Emergency Menu Development, Order Guide

Once the emergency menus and other food and supplies lists have been created, it is very beneficial to create order guides. Order guides tell not only what to order, but how much.

Not only does the food and supplies need to be ordered in advance of an emergency, if the emergency lasts long at all, it will be necessary to reorder. Depending upon the emergency, it may be worthwhile to place a new emergency order as soon as the emergency supplies start being used. For example, if the emergency supply is three days, it may take that long to get new supplies.

It is not difficult to develop an order guide in a spreadsheet with formulas to calculate the amount needed depending upon the customer count. Change the count and it will change the amount to order.

Suppliers may also be able to assist you in creating this as a supplement to your regular order guide or worksheet.

The middle of an emergency is not the time to try to determine what needs to be ordered and how much. The emergency order guide should be ready, available, and so easy to use that anyone in the department can use it.