Won’t my school or district lose money if we make changes to the beverages we offer for sale to students?
Lower revenues are certainly a possibility but there are things you can do to reduce the magnitude of the drop and shorten the time revenue takes to “bounce back”. There isn’t necessarily a single right way to implement the change, but there are numerous best practices on how schools have minimized negative financial impact. Becoming familiar with these best practices and implementation strategies will help you during your dialog with your vendors to determine how you can work together to implement practices that make sense for your school or district.
Because the competitive beverage environment is complex, often involving many venues and many groups, the effects of changes on revenue are often complicated and may differ for each group involved in sales. It’s common that when a school or district makes such a commitment, revenue shifts from one venue to another. We would encourage districts to keep this in mind during the budgeting process for the years subsequent to the change and shift funds accordingly as revenue shifts.
The good news is that both you and your vendor have a common interest – you both benefit from increased sales. Thirsty children, provided with sufficient choice, will continue to buy refreshing drinks if you are smart about how you roll-out the changes in your school or district. For example, to provide sufficient choice for students, you may want to add some other qualifying beverages, such as additional flavors, to the contract to replace beverages that do not qualify. Click here for ideas on how to maximize acceptance of the Guidelines and the compliant products in your school or district.For additional information on school nutrition success stories including those where there has been a bounce back in revenue after a change, visit http://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/nutrition/Making-It-Happen/index.htm
