Administrator - Vendors > Adding Non-Food Items

What product is this article for? 

GDSN Connect  CNCentral  

Up to date as of 11/2/2022

CNCentral supports the addition and import of non-food items so districts can account for non-food items in their inventory counts. Districts who have not purchased and therefore do not use the Inventory Module do not need to keep track of non-food items in CNCentral and do not need to utilize any of the information in this article.  

While non-food come from the GDSN database similar to food items, they are handled differently than food items in CNCentral. Non-food items: 

• Do not appear in the Item Database like other food items
• Are not available for use in recipes and on menus
• Can only be imported, searched in the Nourish to Flourish database, or manually added from the Vendors module (the Vendors module is only available to District Admin users)
• When searched for, non-food items will have a fork and knife icon () under the "Meal Components" header to denote that they are non-food items 
• Will have a different detail page than food items
• Will have a different process for manually adding to the Vendors Purchase Unit database than food items

To Search the K-12 Data Exchange for a Non-Food Item

1. Log in and navigate to the Vendors module from the left side black navigation panel
2. If the Vendor has already been created, click on the Vendor name that you purchase the non-food item from. If the Vendor has not been created yet, click here for instructions on adding a new vendor
3. Click over to the Items tab. Click the plus sign button on the bottom right-hand side of the screen and click on the Search N2F database button
4. Enter a GTIN or key word into the search box to search for the non-food item you're trying to add and click enter (note that your search is not non-food item specific and will return food items in addition to non-food items). Click on the item name you'd like to add when you locate it
5. Enter data into the open fields as necessary
   1. Description - a description will appear as it comes through via GDSN but if you call this item something else, you can overwrite that description if you'd like
   2. Pack Size - This is the number of individual units per case and is important for keeping accurate inventory. This information should be readily accessible from your Vendor
   3. Vendor Product ID - This is the number the Vendor has assigned to this item and what you use to order this item from the Vendor
   4. District ID - This field is for districts who have an internal number system for items. If you don't have an internal numbering system, this can be left blank
6. Click the Add button on the top right hand side of the screen when you're ready to add this non-food item
7. You'll be taken to the Inventory Setup page for this non-food item. If not already auto-populated as such, setup the inventory information so there is 1 Inventory Unit in 1 Purchase Unit, 1 Serving in 1 Purchase Unit, and 1 Serving in 1 Inventory Unit. This must be setup this way because the Serving Size = Net Weight. For most non-food items searched for in the N2F database, this will be auto-populated. Click the Confirm Values flag.
8. Click the Save button to save your changes. Click over to the General Info tab where you can enter a price for this non-food item. Click the +Add Price button, select the contract from the drop down list (if applicable) and enter the price. Click the Save & Close button when the pricing information has been entered 
9. Click the Save button to save the changes to this non-food item purchase unit. Click the back arrow to be taken back to the list of Items associated with this Vendor

To Manually Enter a Non-Food Item

1. Log in to CNCentral and navigate to the Vendors module from the left side black navigation panel
2. If the Vendor has already been created, click on the Vendor name that you purchase the non-food item from. If the Vendor has not been created yet, click here for instructions on adding a new vendor
3. Click over to the Items tab. Click the plus sign button on the bottom right-hand side of the screen and click on the + Add Non-Food Item
4. Enter the following non-food item info and click the Save & Continue button when ready: 
   1. Item Name - How you want to name the item for inventory management purposes
   2. Vendor Item Name - The name of the item as provided by your vendor
   3. Pack Size 
   4. Net Weight in LBs
   5. GTIN (if known)
   6. Vendor Product ID - The code/number you use when purchasing this item from your vendor
   7. District ID - Internal district numbering system (if applicable)
   8. Select a Procurement Category from the drop down of either "Non-Food", "Small Ware", or "Food Packaging"
   9. Select a Contract from the drop down (if applicable and pre-setup)
   10. Effective Date - The start date associated with the price
   11. Price 
5. Click over to the Inventory Setup page for this non-food item. If not already auto-populated as such, setup the inventory information so there is 1 Inventory Unit in 1 Purchase Unit, 1 Serving in 1 Purchase Unit, and 1 Serving in 1 Inventory Unit. This must be setup this way because the Serving Size = Net Weight. Click the Confirm Values flag and click the Save & Close button.

To Import Non-Food Items

Importing non-food items follows the same process as importing food items via the Purchase Unit upload. For instructions on how to do a purchase unit import, click here.