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.
![— title missing — Woman collecting procurement data](/food-service-guidelines-toolkit/media/images/procurementdata500x5001169.jpg)
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 |
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Fruits |
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Vegetables |
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Grains |
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Dairy |
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Beverages |
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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.