Meal plans with opt-outs and credit
Sell a meal plan for a day, a week, a month, a term or a year, covering the sessions and weekdays you choose. A member who says "not eating" before the cut-off gets that meal back as wallet credit, a refund at the end or an extra day. Joining late is charged only for the meals left.
PLANSFrom Growth
Why it matters
In a hostel mess or a PG kitchen most people pay for a month of meals and then miss some of them. Without a record, the mess keeps the money or settles a rebate by hand at term end. SmartMy Feast turns each missed meal into a fixed credit. The member says "not eating" in the app before the cut-off. The meal's share of the plan price goes to their wallet or to a refund at the end, or becomes an extra day. Joining part-way is charged only for the meals left, and the kitchen sees the answers in its headcount.
The problem it solves
- Students pay the full monthly mess fee and are away for ten days, and the mess keeps the money with no record.
- A refund for missed meals is worked out by hand at the end of the term and argued over.
- Someone who joins on the 18th pays for the whole month, or the office prorates it on paper.
- The kitchen cooks for every member even when half have gone home for the weekend.
How it works
- Create the plan under Food Service > Configuration > Meals and Menu > Meal Plans: its period, price, sessions and weekdays, and how opt-outs are credited.
- Choose the outlets it is valid at and the customer types it is sold to, and tick Meal Plans on those outlets.
- Members buy it in the SmartMy Feast app, from the wallet or online. Hostel residents get it at check-in, and a mess fee invoice can give it too.
- Each day members answer "eating" or "not eating" in the app or on the portal before the opt-out cut-off. A "not eating" answer is an opt-out.
- Each opt-out is credited as the plan says. It goes to the wallet at once, to a refund at the end, or as an extra day when a whole day is missed.
- At the counter the member's card serves the plan meal. Opted-out meals and meals already served are refused.
- When the period ends the plan closes, holiday meals are credited if included, and a plan set to renew is paid again from the wallet.
Everything it does
Plans
- Period: Daily, Weekly (Monday to Sunday), Monthly, Quarterly, Half-yearly, Yearly, or Fixed dates for a term or academic year
- Price per Period; Sessions; Days, all seven ticked to start with
- Valid at (outlets) and Sold to (customer types); empty means all
- Holidays Included: days marked Not served count as plan meals and are credited; off means they are simply not part of the plan
- Prorate: on to start with; someone joining part-way pays the share of the period's meals left
- Renew Automatically: the starting choice for new members; each member can switch it in the app
- A description diners read in the app
Opt-outs and credit
- Opt-out / Leaving Credit: No credit, Credit to the wallet, Refund at the end (to start with), or Extend the plan
- Credit for one meal is the meal value: the price divided by the planned meals
- Members must answer before the outlet's opt-out cut-off, 12 hours before serving to start with
- Staff can record an opt-out for a member until serving starts; approved hostel leave opts out by itself
- An opt-out is taken back, with its credit, by answering "eating" before the cut-off
- Extend the plan adds a day for each whole day of opt-outs
Joining, leaving and renewing
- A member has one plan of a kind for the same dates; a second is refused
- Customer Leaves on the subscription: the meals after the last day are credited to the wallet or kept as a refund, as the plan says
- At the end, unused meals that were not credited become revenue
- Renewal is paid from the wallet; if the balance is short the plan is not renewed and the member is told
- Plans with fixed dates do not renew
- Changing to another plan is leaving one and buying the other; there is no one-step upgrade
At the counter and in the kitchen
- Scanning the card serves the plan meal of the session; plan meals come before tokens
- The headcount and the kitchen forecast use the answers (see Headcount)
- Members can choose a combo of the menu in their answer where the kitchen offers one
Who uses it
Mess manager or Food AdministratorSets up the plans, their credit rule and the cut-offs.
Member (student, resident, employee)Buys or renews the plan, answers each day and gets credit for meals missed.
ParentBuys the plan for a child in the app and answers for them.
CashierServes plan meals by card; records an opt-out on request until serving starts.
AccountsWith Scale, sees plan money held as an advance and turned into revenue as meals are served.
Where you use it
- Web: Food Service > Configuration > Meals and Menu > Meal Plans; Food Service > Selling > Meals and Plans > Plan Subscriptions (tabs Meals and Money, Opt-outs, Meals Served)
- The SmartMy Feast app: Meals > Meal plans to buy, renew and see meals taken. Daily answers on Today. Built and in testing, not in the app stores yet
- The diner portal: the active plans and the daily answers; buying a plan is in the app
- The SmartMy Feast Counter app: serves plan meals, also offline in Growth (built and in testing, not in the app stores yet)
- Not built: selling a plan from the back office or the counter tablet. It comes from the app, the hostel stay, a mess fee or a renewal
What you control
Settings
- Period: Monthly; Prorate: on; Renew Automatically: off
- Opt-out / Leaving Credit: Refund at the end
- Holidays Included: off
- Opt-out cut-off: 12 hours before serving, per session and outlet
Notifications
- Meal Plan Renewed and Meal Plan Not Renewed: to the member when the plan ends. In the app and by email, WhatsApp and SMS from your message credits, app push once the apps are in the stores. Sent at once
- Meal Plan Ending: to the member three days before a plan that does not renew ends. Same channels. A promotional message the member can switch off
- Each person can switch off a channel such as SMS for themselves; in-app notices always arrive
Works with
SmartMy HostelThe mess plan is given at check-in, ended at check-out, and approved leave opts out of the meals (Growth).
SmartMy CampusA mess fee invoice gives the plan for its period, and mess fees can carry a late fee (Growth).
Questions
A student goes home for the weekend. Is the mess fee lost?
No. They answer "not eating" in the app before the cut-off. Each meal is credited as the plan says: to the wallet, to a refund at the end, or as extra days.How is one meal valued for the credit?
The plan's price divided by the meals planned in the period. A monthly plan of 3 meals a day for 30 days counts 90 meals.Someone joins on the 20th. Do they pay for the whole month?
Not if Prorate is on, as it is to start with. They pay only for the plan meals from the 20th to the end of the period.What if the wallet is empty when the plan renews?
The plan is not renewed, the member is told, and they can top up and buy again.Can staff sell a plan at the counter?
Not yet. Members or parents buy plans in the app; hostel residents get theirs at check-in and students through mess fees.Is this in Starter?
No. Meal plans are in Growth and Scale. Starter has tokens, the wallet and pay per item.Related features
MEAL PLANNING AND ENGAGEMENTAre you eating? Headcount before the cut-offPlan members say Eating or Not eating for each meal before its cut-off, on the portal or in the app. At the cut-off the members' count is frozen, walk-ins are added from the last four weeks, and the kitchen cooks for that number.PAYINGPrepaid walletEach customer has a food wallet. It is topped up at the counter or in the office, in Growth also online, and spent at every counter by scanning the card. Every change is an entry that is never edited, only reversed, and a low balance raises an alert.WITH OTHER SMARTMY PRODUCTSHostel mess plans with check-in and leaveWith SmartMy Hostel, a resident's mess plan starts at check-in and ends at check-out, from rules per hostel, room type and resident category. Approved leave switches the meals off with the plan's credit, and residents who are away are left out of the kitchen's headcount.WITH OTHER SMARTMY PRODUCTSMeals on the student fee ledgerWith SmartMy Campus, students become food customers and their parents their menu contacts. Canteen purchases, meal plans and wallet top-ups can be charged to the student's fee ledger. Mess fees become fee dues with the usual receipts, reminders and late fees.COUNTEROne-tap serve of plan and token mealsScan the card and the meal a plan or token covers is served in one tap, or on the scan itself. The counter checks the session, the opt-out and a second helping, also without the network.SET-UPRotating menu cycles and festival daysWrite a rotating menu once, for a week, a fortnight or any number of days, and the daily menus build themselves for each outlet. Mark festival menus, extra dishes and days when a meal is not served.
See it with your own menu.
Tell us how many outlets you run and how people pay today. We will show you a day in your mess or canteen on SmartMy Feast.