• The Nutritional Values Platform, launched in 2023 as a tool dedicated to calculating and correctly displaying nutritional information on the menu, now brings a feature that radically changes the way restaurants manage recipes.
It's about the automatic generation of complete digital technical sheets for each preparation, tools that transform simple legal compliance into a real operational and image advantage.
The context is well known in the HoReCa industry: since the entry into force of ANPC Order No. 201/2022, food service establishments have a clear obligation to provide customers with full details of ingredients, allergens, additives and nutritional values. What started as a regulatory requirement has quickly transformed into a trusted tool. More and more operators understand that transparency is no longer just an obligation, but an essential element of food safety and a factor that differentiates restaurants in a highly competitive market.
The new technical sheets include, in a clear and standardized format, all operational information: the complete list of ingredients with exact weights, detailed preparation steps, cooking method and temperature, precise plating and serving instructions, practical tips from the chef, highlighting allergens and additives, but also cost and yield indicators. Basically, each recipe becomes a complete guide that allows for the rapid training of new staff and, more importantly, the delivery of the same dish to the same standard, regardless of the shift or who is in the kitchen.
A particularly useful tool
This evolution certifies that restaurants no longer see the menu as just a presentation tool, but as a means of information and internal control. Customers want to know exactly what they are eating, and kitchens need consistency. Digital sheets manage to bring order to operational chaos and significantly reduce training time.
The pressure for transparency comes from two strong directions today: from authorities, but especially from consumers. People who follow strict nutritional plans, who struggle with obesity or diabetes, who have severe intolerances or allergies, or simply choose carefully what they consume, now select restaurants precisely according to the criterion of information accessibility. The digitization of menus is no longer a fad, but a business necessity.
And transparency about the contents of your products is closely linked to food safety and the trust you build with your customers. In a crowded market, those who simultaneously meet both legal requirements and real consumer needs survive and grow.
Technical functionality and automatic calculation tools
The platform was designed precisely to eliminate unnecessary effort – where manually entering a recipe used to take hours, now the same thing is done in minutes, through direct import or even by simply taking a photo of the physical menu. And the information obtained is not just for display: it serves to optimize the menu and rigorously control costs.
Beyond the technical functionality, the platform also offers tools for automatic calculation of nutritional values, allergens and additives, with direct publication in digital menus. These are used by both independent restaurants or chains, as well as by food industry manufacturers. The digital menu has also become an effective marketing channel: customers are informed before arriving at the table, and the level of transparency directly influences the decision to enter the restaurant and, subsequently, to return.
The figures confirm the success: after three years of activity, Nutritional Values is present in over 2.000 locations and manufacturers, with over 170.000 recipes uploaded. The generated digital menus are accessed approximately 50.000 times per month by consumers, and in the last year the number of platform customers has increased by 30%.
Last but not least, the solution also integrates cost control modules (COGS), complete digital menu management and an interactive nutritional diary through which the end customer can easily track the caloric intake and nutrients in the chosen dishes, directly from the application.
In essence, Nutritional Values does not just provide a technical update – it is a tool that aligns, at the same time, legal requirements, kitchen operational needs and the increasingly demanding expectations of modern consumers. And in HoReCa, where consistency and trust make the difference between survival and success, such a solution quickly becomes an advantage that is hard to ignore.
Article written by Gabriela Dan, Editor-in-Chief Arta Albă
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