MyRecipes now available free to hospitality training institutes

New Zealand culinary students now have free access
to one of the most important online tools they will need during
their careers.

MenuCoster (www.myrecipes.co.nz) uses up to date New Zealand pricing, ingredients
and local suppliers that students will work with in the industry.
It deals with ingredient procurement through to recipe costing,
nutritional information, special diets and menu pricing making
it a complete costing and nutrition resource for chefs. The
sites online information is constantly updated providing a real-time
advantage along with the fact it can be accessed from home,
work or school.

Along with offering the system free to culinary students, MenuCoster
has also introduced a new feature that allows groups of users
to share recipes. This is especially useful for tutors providing
a set of recipes to be used for coursework. It also allows students
to enter their private recipes to fit special diets and assessment
criteria.

MenuCoster is the brainchild of Auckland-based former chef and
Menu Du Jour owner Gavin Lovett. Lovett worked closely with
Wellington dietitian Amber Strong when developing the site.

Lovett says the two things he struggled with when studying were
nutrition and recipe costing. “Nutrition labeling numbers on
products meant nothing to me,” he recalls of his training days.
“But MenuCoster provides a very visual and interesting approach
to the increasingly important nutritional component and costing
component of menus. Users can attribute colourful icons to special
diets and graphs represent how a recipe compares against New
Zealand’s recommended daily intake guidelines.

“Since launching MenuCoster in May 2005, we’ve seen incredible
interest from training institutes and chefs New Zealand wide.
By ensuring culinary students have the latest industry tools
to work with we are closely aligning ourselves with the chefs
of tomorrow and at the same time, giving something back to the
industry.”

Menu Du Jour’s offer of free access for students has been warmly
welcomed by training providers including HSI product manager
Emmet McElhatton.

“Training with MenuCoster will assist apprentices, trainees and
students grasp the important concept of creating and costing
menus. Especially given commodity prices are changing daily,
and customer nutritional concerns are increasing.”

Manukau Institute of Technology head of school, Johann Wohlmuther,
says he is equally delighted that MenuCoster has demonstrated
its commitment to the training of future culinary professionals.

“Having used the software for the last year we believe this
generous offer by Menu Du Jour will have a positive impact on
students learning,” he says.

Training providers wanting more information on how their students
can access MenuCoster for free should contact Gavin Lovett on
09 921 0365.