PRICE

1. PRICE Price It Right On-the-go students want quick, tasty food that they can afford. To attract more customers, make the school lunch cost less than lunch brought from home or à la carte snacks. Offer high-quality, tasty, and fun choices. Combine items so that they make up a full meal. Set full meal costs lower than the same amount of à la carte food. Promote full meals. Compare school lunch quality and price to fast food, lunch from home, a snack bar, vending machines, or other meal options. • Feed More Kids: National School Lunch Program • The four Ps to increase high school participation: Product, Place, Promotion, and Price. Baltimore City Public Schools 200 East North Avenue  Baltimore, MD 21202(443) 984-2000 Created By: Gila Greenbaum Source: http://www.cde.ca.gov/ls/nu/he/documents/feedmoreprod.pdf

2. PRODUCT Fresh, Popular Products Sell Give kids what they like: fresh, popular food that looks and tastes good! Make sure it meets the nutrition guidelines so that it’s good for them. Offering healthful food at school can help children learn to eat right. Keep meals colorful. Offer diverse fruits and vegetables every day. Make sure each menu includes foods of different colors. Perk up the packaging. Wrap sandwiches in fast food-like paper wrappers, place cut fruits and salads in clear cups to show off their colors, or a take-out box for Asian foods. Focus on fresh. Prepare and assemble food right before serving time, in front of students, to show freshness. Canned and frozen foods can fit into menus that look and taste fresh when the food is prepared just before serving. Tempt them with taste. Taste tests reveal what students like to eat. Reflect preferences in the foods you serve. Test the temperature. The right temperature not only keeps food safe but also makes food look and taste its best. PRODUCT More Choices = More Sales • Students like to have choices. If students have daily entrée choices, they are more likely to choose a complete meal and to eat school lunch more often. • Ask students for ideas. • Which ethnic foods do they like? Do they want vegetarian meals? What would make lunch more appealing and fun to them? • Start small. • Try adding one simple extra choice, such as yogurt or another cold item. • Try a self-serve option. • Think salad bars. While you may need more staff time, the increase in participation can offset this cost. Longer. Stronger. More You.

3. PLACE Keep Students on Campus Quality school meals helps students do well in school. More students will benefit from meals if the campus is closed at lunchtime. In addition, keeping more kids on campus all day reduces violence and drug problems on and off campus. Educate others. Tell principals, teachers, and parents how healthy children learn better and how school meals can help. Plan as a team. Get planning help from everyone who will be affected: students, nutrition staff, custodians, and teachers. PROMOTION Promote Meals to Students and Parents • Convince students and parents that school lunch meets their needs: it’s fresh, modern, attractive, tasty, convenient, nutritious, and affordable. Spread your message. Choose a slogan and repeat it. Get students’ attention with eye-catching, colorful signs in the cafeteria and around campus. Stage “theme” days or weeks. Offer students rewards to try new menu items. Get published. Use newsletters or school Web sites to show simple, understandable lunch facts, such as average number of calories, or number of menu choices. Survey students onlikes and dislikes. Give great customer service. Workers who smile, serve quickly, ask students to try new foods, and show they care about customers sell more meals. Longer. Stronger. More You.