Industries · Restaurants
Food cost you seetonight, notnext month.
We build restaurant operations systems that connect recipes, purchasing, stock, wastage, rotas and sales from your POS — so every branch knows its numbers while there's still time to act on them.
- JBR · 31.6% vs 28.4%+3.2
- Business Bay · 28.9% vs 28.1%+0.8
- Al Barsha · 28.6% vs 27.9%+0.7
- Delivery kitchen · 30.2% vs 29.5%+0.7
- Recipe costing
- Purchasing & suppliers
- Stock & par levels
- Wastage logs
- Staff rotas
- POS & delivery sales
- Branch reporting
01Where restaurants lose margin
The kitchen is full. The margin is a mystery.
Most restaurants have a POS that knows what sold. What it doesn't know is what it cost, what was wasted, and who was on shift when it happened.
01Recipe costs were set once and never updated
What happens
Dish costs were worked out on a spreadsheet when the menu launched. Supplier prices have moved since, portions have drifted and nobody has re-costed.
What it costs
Dishes that look profitable on the menu but lose money on the plate, and price decisions made on old numbers.
With one system
Recipes and sub-recipes linked to live supplier prices, so every dish shows its current cost and margin — and changes are flagged when a price moves.
02Ordering is done by WhatsApp to five suppliers from three branches
What happens
Each head chef orders from memory or a paper list, by message or phone. Deliveries are checked against nothing and invoices go to the office in a pile.
What it costs
Over-ordering in one branch and shortages in another, short deliveries accepted, and invoice prices that don't match what was agreed.
With one system
Purchase orders built from par levels and forecasts, sent to suppliers from the system, checked on delivery and matched against the invoice.
03Stock counts are a monthly ordeal that nobody trusts
What happens
The month-end count takes a full night, happens on paper, and is keyed into a spreadsheet days later — by which time it's already out of date.
What it costs
No reliable gap between theoretical and actual usage, so overportioning, waste and theft stay invisible.
With one system
Counts by storage area on a phone, weekly for key items, with theoretical usage calculated from POS sales so the variance is visible per item.
04Wastage is binned without being written down
What happens
Prep that wasn't used, returned dishes and expired stock go in the bin. Occasionally someone writes it on a sheet taped to the fridge.
What it costs
The biggest controllable cost in the kitchen is never measured, so it never comes down.
With one system
A quick wastage log on a tablet by item, reason and shift — feeding straight into food cost and prep planning.
05Rotas are built without looking at the covers
What happens
Shift rotas are copied week to week in a spreadsheet or a group chat, regardless of bookings, events or delivery volume.
What it costs
Overstaffed quiet lunches, understaffed Friday dinners and labour cost that only shows up when payroll runs.
With one system
Rotas planned against forecast covers and delivery volume, with labour cost per shift visible while the rota is being built.
06Each branch reports differently, and late
What happens
Branch managers send daily sales by message, the finance team rebuilds them from POS exports, and the group view arrives weeks after month end.
What it costs
Owners can't compare branches on food cost, labour or wastage until it's too late to correct anything.
With one system
One group dashboard built from POS sales, purchases, stock and rotas — sales, food cost, labour and wastage by branch, every day.
02Restaurant platform preview
What your restaurant system could look like.
Switch between the screens a head chef, branch manager, purchasing team and owner would use every day. Every view is designed per group in discovery.
- JBR · 31.6% vs 28.4%+3.2
- Business Bay · 28.9% vs 28.1%+0.8
- Al Barsha · 28.6% vs 27.9%+0.7
- Delivery kitchen · 30.2% vs 29.5%+0.7
Illustrative interface with sample data — your system is designed around your menus, branches, suppliers and POS.
Illustrative demo · sample dataCan you picture your own kitchens on it?
Build your restaurant system03Solutions
The parts of a restaurant system — chosen for your group.
Every dish costed at today's prices
Recipes & costing
Recipes and sub-recipes with yields and portions, linked to supplier prices so dish cost and margin stay current — with alerts when a price change pushes a dish below target.
- Recipes, sub-recipes and yields
- Live cost from supplier prices
- Margin targets by menu
- Allergen and prep notes
Every dish costed at today's prices
Recipes & costing
Recipes and sub-recipes with yields and portions, linked to supplier prices so dish cost and margin stay current — with alerts when a price change pushes a dish below target.
- Recipes, sub-recipes and yields
- Live cost from supplier prices
- Margin targets by menu
- Allergen and prep notes
Not every restaurant needs every module. We scope the ones your operation actually uses, and add the rest when you need them.
04AI inside the system
AI that reads the numbers your kitchen never has time to.
AI in a restaurant system works on your own sales, recipes, purchases, stock and rotas. It explains variances, drafts orders and spots price creep — chefs and managers decide.
AI here drafts, explains and flags. Purchase orders, price changes, rota changes and supplier messages are approved by a manager before anything is sent or saved. Recipes and portions stay the head chef's decision, and access follows each user's role.
- 01
Variance explanations
Why did food cost jump at JBR this week?Breaks the gap down by item, separating supplier price changes from usage above what POS sales explain and from unusually low wastage logging — with the records behind each figure.
- 02
Suggested purchase orders
Chef approvesBuild tomorrow's produce order for Business Bay.Drafts the order from par levels, current stock, tomorrow's forecast covers and supplier minimums. The head chef adjusts quantities and sends it.
- 03
Supplier invoice checks
Did any invoices this week charge above the agreed price?Compares each invoice line against the agreed supplier price and the delivery check, and lists mismatches with a draft credit-note request for the purchasing team.
- 04
Menu engineering support
Which dishes are popular but below target margin?Ranks dishes by sales volume and current margin, highlights the ones worth a portion or price review, and shows the effect of each option for the team to weigh up.
- 05
Rota suggestions
Manager approvesDraft next week's rota for Al Barsha.Proposes a rota from forecast covers, staff availability, leave and labour targets. The branch manager edits and publishes it.
- 06
Morning briefing in plain language
How did the group do yesterday?A short summary of sales, food and labour cost and wastage by branch, with the two or three things worth looking at today.
05A day with ORCHESTR
One Friday across three branches, two ways.
- 06:30Deliveries checked on a phoneThe delivery is checked against the purchase order line by line; the short prawns are recorded and a credit is requested.
- 09:00Morning briefing readyThe owner opens one summary: sales, food cost, labour and wastage by branch, with JBR's variance flagged.
- 10:30Orders drafted from par and forecastWeekend orders are drafted from stock, par levels and forecast covers; chefs adjust and send them in minutes.
- 15:30Wastage logged in secondsThe sous chef logs unused prep by item and reason on the kitchen tablet; tomorrow's prep sheet adjusts.
- 18:00Open shifts filled aheadThe open shifts were flagged against forecast covers on Wednesday and filled from another branch.
- 23:45Closing recordedClosing checklist and temperatures are logged on the tablet; anything missed is flagged to the manager.
- Month endMonth end without surprisesWeekly key-item counts and live variance mean the month-end count confirms what the team already knew.
An illustrative day — every system is designed around how your team actually works.
06Integrations
Works with what your restaurants already use.
Integrations depend on what each provider exposes — we confirm every connection in scoping before committing to it. Names are examples of categories we work with, not partnerships.
- POS
- Your existing POS (via API or export)Item, modifier and payment data (where available)
- Delivery platforms
- Delivery platform order data (where available)Delivery aggregator tools (via API or export)
- Reservations
- Reservation platforms (via API or export)Website booking forms
- Suppliers
- Email purchase ordersWhatsApp Business APISupplier price lists (as spreadsheets or export)
- Accounting & payroll
- Zoho BooksQuickBooksXeroPayroll exports
- Data
- SpreadsheetsExisting inventory tools (via API or export)BI tools
07How we build your system
Built around your restaurant — not a template.
- 01
Understand your business
We learn how the business actually runs — people, tools, hand-offs and where time is lost — before proposing anything. - 02
Map your workflows
Every workflow is mapped end to end: who does what, when, with which information, and what should happen automatically. - 03
Design your system
Screens, records, permissions and integrations are designed around those workflows, and the scope is agreed in writing. - 04
Build and integrate
We build in stages and connect the tools you keep, so your team sees working software early and gives feedback as we go. - 05
Test and launch
We test with real scenarios, migrate the agreed data, set up roles and access, and onboard the team. - 06
Support and improve
After launch we support the system under an agreed arrangement and extend it as the business changes.
08Why it matters
What changes for the restaurant group.
We don't quote savings we haven't measured. In discovery we baseline how your team works today, so improvements can be tracked against your own numbers.
Food cost while it can still be fixed
Daily cost and variance by branch replace a month-end surprise.Dish margins that stay honest
Recipes follow supplier prices, so the menu reflects what dishes really cost.Purchasing with fewer leaks
Orders follow par levels, deliveries are checked and invoices are matched.Wastage that gets measured
Logging is quick enough that kitchens actually do it.Staffing that fits the night
Rotas follow covers and delivery volume, with labour cost visible as they're built.Branches compared like for like
Every branch reports the same way, from the same data, every day.
09Possible use cases
How different restaurants could use it.
Examples of what we could build — not completed client projects.
Costs under control
Recipe costing, supplier ordering, wastage logs and a daily summary for one busy restaurant currently running on spreadsheets and WhatsApp.
Every branch on the same page
Shared recipes and suppliers, branch-level stock and rotas, and a group dashboard comparing food cost, labour and variance across locations.
Production that follows demand
Branch orders to the central kitchen, production and prep sheets, batch labels and transfers — with costs flowing from the CPU to each branch.
Brands, channels and margins
Several virtual brands sharing one kitchen and stock, with sales by platform and brand, commission-aware margins and prep planned from order patterns.
FAQs
Restaurant questions, answered.
Hospitality & events
01Do we have to replace our POS?
No. Your POS keeps taking orders and payments. We connect to it — through its API where one exists, or through scheduled exports — to bring item-level sales into costing, variance and reporting.
02Can it pull sales from delivery platforms?
Where a platform or your aggregator tool provides an API or order export, yes. Some only offer reports, which we can import on a schedule. We check each platform you use during scoping rather than promise a direct link.
03How much work is setting up recipes?
It depends on the menu. We usually start with your existing recipe sheets, set up sub-recipes and yields with your chefs, and prioritise the dishes that drive the most sales. Recipes can be added and refined after launch.
04Will chefs actually use it?
Kitchen screens are designed for a tablet on the pass or a phone in the store room — large buttons, counts in shelf order, wastage in a few taps. We test them with your chefs before launch and adjust what slows them down.
05Does it handle a central kitchen?
Yes, if you have one. Branch orders, production planning, batch records and transfers can be included, so costs move from the central kitchen into each branch's food cost correctly.
06Can the AI change our orders or menu prices?
No. It drafts orders, explains variances and suggests where to look. Orders, price changes and rota changes are approved by a chef or manager before they're sent or saved.
07Does it cover food safety and hygiene requirements?
We can build checklists, temperature logs and cleaning schedules your team completes on a tablet. What your local authority requires is agreed with your team during scoping — the system records the routines, it doesn't certify them.
08What about staff data and payroll?
Rotas, hours and leave are managed in the system and exported to your payroll provider or accounting software. Access to staff details is role-based and enforced on the server.
09How is a restaurant system priced?
We quote after a discovery call, based on the modules, number of branches, POS and supplier integrations, and whether a central kitchen is involved. Support and hosting are agreed separately in writing.
Start here
Let's mapyour kitchens.
Tell us how your restaurants buy, prep, staff and report today. We'll come back with how one system could connect them.
- 01We get back to you to arrange a call.
- 02A focused conversation about how your restaurant runs today.
- 03If there's a fit, a written scope and quote — no obligation.
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