CALCMENU - Making the business profitable with the right culinary solution.

A fun feature of CALCMENU Cloud on the Recipe Module is the Picture Control where the user can add more photos, edit, delete, set default, zoom, and even arrange the food pictures in steps! Recipe Picture Control- Easily add and browse photos to upload. Recipe Picture Control (EDIT) - Opens the picture editor to modify the selected picture – rotate, resize, crop, flip, draw text, and more! Recipe Picture Control (ZOOM IN) - To display a bigger size of the selected image – great for first-time food preparations and when you want to magnify the image. Recipe Picture Control (ARRANGE) - A pop-up window opens to let the user organize the images’ positions  by dragging the image. This can be used as a training tool for showing the procedures step-by step!

Come and visit the CALCMENU booth at the Igeho Expo in Basel, Switzerland! The CALCMENU booth is in Hall 2.1/Stand D36 . We will be showcasing our different recipe management solutions from November 19-23 .

CALCMENU will be participating in Igeho , the most important international trade show for hotel and catering industry in Switzerland. Igeho will be held in Basel, Switzerland on November 19-23, 2011. Over 800 exhibitors in different fields such as Food & Drink; Kitchen technology & Cleaning; Delicatessen & Wines; and Restaurant & Hotel Requisites will gather together in Basel for five days. CALCMENU will join top executives and specialists from the hotel and catering industry in Igeho to give you a sneak peek of its newest and the latest offering to the foodservice industry. Watch out for more details about this exciting new solution from CALCMENU!

After using the online demo of CALCMENU, you decided that it is the recipe management solution you needed and decided to buy CALCMENU. EGS sends you CALCMENU in DVD form together with the user manual. You install CALCMENU in your computer but, you are confused as to where to start. Here I will explain how to go about in starting to use CALCMENU. First, you need to configure your CALCMENU . Go to Configuration> Options and Preferences . This is where you set up the basic information you will use in the CALCMENU program itself and in managing your recipes. The Options dialog box displays the several information that you can configure. You can define your preferences for the general and default information, nutrients, picture, currency, import and contact. Define all the information that you will use in CALCMENU. For example, if you are using English as the language of the program, then select English in the General tab. Metric or Imperial? If you want to use kilograms, grams, li...

The USDA (U.S. Department of Agriculture) recently introduced a new eating guide called MyPlate which replaces the decades-old Food Guide Pyramid. MyPlate is a plate icon sliced into four to represent different food groups. Each colored section is for fruits, vegetables, grains and proteins. A circle icon for dairy is also included in the new guide. MyPlate encourages people to eat more fruits and veggies (should be half of your meal) and reduce sodium-rich soups, bread and frozen meals. The release of a new eating guide is part of the US’ movement to deal with the obesity problem in America. US First Lady Michelle Obama says “ This is a quick, simple reminder for all of us to be more mindful of the foods that we're eating .”* To know more about MyPlate, you can check out this website: http://www.choosemyplate.gov/ . * Reuters.com

It is undeniable that successful companies are those that are able to maintain at least 28-35% of their food costs, on the average, where at least 50% to 70% of their total sales are spent on food inventories, consumption as well as labor costs . Because of the impact that food costs has on the overall profitability of a food service company, one must be able to manage it carefully in order to increase profits by avoiding losses. You are probably thinking: “So how can we control our food cost?” There are many ways to do so but two of the most effective ways are to control your inventory and look into your menu pricing strategy . You may have received a good deal from your suppliers by ordering in bulk, however, think about this: you may be tying in your cash flow or store room for paying and stacking an inventory that may end up just sitting in your stock room for a long period of time. Or inversely, you may have also experienced scrambling and pulling your hair out as you scramble fo...