Cost Containment
Cost containment refers to strategies and measures aimed at controlling program expenses while maintaining or improving the quality of goods or services provided. It encompasses various practices, such as enhancing efficiency, negotiating cost reductions, optimizing resources, and adopting technology. Cost containment is essential for ensuring financial stability and promoting the sustainability of nutrition programs.
- Identifying the Total Cost of a Meal — Summary brief for meal cost calculations (Nutrition and Aging Resource Center)
- School Tray Audit Guide— Steps to plan, conduct, and analyze food waste can be applied by nutrition programs (Dakota County, MN)
- Choose to Reuse Manual on Reusable Trays— Step-by-step guide to ditch disposables (Beyond Plastics, 2022)
- Best Practices To Lower Your Business Expenses and Improve Cash Flow— Resource that covers short-term cash flow, analyzing spend, RFP best practices, and more (SCORE, 2023)
- Reducing Meal Cost in Maryland — Case study on meal costs (Bethesda NEWtrition and Wellness Solutions)
- How Nutrition Services Boost Your Bottom Line — Presentation about how nutrition services can offer cost savings (Nutrition and Aging Resource Center)
- Total Meal Cost Tool — Calculates the total cost of producing a meal for nutrition programs (Wisconsin Elder Nutrition Program, 2026)
- Plate Waste Tool — Audit tool that calculates plate waste scores for evaluation (South Carolina Department on Aging)
- Managing Finances— Planning budgets, managing money, and more (University of Kansas Community Tool Box)
- Cost Containment Strategies for Foodservice (YouTube)— Half-hour webinar featuring the National Foundation to End Senior Hunger about cost containment and waste management (ACL, 2023)
- Purchasing & Inventory Management (YouTube)— Half-hour webinar featuring LaTanya Clark, the nutrition and health promotion manager at Maryland’s Department of Aging (ACL, 2023)
- Using Reusable Trays (YouTube)— Webinar featuring Alexis Goldsmith, the national organizing director for Beyond Plastics (ACL, 2023)
- GPO 101: Approaches To Control Food Cost (YouTube)— Half-hour webinar featuring Dr. Shirley Chao the founder of FoodPolicy Insights Consulting (ACL, 2024)
- Group Purchasing Organization (GPO): Where Do I Start? (YouTube)— Forty-minute webinar featuring George Hawthorne, Director of nutrition, transportation, and Simply Catering to You at REAL Services, Inc. (ACL, 2024)