Theme Meal

Molly Chaffin

The University of Southern Mississippi

Marketing Plan for Mexican Theme Meal

Date of theme meal: February 24th, 2015

1. What is your marketing goal?The marketing goal involves informing potential customers of the Canteen that a Mexican meal will be served on February 24th.

2.a. Identify all of your target audiences.

The target audience of the theme meal marketing include all individuals at the VHA of Biloxi. All VHA employees are potential Canteen customers, including foodservice, medical, administrative, and all other VHA staff. Other target audiences include ambulatory patients, patient guests, and visitors of the facility.

b. Prioritize your target audiences. Who are the two most important ones?The most important target audiences are medical staff and patient guests. These individuals are the most frequent customers of the canteen. VHA medical and administrative staff are likely to be the greatest consumers of the theme meal due to frequent dining at the VHA and

c. How will you assess the opinions of your primary target audience(s)?

Opinions of the theme meal will be assessed through the use of a post-meal survey. All customers who purchase the entre and at least two other components of the theme meal will be asked to complete a survey regarding taste, appearance, variety, and overall feelings regarding the meal. An area for any suggestions or comments will also be provided for customers to express their opinions.

3. What are your programs strengths & weaknesses?STRENGTHSWEAKNESSES

Popular type of meal for the area.

Theme does not align with a holiday or season.

Mexican meals are not commonly served in the canteen; this meal should be seen as something unusual and special.

Meal is very starchy and heavy.

Mexican decorations will draw attention to the theme meal.

Running head: THEME MEAL1THEME MEAL PART I2

4. What one central message would you like to send to your target audience(s)to get?

By marketing this theme meal, I would like to draw attention to the idea the meal to be served this day will be new, exciting, and different. The canteen serves many of the same meals over and over again, so this meal will be an opportunity to change up the customers usual lunch. It will also be a diverse meal, varying from the usual flavors and textures of the typical meals served in Southern Mississippi.

5. What are your refined goal & specific objectives?GOAL: To attract customers to dine at the canteen for a Mexican themed meal.

OBJECTIVES:

To determine if a theme meal draws in additional customers and sales to the canteen compared to the weekly average.

To determine if new and different meal choices improve the customer satisfaction surveys compared to the prior surveys conducted in May of 2014.

To determine if Mexican food is given a majority of satisfactory ratings in customer surveys.

6. What tactics will you use? Identify specific tasks that are a part of the tactic. Who will be responsible for each task? What is the estimated cost of each task & of the tactic?TACTIC: Draw attention to this meal by posting flyers around the canteen and hospital lobby.

TASKSRESPONSIBLE PERSON(S)Est. Cost

Create promotional flyersDietetic Intern$1.00

Hang flyers in appropriate areas throughout the hospital.Dietetic Intern---

TOTAL$1.00

TACTIC: Decorate the canteen dining area on the day of the theme meal to promote purchasing this meal.

TASKSRESPONSIBLE PERSON(S)Est. Cost

Collect Mexican decorations and other items to place around the dining area.

Dietetic Intern, Management preceptor$0 to $10

Borrow Mexican themed items from friends and family

Dietetic Intern, Management preceptor---

Purchase or borrow a table cloth, centerpiece, dishes, and/or utensils to use for the display meal.Dietetic Intern, Management preceptor$0 to $10

TOTAL$0 to $20

TACTIC: Promote a giveaway item (chips, beverage, pen, etc.) and a raffle item (cookbook) for customers who participate in the theme meal survey.

TASKSRESPONSIBLE PERSON(S)Est. Cost

Create a poster to display how to receive these items and promote the items to be given away.

Dietetic Intern$1.00

Bake dessert or purchase giveaway items to distribute. Purchase raffle item or gift card.

Dietetic Intern$25.00

Set up a table to conduct customer surveys and distribute prizes.

Dietetic Intern---

TOTAL$26

(copy this page to add more tactics)

7. How will you evaluate your marketing efforts?

The marketing effects can be evaluated by observation of the customers and their reactions to the promotional flyers. Successfulness of the marketing plan can be determined on the day of the theme meal based on the number of customers served, amount of food left over, and total sales for the canteen compared to regular days.

Promotional Flyer

Menu Display

Evaluation Form

February Fiesta Theme Meal Evaluation

Please rate your opinion of the theme meal in the following areas:

5Very Good4Good3 Neutral2Poor1Very poor

Appearance

Texture

Flavor

Overall

How likely would you be to purchase this meal again at the Canteen? Please circle.

Very Unlikely/Never Not likely NeutralSomewhat Likely Very Likely

Additional Comments:

Running head: THEME MEAL PART I 6THEME MEAL PART I 7

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Standardized Recipes

Nutrient Analysis

Raw Food Costs

Financial AnalysisThe Canteen Services at the VHA of Biloxi have maintained the current pricing for the past five years despite any rises in food costs or inflation. Therefore, meal item pricing does not change depending on the menu items. A full meal purchased from the Canteen is referred to as the caregivers special; this meal includes an entre, one side item, and a bread item for $4.99. An additional side can be added to this meal for $1.00. The entre may be purchased individually from this special for $3.79 and additional sides for $1.19. Therefore, the theme meal including two beef enchiladas, Spanish rice, corn and black bean blend, tortilla chips, and a drink will be offered as the caregivers special for $5.99. Guacamole salad and a fruit cup will be suggested to compliment this meal for an additional $2.80 each.Because the Canteen is a separate, for-profit foodservice operation, it functions separately from the nutrition and food service (NFS) department at the VHA. The NFS department does, however, order food products from the prime vendor for the Canteens production. The Canteen reimburses NFS at set rates per item: $0.85 per entre, $0.75 per casserole, $0.25 per vegetable ( cup servings), and $0.20 per starch. Therefore, food cost for the caregivers special is $1.30 and must be paid back to NFS. The Canteens profit per caregivers special is therefore $3.69 per meal served. The Canteen manager predicts that 120 theme meal entrees and 60 portions of the vegetable and starch should be prepared to create a profitable meal. If all entrees are sold, the Canteen will receive between $454.80 and $598.80 of revenue. Following reimbursement to the NFS department, the Canteen will generate a profit of $352.80 to $442.80. Regardless of sales, the Canteen must reimburse NFS a total of $129.00 for food costs; therefore, for the Canteen to generate enough profit to prevent a loss, the Canteen must sell more than 35 meals or 44 single entrees to earn more than $129.00. Production Sheet

Layout of Serving Line

ItemServing Tool

Entre 1Tongs

Entre 2Tongs

Enchiladas Spatula

Gravy#8 scoop (4 oz.)

Starch 1#8 Spoodle (4 oz.)

Spanish Rice#8 spoodle (4 oz.)

Black Bean Blend#8 spoodle (4 oz.)

BreadTongs

Written Component

Description

The February Fiesta theme meal was designed to provide a flavorful, unique meal during this cold, winter month. A Mexican theme meal was suggested by the Canteen supervisor; this type of meal is very popular with patrons but is rarely offered by the Canteen. The Mexican decorations that were placed throughout the dining area were intended to draw attention to the meal and create a fiesta-like feel as a special occasion. Mexican menu items including beef enchiladas, Spanish rice, fire-roasted corn and black bean blend, and guacamole salad were plated and displayed on a decorated table at the entrance to the serving area. Patrons could then view the complete meal, hopefully encouraging individuals to purchase the meal with the suggested items. While promoting this meal in this service area, many customers commented the pleasant appearance of the decorations and the display meal. Many customers seemed very interested and asked how often meals such as this were presented. The Canteen staff and customers seem to be very receptive to theme meals due to the interest and excitement that is created. ProductionThe Canteen manager correctly predicted this excitement of the Mexican-themed dishes. He therefore ordered 100 entre servings be prepared for the days meal. Because the cases of enchiladas are sold in 45 servings, the actual production of the entre equaled 135 servings; however, the NFS department did not charge the Canteen for these extra servings. The manager requested that 112 servings of the Spanish rice and vegetable be produced for the meal. Because the enchiladas were purchased as a pre-made food, preparation of this entre was brief. The enchiladas were cooked the morning of the theme meal; sauce was placed in the bottom of the pan, enchiladas spread in one layer, baked, and then topped with sauce, onions, cheese, and olives. The Spanish rice was also baked the morning of the meal by boiling water, adding rice and spices, and stirring until all water was absorbed. The vegetable blend was steamed the day before meal service by the NFS staff. The salads and fruits cups were combined the morning prior to service and put in the cooler to chill.While some patrons did not order the theme meal as a whole, the rice and vegetables seemed very popular with the Canteens static entre of fried chicken; however, it appeared that the greatest overproduction occurred with the Spanish rice. Approximately one pan of rice was left over following the final service of lunch; this equated to about one-sixth of the total rice produced. One pan (which contained approximately 14 servings) plus an additional six servings were left unused from the entre pan. This means that a greater than predicted amount was sold, because the Canteen was provided extra entre servings as no additional cost. Less than one pan of the vegetables remained following meal service. Of the chilled items, three of the ten guacamole salads were thrown out, however, all of the fruit cups were sold. BudgetThe Canteens budget for the food costs of the meal was $135.40; this cost includes the entre, vegetable, and starch that the Canteen requested from the NFS department. The salad materials were provided at no cost by the NFS manager, and the fruit cups are prepared daily and set out by the Canteen. These prices, calculated from the reimbursement costs listed in the financial analysis, remain unchanged. Therefore, the proposed budget for this theme meal was equal to the actual budget regarding the food costs.The Canteen also pays a set amount per day to contribute to labor costs for the NFS department in meal preparation for the Canteen. The NFS estimates that daily food production requires a total of two labor hours by the cook foreman, who is listed as a wage-grade 5. These cooks are paid $18.05 per hour, so the Canteen must reimburse NFS a total of $36.10 per day in labor costs. The intern also helped the cook prepare the theme meal items at no additional labor cost, therefore the Canteens labor budget remained the same as the everyday labor costs for the Canteen employees as well as the $36.10 reimbursement to NFS. EvaluationsAccording to the results of the evaluation forms listed below, the Mexican theme meal was generally favored. Of the 39 evaluation forms returned, the majority of opinions fell in the very good category for each of the qualities measured (including, appearance, texture, flavor, and overall). Over 75% of participants responded either very good or good in each category. Over half (65%) of the participants would be very likely to purchase this meal again at the Canteen, and 19% stated that they would likely purchase this meal again. The comment section of the evaluation form also provided mostly positive feedback. Comments included: Beautiful, taste great, the meal was full of flavor and very good and very tasty. One participant reported, Presentation at display table was great, not so much on the serving line. Overall taste and texture was OK, but much needed to be great! Other participants left valuable comments for improvement, including need more sauce and filling, and I would also offer sour cream and salsa for people that want it. A trend determined by the evaluation forms was the lack of sauce. One evaluation stated, enchilada could have more sauce. Rice was dry. Others also reported that the rice was very bland. These comments will be considered when determining improvements and recommendations for future Mexican-themed meals. Evaluation Results

54321

Appearance221321-

Texture18164--

Flavor21116--

Overall18173--

Likelihood to purchase again24751-

RecommendationsWhile the February Fiesta theme meal was completed smoothly and successfully, a few recommendations could be made to further improve the implementation and customer satisfaction. Preparation of the meal was not difficult or time consuming due to the use of mostly convenience foods. If the same menu items were produced again in a future meal, it would be best to steam the vegetables the morning of the meal. The appearance of the vegetables was likely compromised due to the early preparation. The black beans in the mixture did not hold up well and darkened the color of the corn. Another recommendation would be to prepare the enchiladas without a layer of sauce in the bottom of the pan. While this likely kept the enchiladas moist, it reduced the amount of sauce left for the topping. Enchilada sauce should also be placed on each pan individually immediately before the pan is placed on the serving line. The appearance and quality of the entre declined over time; the sauce became darker, thicker, and hardened on the edges, making the enchiladas seem more dry throughout the lunch service. Also, according to the customer evaluation forms, additional sauce may need to be purchased for future meals with enchiladas.The use of more processed items decreased the need for additional labor hours and skilled labor. It also decreased cost due to the fact that the VHA does not always carry the items needed for production of enchiladas (such as tortillas, peppers, and many of the spices). To make enchiladas from scratch would require purchasing many of the ingredients in large quantities and increasing costs due to food waste or breaking a case. The enchiladas would likely, however, taste more fresh and flavorful when made from scratch. While the entre served was generally well-liked, it was slightly bland, smaller portions, and as some evaluations stated, need[ed] more filling. For the next service of beef enchiladas at the VHAs Canteen, the manager may improve customer service by making the enchiladas from scratch or ordering through a different vendor. Overall, the theme meal was a fun and successful meal produced at the Canteen. The marketing strategy effectively drew customer attention and participation. According to the financial analysis, the meal produced a profit for the Canteen by selling more entrees and meals than the predicted amount. Food waste or overproduction was evident but controlled and did not contribute to a significant financial loss. According to customer evaluations, the majority of responses were very good or good with few negative comments. The February Fiesta theme meal was a fun and unique dining experience for patrons of the VHAs Canteen.