Custom fresh production software development for specialist shops
Appfront builds fresh production software for specialist shops with their own kitchen or workshop: a daily production list from sales and orders, recipes with ingredients and allergens, labels generated from the recipe, and waste visible per product. So the morning starts with a list that is correct, not an estimate.
What is fresh production software for a specialist shop?
Fresh production software does what the experienced master does every morning in his head, but based on figures: how much of each product needs to be made today, based on what sold on this day over recent weeks, what has been ordered and what is still in stock. From that follows the ingredients list, and from the recipe comes the label with ingredients, allergens and shelf life. At the end of the day, what is left over is counted, and that waste adjusts tomorrow's list.
Without such a system, production is an estimate that works until it goes wrong: too much on a rainy day, too little on a sunny Saturday, an allergen missing from the label because the recipe was changed but the label wasn't. No one knows the cost per product precisely, because ingredient prices have risen and the recipe is kept in a notebook. And if the master is ill, no one knows how much needs to be made.
We build custom solutions because every specialist shop has its own production: a bakery plans per baking round, a butcher per carcass and per cutting plan, a caterer per order and per buffet, a fishmonger per delivery. The mandatory allergen information applies to all of them, but the way of planning does not. A bakery package doesn't fit a caterer, and a till package knows the sales but not the recipe.
Daily production list
From sales per weekday, orders and stock: how much of each product needs to be made, broken down per member of staff or workstation.
Recipe, allergens and label
For each product, the recipe with ingredients and quantities, the allergens that follow from it, and the label with ingredients and shelf life, without retyping.
Waste and cost price
What is left at the end of the day, per product, and the cost price based on current ingredient prices, so that pricing and production stay in line.
How we build your fresh production software for a specialist shop
We start with your production: how the production list is currently drawn up, where the recipes sit and where the waste occurs. The software follows from that.
Which products, how they are planned, which orders come in, where recipes and labels currently come from, and how to pull sales from the till. We look at the waste from the past few weeks.
The recipes with ingredients, quantities and preparation, the allergens that follow from them, and the label with ingredients, allergens and shelf life, in your layout.
The daily production list drawn from sales by weekday, orders and stock, with the ingredients list and the split across staff or workstations.
End-of-day stock counting, cost prices from raw material prices, integration with the till and purchasing, and then maintenance and further development.
What fresh production software for a specialist shop actually does
The components below come up in almost every fresh specialist shop with its own production. Which ones you need depends on your type of production and the number of shops.
Recipe management
For each product, the recipe with ingredients, quantities, preparation and yield, in versions, so a change flows through everywhere.
Allergens and labels
Allergens derived from the ingredients, the label with the ingredient declaration and shelf life, and a signal when a recipe has changed but the label has not.
Daily production
For each product, the quantity from sales by weekday, orders and stock, with an adjustment by the head baker or chef and the breakdown per workstation.
Ingredients and purchasing
The ingredients list drawn from the production list, the stock, and a purchase proposal to the supplier when a shortage looms.
Waste recording
At the end of the day, what is left of each product, with the reason, and feedback to the production list for the same weekday.
Cost price per product
The cost price per product from current ingredient prices and the recipe, with a signal when the margin falls below the threshold.
Who we build fresh production software for a specialist shop for
The software is intended for specialist shops where their own production is the point of difference, and where planning, labels and waste currently run on experience.
Bakeries
Production in baking rounds, early in the morning, with bread and pastries kept apart. The daily production per round and the allergens are the core.
Butchers and caterers
Cutting plan, own sausages and ready meals, with orders for the weekend. The recipe, the label and the cost price matter most.
Fishmongers
Production depends on the day's delivery, with a short shelf life. Daily planning based on the delivery and the waste are what is needed.
Specialist shops with multiple branches
One production for several points of sale. The split per shop, drawn from sales per shop, is the core.
Test your idea first: a working prototype in 1 day
With OneDayBuild, we turn your idea into something tangible in one day for €1,150, so you can see whether further development is worth the investment. Decide to go ahead with the full build? Then we credit the full cost.
Explore OneDayBuild →Technology and integrations
This page is about production in a specialist food shop. For the bakery as a whole, including orders, shops and delivery, see our page on bakery software, and for the cost of dishes and products, our page on food costing software. You can read about our approach under custom software development.
Why Appfront for your fresh production software for a specialist shop?
Fresh production means deciding again every day. The software makes that decision from figures, and leaves the head baker or chef with the final say.
Sales determine the list
What sold on this weekday over the past few weeks, plus what has been ordered, minus what is in stock. That is the starting point, and the head chef adjusts it wherever they know better.
The label comes from the recipe
Add an ingredient and you add an allergen to the label, without anyone having to remember. That is the law, and it is also the risk you least want to take.
Waste as a lesson
Whatever is left over is counted and carried forward. After a few weeks, the list knows your Saturday better than your gut does.
Security and privacy in fresh production software for a specialist shop
The software holds recipes, which are the shop's trade secrets, along with purchase prices. Access is set by role: production sees the list and the preparation, the counter sees labels and orders, and the owner sees cost price and margin. Recipes can be exported by the owner and by no one else.
The software runs in a European data centre, with encrypted storage and daily back-ups. Integrations with the till, label printer and suppliers use their own keys, which can be revoked per integration.
Frequently asked questions about fresh production software for a specialist shop
Questions that fresh food specialist shops ask before getting started.
It builds the daily production list from sales by weekday, orders and stock, manages recipes with ingredients and allergens, generates the label with ingredients and shelf life from them, and tracks waste and cost price per product. The head chef adjusts the list wherever they know better.
From till sales on the same weekday over the past few weeks, today's orders and what is still in stock, per product. The list is a proposal; the head chef sets it higher or lower, and the software remembers that for next time. Public holidays and the weather are factors you enter yourself.
Yes. The allergens follow from the ingredients in the recipe, and the label shows the ingredient declaration and the allergens as the law requires. If a recipe changes, the software signals that the label needs reprinting, and the new version comes out of the printer.
Yes, from the recipe and the current purchase prices of the ingredients. If an ingredient rises in price, the cost of every product it goes into rises too, and the software shows which products fall below your target margin. What you do about it remains your choice.
Yes. Production is one list, divided per shop based on sales per shop and the orders placed there. Each shop sees what is being made for it and what has been delivered; waste is counted per shop.
Yes. Sales come from your till, labels go to your label printer in the format you use now, and orders to suppliers can be sent as a file or via an interface. We connect to what is already there; the software does not become a second till.
Check that first. For a bakery with a standard range, an industry package may be enough. Custom development makes sense if your production is set up differently from what the package expects, if you combine types of production, such as a catering and butcher's business, or if the integration with your till and labels is the bottleneck.
A production list that is right every morning?
Tell us what you make, how the list is put together now, and where your recipes and labels come from. We will show you what daily production, labels and waste look like.