Create a menu plan
This guide shows how to create a weekly menu plan: set up menu lines (e.g. regular, vegetarian), schedule recipes, and move the plan from Draft through Approved to Published.
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Menu plans are edited by kitchen users (roles Kitchen Admin or Kitchen Team). |
Overview: the weekly planner
The menu plan is a weekly matrix:
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Rows = menu lines (the "swimlanes"): e.g. Regular, Vegetarian, Vegan, Halal, Pork-free as well as consistency levels (Soft, Pureed, Minced).
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Within each menu line the courses: starter, main course, side dish, dessert.
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Columns = weekdays (Mon–Sun). Special days (public holiday, school break, closing day, weekend) are marked.
Open the menu plan
How to: Open Kitchen → Menu plan and use the week navigation to select the desired week (the "This week" button jumps to the current one).
Result: The weekly matrix of the selected week is shown, with the menu lines as rows and the weekdays as columns.
Define the menu lines (swimlanes)
How to: The menu lines determine which dietary forms the plan covers. Using the menu-line name (hover/tap the row header) you can name and show/hide menu lines.
Result: Each active menu line appears as its own row in the matrix, into which you can schedule dishes.
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Menu lines cover two cases: dietary forms (vegetarian, vegan, halal, pork-free) and consistency levels for senior facilities (minced, pureed, soft food). |
Schedule recipes
How to: Drag a recipe from the recipe list into the desired day cell of a menu line using drag & drop (grab the corner of the recipe tile). Via the dish tile (hover/tap) you can assign the scheduled dish to the matching course (main course, side dish …).
Result: The dish appears in the cell. Nutrition and allergens are taken automatically from the recipe; coverage hints warn if a required dietary form is missing on a given day.
Mark special days
How to: Via the day actions, mark a day as public holiday, school break, closing day or no-delivery day.
Result: The marked day is locked or flagged and is not planned/delivered.
Approve and publish
How to: Via the status selector, move the plan from Draft to Approved and finally to Published.
Result:
| Status | Meaning |
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Draft |
in progress, not visible to facilities |
Approved |
reviewed, ready to publish |
Published |
visible to facilities; basis for the posted menu & ordering |
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Only one plan is active per group/week. A newly published plan replaces the previous one. |
Related
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Print the posted menu — output the published plan as a DIN A4 PDF per facility (guide to follow).
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Create recipes — the basis for scheduling (guide to follow).
Why it works this way
Three states instead of just "save". Draft is your workshop, released means internally binding, published makes the plan visible to facilities and families. Only publishing creates expectations outside your kitchen — which is why it is a deliberate step of its own, not a side effect of saving.
The release lock. From a configurable lead time before the production day, a day is locked. The reason lies outside the software: by then purchasing is done, quantities are fixed, and families have ordered based on the plan. A late change would not only upset your production but devalue decisions others have already made. Who may override the lock in a genuine emergency is limited to a few roles — and every such override is logged.