PBIC Operations & Equipment Guide: Menus & Marketing

Many Breakfast in the Classroom (BIC) schools have participation rates as high as 79% to 85%. Typically a breakfast menu cycle repeats every two weeks, which can lead to menu fatigue. Students like hot entrées and offering them daily or alternating hot/cold entrée days can increase participation. A variety of hot breakfast entrée foods are offered by manufacturers, and some come individually wrapped.

Offering scratch or speed-scratch breakfast entrées adds variety to the menu. Regional favorites—grits and scrambled eggs, kolaches, chicken-and-biscuits—are popular with students. Labor-intensive entrées can be managed by offering them just once during a menu cycle, and staging the preparation area over 2-3 days. Adding seasonal favorites and flavors with smoothies and parfaits can also spice up the menu. Changing menu cycles seasonally, or every other month, can also reduce fatigue!

Entrée Manufacturers Recipes/Menu Planning Marketing and Promotional Materials Menu Boards/Signage

Entrée Manufacturers

  • Conagra Food Service offers a variety of foods for changing tastes, including pizza, breakfast, snack items and more.
  • Dave’s Baking Co. offers a wide variety of high-quality bakery products, including muffins, breakfast bars, brownies and doughnuts.
  • De Wafelbakkers Company is a USA manufacturer of high-quality frozen pancakes that are individually wrapped with bright and colorful packaging and a meal contribution of 2 oz. grain.
  • E S Foods provides innovative, cost-effective solutions for breakfast, lunch and after school meals.
  • Foster Farms provides NAE- and soy-free, whole-muscle chicken and bone-in-parts, corn dogs, mini corn dogs, pancake wraps and a full-line of frozen Mexican products.
  • General Mills Convenience & Foodservice is on a mission to help grow your program participation, from student-favorite products and recipes to on-trend marketing resources.
  • Global Food Solutions/Right Start Foods Brand is your complete breakfast solution to help your students start their day right! Offering a variety of products in bulk or individually wrapped printed film.
  • Global Foods specializes in helping schools with breakfast, lunch, snack and dinner program entrées.
  • Integrated Food Service is a commodity processor of beef and cheese items. Home of the original grilled cheese, offering a full line of IW breakfast sandwiches. Smart snack-compliant items.
  • JA Foodservice Corp is doing the work to make feeding today’s youth effortless with our shelf-stable grab ’n’ go kits—breakfast, snack and lunch options available.
  • Jones Dairy Farm is a 130-year-old family-owned manufacturer of the highest quality all-natural, certified gluten-free breakfast sausage.
  • Land O’Lakes is a farmer-owned co-op delivering high-quality bulk and IW cheese products. Hot meals or cold for breakfast, lunch, supper or smart snack; Land O’Lakes has options that fit any service scenario.
  • Los Cabos is a manufacturer of high-quality, fresh-frozen Mexican entrees for breakfast, lunch, supper and smart snacks including burritos, enchiladas, quesadillas and tamales
  • McCain Foods will help you power up your menu with student-loved potato and sweet potato products. Tray line and Smart Snack-compliant options available for breakfast and lunch.
  • Post Consumer Brands offers a full line of a bowl pack, bulk and hot cereals for your school breakfast, Smart Snack and CACFP needs.
  • S.A. Piazza & Associates is where you will find Wild Mike’s K-12 products including our 16” pizzas, breakfast pizzas, wedge slices, 5” deep dish pizzas, our famous cheese bites and many more items.
  • Schwan's Food Service is an industry leader offering total solutions with great-tasting pizza, Asian and handheld foods are kids’ favorites.

Recipes/Menu Planning

  • Nutristudents K-12 helps you simplify operations, reduce food costs, and promote your school meals with our self-operated programs that offer 100+ weeks of chef-created, USDA-compliant menus, tools and resources.
  • Perdue Foods offers minimally processed nuggets, patties, bites and whole-muscle poultry, from chickens and turkeys raised without anti-biotics and are vegetarian fed.

Marketing and Promotional Materials

  • Acosta Foodservice has demonstrated unmatched strength in being operator-savvy and distributor-aligned making us a trusted partner in integrating new products and services into school foodservice.
  • American Egg Board connects America’s egg farmers with school nutrition professionals to encourage innovative ways to use real eggs in school nutrition programs.
  • Cool School Café is an industry-leading, points-based program in K-12 foodservice. Purchase qualifying products, submit verification and enhance your meal program with Cool School Cafe Points.
  • Descon Signage Solutions will help find solutions to improve marketing, branding and participation, and offer high-quality products for school foodservice.
  • Evergreen Packaging supplies school milk and juice cartons and promotes positive messages of sustainable packaging to students through its Carton 2 Garden program.
  • Genuine Alaska Pollock Producers will help you communicate the benefits of healthy, high-quality, once-frozen Wild Alaska Pollock. Visit us for recipes and serving ideas.
  • Green Edge Systems is the leader in school menu boards, including LED flashing menu boards, LED high-intensity printed menu boards, dry-erase menu boards and flashing digital menu boards.
  • Humane Society of the United States can help you add more plant-based options to your menu with their “Forward Food” program. Visit the website for everything you need, including recipes, toolkits, staff training, marketing materials, and more—free!
  • Institute of Child Nutrition (ICN) offers free research, training and resources to SN professionals.
  • inTEAM Associates, LLC offers software and consulting services designed to streamline K-12 menu planning and drive increased participation with preordering grab ‘n’ go meals.
  • Interflex can help simplify your procurement process by making your bid and purchasing data work for you.
  • Elkay Interior Systems (EIS) is an interior design and manufacturing company, offering an array of branding, design, build, and installation services for public and private schools nationwide.
  • KeyImpact Sales & Systems is a leader in the K-12 segment. Our team of professionals includes education sales specialists, chefs, bid and commodity specialists all engaged to support your needs.
  • Land O’Lakes is a farmer-owned co-op delivering high-quality bulk and IW cheese products. Hot meals or cold for breakfast, lunch, supper or smart snack; Land O’Lakes has options that fit any service scenario.
  • LoveYourLunchroom.com provides artistically appetizing signs for your lunchroom. Implement a makeover or simply order signs. Easy to buy and top quality. Imagine your space.
  • National Dairy Council (NDC) shares science-based benefits on how responsibly produced dairy foods help nourish children and adolescents. Shared via Fuel Up to Play 60.
  • Nutrislice is a leading provider of digital dining solutions for K-12, including digital menus, signage and online ordering.
  • Pacific Northwest Canned Pear Service is a commodity association representing the growers and processors of U.S.-grown Pacific Northwest Canned Pears, providing K-12 schools with recipes and promotional materials.
  • PepsiCo Foodservice is a premier global partner that leverages the best of PepsiCo to help our customers drive what is next with food and beverage experiences.
  • Premier Inc. is the proven and “first-choice” group purchasing program for K-12 operators, offering a comprehensive portfolio of contracted manufacturer agreements and cost-saving solutions.
  • Schwan's Food Service is an industry leader offering total solutions with great-tasting pizza, Asian and handheld foods are kids’ favorites.
  • SFSPac® offers a complete food safety and sanitation system, including product delivery, program documentation and staff education, for a simple fixed cost monthly fee.
  • The Peanut Institute and National Peanut Board work closely together to promote nutritious, delicious, sustainable and affordable superfood peanuts!
  • United Soybean Board
  • USA Dry Pea & Lentil Council/American Pulse Association
  • USA Pears – Pear Bureau Northwest
  • USDA Farm-to-School Program helps child nutrition program operators incorporate local foods in the National School Lunch and Breakfast Programs.
  • USDA Food & Nutrition Service/Team Nutrition supports child nutrition programs through training and technical assistance for schools.
  • USDA Foods Distribution Division/Foods in Schools supports school nutrition programs and American agricultural producers through purchases of 100% American-grown and produced foods.
  • Visualz (formerly Learning ZoneXpress) is a design company that creates nutrition and marketing resources to promote all child nutrition programs.

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