Procurement Data

Monitoring and Evaluating Food Service Guidelines

At a glance

Procurement or purchasing data offer a feasible way to measure changes in sales of healthier and less healthy foods. See the advantages and disadvantages of using this data and a table with examples.

Woman collecting procurement data

Introduction

Procurement, or purchasing data, reflect foods and beverages purchased by a cafeteria or snack bar manager, vending operator, or other personnel. The foods may be purchased from food distributors, warehouse clubs, or even supermarkets. These data include ingredients used to prepare dishes as well as prepackaged foods and beverages for sale directly to consumers.

Using procurement data

Procurement data offer a feasible method to measure changes in sales of healthier and less healthy foods. These data can be grouped into specific healthier and less healthy food categories corresponding with your food service guidelines.

You can also use procurement data to conduct audits in food pantries. For example, you can determine how much low-sodium canned products are ordered compared to higher-sodium canned products.

Example Measures for Evaluation of Food Service Guidelines Using Procurement Data

Food Category Food and Nutrition Standards Potential Proxy Measures
Using Procurement Data

Fruits
  • Offer a variety of at least 3 fruit options daily, with no added sugars. Fruit can be fresh, canned, frozen, or dried.
  • Pounds/units of:
    • Fresh fruit purchased
    • Frozen fruit purchased
    • Canned fruit packed in 100% juice purchased
  • Percent of canned fruits purchased packed in only 100% juice out of all canned fruit
  • Number of varieties of fresh fruit purchased

Vegetables
  • Offer a variety of at least 3 non-fried vegetable options daily. Vegetables can be fresh, frozen, or canned, and served cooked or raw.
  • Pounds/units of:
    • Fresh vegetables purchased
    • Frozen vegetables purchased
    • Canned vegetables purchased
  • Number of varieties of fresh vegetables purchased

Grains
  • Offer half of total grains as “whole grain-rich” products daily.
  • Offer a “whole grain-rich” product as the first or default choice.
  • Proportion of bread products (loaf bread, rolls, bagels) purchased that are at least 51% whole grain
  • Proportion of rice and pasta products purchased that are at least 51% whole grain
  • Proportion of breakfast cereals purchased with whole grain as first ingredient

Dairy
  • Offer a variety of low-fat dairy products a (or dairy alternatives) daily, such as milk, yogurt, cheese, and fortified soy beverages.
  • When yogurt is available, offer at least one low-fat plain yogurt.
  • Proportion of milk, cheese, yogurt, and cottage cheese products purchased that are ≤1% fat
  • Plain yogurt purchases

Beverages
  • Provide free access to chilled, potable water.
  • When milk and fortified soy beverages are available, offer low-fat beverages with no added sugars.
  • When juice is available, offer 100% juice with no added sugars.
  • At least 50% of available beverage choices contain ≤40 calories per 8 fluid ounces [excluding 100% juice and unsweetened fat free or low-fat (1%) milk].
  • At least 75% of available beverage choices contain ≤40 calories per 8 fluid ounces [excluding 100% juice and unsweetened fat free or low-fat (1%) milk].
  • Proportion of juice products purchased that are 100% juice
  • Proportion of bottled/canned soda, iced tea, energy and sports drinks purchased that are zero/reduced calorie
  • Proportion of fountain drink soda kegs purchased that are zero/reduced calorie
  • Proportion of low- or no fat milk and soy beverages with no added sugars purchased.
  • 100% vegetable juice purchased
  • Amount of bottled water purchased

Advantages

Procurement data are usually collected as normal business practice. For cafeterias, food distributors may compile procurement data. Therefore, obtaining the data should not pose an additional burden on food service managers.

A large portion of procurement data may be in similar formats because food in the U.S. is distributed by a small number of large national companies.

Procurement data is useful in community settings where foods are served rather than sold.

Disadvantages

Procurement data does not always precisely correspond with the foods purchased or eaten by consumers. This is especially true when ingredients purchased are incorporated into recipes prepared on site.

A time lag may occur between when foods are purchased by food service managers and when they are purchased by consumers. This time lag may differ by facility and food type. For example, time lags will likely be shorter for perishable foods, such as fresh fruits, vegetables, and bread products, compared to nonperishable foods such as canned goods. Time lags may also differ between facilities depending on storage space available. These time lags can be overcome somewhat by examining procurement over longer time periods. You can talk to food service managers to better understand purchasing schedules. You can then refine data further by examining the frequency of purchasing for specific product categories at a given facility.

Procurement record formats may not allow easy import into a database. Abstracting relevant data from procurement records may involve a substantial amount of manual data entry from several documents.

Seeking nutritional information for specific products may involve a substantial amount of work. For example, assessing cereals according to whole grain content may require looking up nutrition information for specific cereal brands. Work may be needed to standardize dissimilar units used to record food sales. Measuring purchases of fresh vegetables may require standardization between vegetables sold in cases based on units and vegetables sold in cases based on weight. You can get this information from sources such as procurement records or the distributors' websites, or by physically examining the inventory.

Some parameters of interest, such as local procurement, may be difficult for the distributor to supply.

More information on data types

Chef serving a plate of vegetables.
Production Data
Production data can be a proxy measure for sales of healthy and less healthy entrées and side items.
Two women observing a menu.
Menu Data
Menu data has advantages and disadvantages as part of food service guidelines evaluation.
Woman checking out at a cafe.
Point-of-Sale Data
Point-of-sale data may provide direct evidence of changes in food sales, but systems vary greatly.

Next steps

An institution serving the same meal to it residents.
Choose Data According to Setting
See how to use different data to evaluate food service guidelines implementation based on setting.
Healthcare worker getting a meal from a cafeteria.
Measure Reach and Impact
See definitions and examples and a formula for calculating reach for evaluations.
Farmer with box of fresh produce.
Track Co-Benefits of Food Service Guidelines
Other benefits may include support of locally sourced foods and environmentally friendly practices.

Return to "Building Blocks"

Use the "Building Blocks of Food Service Guidelines" to navigate to other parts of the Food Service Guidelines Implementation Toolkit.

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Content Source:
National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (NCCDPHP)