Still In Time For Feb Producycle Update?

The Long Preamble

February was a month with a lot of progress and momentum, or at least it felt like it. My partner Francis had more time to work on the product so we now have a working prototype that allows for users to create accounts, log in, upload invoices, extract invoice information, and provided automated reporting. I keep going back and forth between only building after having enough buy-in/demand vs. having something tangible as a tool to have more productive conversations. Once I had my one-pager, conversations became easier when there’s some graphic and text to ground the abstract ideas I was trying to convey. The similar has been true for showing a working prototype. I guess the lesson here is that we could’ve built out wire frames instead of actually connecting all of them in the backend. But Francis has been an engineering powerhouse churning through my running list of requests, so we’re ok? One of my mentors, Tommy, keeps reminding me to prove things out manually first before actually building out to ensure we are delivering value.

Things I wish I had done earlier

Two things I should have started doing earlier that would accelerate these outreach - one is using LinkedIn (preferably Premium with the benefits that come with Microsoft for Startups) to reach out, and the other to ask for recommendations for additional contacts to speak with in each conversation. Email was not working for me reaching out to schools, but LinkedIn has yielded a much higher response rate and resulted in many fruitful conversations. Mentioning that someone suggested the contact (warm intros are the best, but I don’t ask unless it’s offered) usually converts to more conversations as well.

Where we are now

Of course, we would rely on much more direct user feedback on what to build next. We’re at the point where we’re confident in running pilot programs with school districts that are ready. These school districts will also become design partners we learn from to determine our future roadmap.

Cool things I learned from conversations

Some interesting findings not in particular order:

1. Small districts lack purchasing power

   This is usually where co-ops come in. What usually happens is that there would be a lead district that aggregate the demand across multiple districts and goes out to bid as a collective (as if they were a much bigger district). It was also interesting to learn that sometimes the distributors where prioritize fulfilling orders of larger districts and just let the smaller district know there wasn’t enough.

2. There isn’t a easy way to compare bid price with the actual purchase price

   School districts usually go out to bid for the next school year about now. When bids are awarded, some are for a specific price and others with a price with an allowable adjustment range. Produce and dairy are allowed to fluctuate slightly due to the changes of market price whereas grocery items are expected to stay constant. Schools just don’t have an easy way to do these comparisons each time a new invoice comes in. So, one of our opportunities to help monitor.

3. Not all schools are equipped for scratch cooking

   I have heard two stories for why this is the case. One is because regulations changed around scratch cooking (ie. limiting sodium and fat) that makes scratch cooking much harder to manage compared to buying pre-processed items that have ingredients and nutritional values clearly listed. Another reason was due to changes during the Reagan administration that cut funding into school kitchens and thus schools reverted to more heat and serve ovens.

4. Inventory is a challenge

   With the number of items that go through each school food program, inventory is a large operational challenge. This could be broken down into multiple steps - starting from ordering, receiving, to depleting. Do you use units like cases, number of cabbages, weight? Does anyone have time to thoroughly check through all the items that were promised? Some schools have implemented a bar code system where all items are scanned before entering the central warehouse (but this is an example of a school that has a large enough warehouse). Not something we’re thinking about addressing just yet due to its complexity.

5. Local food can come in many forms

   I learned about a school that has a central bakery and use local flour as a major portion of their local food purchase.

6. Location matters for local food availability

   In California, we have quite long growing season across the year. However, in states like Iowa, Colorado, Vermont, etc. local growing season are much shorter. As a result, schools need to think about ways to pre-purchase larger amounts to freeze and process beforehand for later use (that is of course if they have enough cold storage).

7. Most people want a one-stop-shop

   A repeated request was that schools are looking for a one stop shop to manage all their processes, access reports, plan menus, send orders, reconcile invoices, and anything else that is involved in school food. While we can’t start with a full-suite software, we’re keeping in mind the importance of integration into their existing softwares or the capability to automate workflows that reduces manual data entry.

8. Different districts approach cost differently

   Some directors want a view of their daily costs, per plate cost while other districts take a longer time frame (ie. weekly, monthly) to provide more flexibility of menu offered. The longer time frame allows for higher cost items on certain days balanced with lower costs on other days whereas the daily view poses a stricter limit on what can be offered.

9. Increasing participation seems to be the silver bullet

   There is an assumed transitive property from better ingredients -> better food -> higher participation. Higher participation affects entitlement dollars, federal reimbursement, and state reimbursement. This is like increasing the top line drastically, increasing some variable cost (the ingredients that get cooked) and almost no increase in fixed cost (mostly just labor).

10. Start from one and expand

    This was also explained to me in 2 different ways, both focused on maximizing impact. One from the perspective of purchasing and the other from scratch cooking. One was to find your most purchased produce, find a local grower that produces that item, and expand that relationship to include additional items. The other was to identify the most popular menu item, and create a recipe to cook that from scratch.

My heart is so full even though this post is so late. Everyone I spoke to has been super gracious and generous with their time and knowledge. Like my therapist said, this pursuit is very value-aligned for me - wanting to bring better food to more people. Throughout this process so far, I loved every conversation, all the new things I learned, and the opportunity to think through the many challenges from a perspective that is not rooted from school food. Can’t wait to find out what’s next.