Year End Data Reconciliation Guidance for 2025-26 School Year

The following guidance is being made available to FoodTrails users as they conclude the 2025-26 school year. This guidance supports users in working with vendors to capture the greatest possible share of their food spend from August 1, 2025 through June 30, 2026. Please complete the following steps to ensure that all school year 2025-2026 velocity reports have been uploaded to FoodTrails, to capture your SFA’s total annual commercial food costs within the platform: 

  1. Identify data gaps. In your FoodTrails account, use the Past Uploads page to identify gaps in your data uploads, including vendors that are not represented in your FoodTrails uploads at all and specific months when report uploads were missed.

  2. Request reports from your vendors to fill the gaps

  • For vendors from whom you have already received one or more reports:

    • Reach out to vendors to fill specific, month-by-month data gaps. Request velocity reports for only the specific months needed to fill the data gaps you have identified. 

    • In order to avoid duplicating data you may have already uploaded, please do not request full-year reports.

  • For vendors from whom you have not received any FoodTrails velocity reports:

    • Reach out to vendors to request reports for the time period from August 1, 2025-June 30, 2026. 

    • The FoodTrails User Guide (which can be found in the Resources section of the platform) includes specific language you can send to vendors about the fields of data you’re looking for.

    3. Upload reports to FoodTrails: 

    1. Reports Received in Spreadsheet Format: 

      1. If you receive reports from vendors in spreadsheet format, upload those reports directly into FoodTrails via the Data Uploads page. Once uploaded, there is no additional action required of you.

    2. Reports Received in PDF or Other Non-Spreadsheet Format: 

      1. If your vendor can only provide reports in a PDF format or cannot provide a summary velocity report at all, you must download the ‘data template’ spreadsheet from the Data Upload page on the FoodTrails website and manually fill in the data from your PDF reports or invoices. While doing so, please keep the following in mind: 

        1. Download the most current version of the template directly from the Data Uploads page in FoodTrails. Do not use an older version.

        2. Do not change the names of the columns or basic structure of the spreadsheet. 

        3. Enter data as cleanly and consistently as possible, including:

          1. Put numbers only in pricing columns

          2. Put dates only in date columns

        4. Missing data: The data template will likely have columns for which your vendor has not provided information (such as a product code). In that case, simply leave those cells and columns blank. 

        5. Do not combine different items into a single row. In general, if a vendor lists items as separate rows on their reports, keep them separate. 

      2. Save the completed spreadsheet, and then upload it to FoodTrails via the Data Uploads page.

If your work includes a summer break and vendors send reports while you’re away, please upload those reports to FoodTrails when you are next back in the office. By September 30, 2026, it is expected that FoodTrails users will have completed this end of year data reconciliation process. FoodTrails and MFTS guidance and technical assistance beyond September 30, 2026 will be focused on data collection for the 2026-2027 school year.

If you have questions, please reach out to FoodTrails via the Submit Feedback form within the platform or by emailing contact@foodtrails.org.