustainable foodservice facility.
It is essential to apply sustainability to food or other goods to individuals and
communities. Since most of our target population is children, a great effort is taken on
standardizing portion sizes to reduce the amount of waste going to landfills. We will strive to
create an eco-friendly kitchen by composting and recycling to help support the environment. In
our kitchen, the food waste that is generated during food preparation or after meals have been
consumed will be recycled and composted. Besides waste management, energy and water
conservation will be practiced. Conservation of energy and water sources will impact both the
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finances of the organization and the environment (Smitt, 2015). Therefore, a simple practice such
as reducing water flow and turning off lights can conserve energy and water. Regarding to the
energy usage, we will purchase Energy Star equipment and use LED light bulbs in place of
incandescent light bulbs to conserve energy. Our facility promotes sustainable food systems by
obtaining food from environmentally friendly farms and purchasing organic ingredients. With
sustainable practices in our foodservice facility, customers will know the reasons to adopt the
practice and why it is important to do so. Therefore, sustainable practices can be learned and
beneficial to society as a whole.
Budget and Justification
As previously stated on the business plan overview, FollowNutri is a healthy and green
restaurant located at Fruitvale Village in Oakland. It is FollowNutri’s mission to provide fresh
fruits, vegetables and other heart healthy foods to maintain and support the health of school-age
children as well as much older population. The unique of FollowNutri is that while running a
restaurant, we also offer a wonderful opportunity for kids to participate in our cooking
demonstration in our restaurant on weekends. It is a great opportunity for kids to taste new foods
and able to learn healthy recipes. To keep its uniqueness, we will strive to be a successful and
profitable establishment.
The restaurant has a unique eating setting as its mission. The first floor will be used for
cooking demonstration and the second floor is spacious enough to accommodate sixty seats.
Since we aim to reach a minimum of twenty children to attend a cooking demonstration and
usually a child will participate with one of his/her parents, forty seats will be provided on the
first floor. Plus, cooking demonstration is only on the weekends, we have anticipated a number
of 150 guests on the weekends. With the total of 150 guests on the weekends, it is clearly lower
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on the weekdays. FollowNutri will be open daily for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Therefore, the
expected turnover rate for weekday breakfast is 0.8 because it is school hours and 1.1 and 1.3 for
lunch and dinner in respectively.
Most of our target population are low-income and have financial limitations. The
majority of the people in Oakland believe that feeding a family of four at a fast food restaurant is
more affordable than cooking a healthy meal at home (Bittman, 2011). Since accessing fast food
is convenient and affordable for most of our target population, we have to set a reasonable price
to compete with other fast food businesses. In addition, fast-food restaurants and food courts are
favored places for mid-adolescents because they offer an informal setting with cheap food
choices (Brown, 2011). Taking an example from McDonalds, a Big Mac with an extra value
meal like french fries and a soft drink costs about $5.69 and a Big Mac itself cost only $3.99
(Fastfoodmenuprices.com, 2015). To make our menu prices affordable for young children in
Oakland, we will keep our breakfast and lunch menus under the prices of five dollars and dinner
are lower than ten dollars. For the breakfast and lunch, the average food check will be $4.99 per
person. During dinner time, we expect to have more non-school age customers so the average
food check will be slightly higher to $6.69 because bigger portion sizes and a wide arrange of
side dishes are served. On Saturday and Sunday, we will perform a cooking demonstration, so
the weekend food check will be $1.00 higher compared to weekday food check. By operating
daily with a high number of customers, the total yearly food sales sums up to be $656,520 food
sales on the weekdays and an addition of $93,444 food sales from the weekends. By adding food
sales together, it gives us a yearly amount of $716,520 for total food sales. Since we serve a
variety of fruit juices, milks and smoothies, the beverage revenue is estimated to be 25% from
breakfast and lunch food sales and 20% from dinner food sales. We will have $879,821 as the
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total of food and beverages sales. By taking off 33% from food cost and 20% from beverages,
our food and beverage costs is up to $269,111, leaving us with a total of $610,709 for gross
profit.
Part of the major payroll expense is based on hiring nutritionists for the cooking
demonstration. In 2013, an average salary for dietitians and nutritionists is about $56,000, which
earns 4,691 per month (usnews.com, 2015). Since our total food sales is $879,821, $123,174 are
paid for fixed payroll, $114,376 for variable payrolls, $52,789 for other controllable expenses
and $47,500 will go to employee benefit, we will be left with $ 272,857.9 (Budget worksheet,
2015). In addition to our payroll expenses, our depreciation is expected to be $5,457, with
occupancy costs and interest charges of $53,571 and $10,964 per year, respectively. Our
predicted annual gross cost profit is $202,286.87.
With a profit of $202,286.87, FollowNutri will continue to expand and generate lager
profits However; FollowNutri always keeps in mind the purpose of our operation. By earning a
good amount of annual profit and providing healthy foods to our target population, it is a huge
success for FollowNutri.
Conclusion
The intention of this business plan is to demonstrate our restaurant commitment to providing
and educating healthy meals to help children adapt to healthy eating habits at an early stage in life. It
is important to learn healthy eating habits at a young age because it can prevent the propensity of
obesity in later life. Our service focuses on providing heart healthy options and distributing
nutritional healthy information to young children. We hope that our cooking demonstrations will
make cooking fun for children and motive them to change their unhealthy diets. With the strategies
that we have described in this business plan, it will allow us to successfully fulfill the goals and
objectives of our restaurant.
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Appendix: Three recipes from WIC program
FollowNutri
February 28, 2015
Cooking Demonstration
Happy crackers
with creamy peanut butter, topped with
blueberries, strawberries, and sliced apple
Nutritional Information:
Calories 245,Fat 12.3g, Protein 6g, Carb
31g ,Fiber 6 g ,Calcium 25mg,Iron 1mg, Vitamin
A 5mcg, Vitamin c 13mg, Folate 29mcg
Banana Berry Smoothie
Frozen strawberries and banana blended with soy
milk
Nutritional Information:
Calories 139;Fat 2.5g,Protein 7g,Carb 25g,Fiber
5g , Calcium 60mg,Iron 2mg,Vitamin a
79mcg,Vitamin C 35mg,Folate 31mcg
Yam and Bean burrito
chunked yam mixed with onion, black beans,
onion and use whole wheat tortillas
Nutritional Information:
Calories 220,Fat 3g, protein 8g, carb, 47g, fiber
8g, Calcium 34mg, Iron 2mg,Vitamin A 8mcg,
Vitamin C 10mg,Folate 87mcg
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