Rotating Meal Menus - Checklist

This article provides a checklist for setting up Rotating Meal Menus in Arbor. Follow this step-by-step guide to ensure your menus are ready for parents and students, with provisions, availability, and rotation properly configured.

Permissions

• Meals: Administer All Students – Required to set up meal menus and add provisions.

• Finance: Administer – Required to set prices for meal provisions and manage payments for meals. 

If you don’t have these permissions, ask your admin team to grant them using these instructions. 

Check that you have the Meal Menus feature

Rotating Meal Menus are included in Arbor’s Perform package. Other packages do not include this feature by default.

To upgrade or check your package, contact the Partnership Team via customersales@arbor-education.com.

Checklist

Use this itemised list to double-check that you have completed your Rotating Meal Menu setup correctly.
 

1. Set Up Meal Provisions and Prices

1. Go to School > Meals > Setup > Provisions.

2. Add all meal provisions you will use in the menu (e.g., Hot Meal Option 1, Vegetarian Option, Jacket Potato).

3. Set prices if applicable.

Tip: The labels you add in step 3. Add Provisions and Labels to the Menu below allow you to use the same provision with different names depending on the day (e.g., Hot Meal Option 1 = Pizza on Monday, Pasta on Friday).

Refer to the following articles: Step 2 - Adding Provisions & Step 3 -Adding Prices for full guidance on these steps.
 

2. Add a New Meal Menu

1. Go to School > Meals > Setup > Meal Menus. 

2. Click Add Meal Menu in the top-right corner.

3. Enter a Menu Name (parents will see this on the Portal/App).

4. Set Rotate Every to your desired rotation length (1–4 weeks).

5. Click Save Changes.

Refer to this article for full guidance on these steps.
 

3. Add Provisions and Labels to the Menu

1. Click View Meal Menu for the new menu.

2. Use the table to add Provision (the generic meal) and Label (parent-friendly name).

3. Fill out each day of the week for all weeks in the rotation.

4. Click Save Changes.

Rules to follow: 

• Each provision must have a label

• The same provision cannot be used twice on the same day

• Copy/paste is allowed within the table for efficiency.

Refer to this article for full guidance on these steps.
 

4. Adjust Previous Menu (if applicable)

1. For a replacement or updated menu, adjust the Menu Available To date of the previous menu to end the day before the new menu starts.

2. Click Save Changes. 
    

5. Set Menu Availability

1. Click Edit Availability on the menu. 

2. Set Menu Available From – the first day parents can select meals (determines Week A of the rotation).

3. Set Menu Available To – the last day the menu is active.

4. Choose Allow meal choices if balance is insufficient?

   • Yes – parents can select meals regardless of balance.

   • No – choices cannot be confirmed until the balance covers the meal.

5. Set Meal Choice Cut-Off Time (e.g., 2 days before the meal).

Refer to this article for full guidance on these steps.
 

6. Publish Menu

1. Once provisions, labels, and availability are set, your menu is live for parents to view and select meals via the Parent Portal or App.
    

7. Manage Menus After Publishing

• Future menus – can be edited fully, including provisions and labels.

• Active or past menus – can only edit availability; to edit provisions:

  • Change Menu Available From to a future date.

  • Edit the menu.

  • Restore the original dates.

• Meal choices for students can be viewed via Meal Registers or Custom Reports. 

Refer to this article for full guidance on these steps.
 

8. FAQs and Troubleshooting

•  For FAQs and troubleshooting (e.g., editing choices, menu errors, deleting menus, or special/seasonal menus), click on this article: Rotating Meal Menus – Frequently Asked Questions