Food inventory management software keeps a running record of what a kitchen holds, what it used and what it cost. For a restaurant, the useful part is the connection to sales: when a dish is sold, the ingredients in its recipe leave stock without anyone typing them in.
This guide follows one ingredient through that process, using Kappino's inventory system as the example.
Step 1: put your items into the system
Everything starts with a list of what you buy: flour, mozzarella, oat milk, takeaway boxes. In Kappino you can add items one by one or import a CSV file in the Quick Setup wizard. If you add an item that already exists, the stock is merged and no duplicate is created.
Each item then gets a reorder level, the quantity at which you want to be warned. Levels are set per location, because two branches rarely use an ingredient at the same rate. Our guide to setting reorder levels explains how to choose them.
Step 2: link ingredients to recipes
A stock list only follows your sales once dishes are connected to ingredients. A recipe tells the system how much of each item one portion uses.
Kappino handles recipes per size and includes selected options and extras. A large pizza with extra mozzarella therefore deducts more than a small one with no extras. The menu item editor also shows the recipe cost and margin for every size, plus the cost of each add-on.
Step 3: let each sale update the stock
Once recipes are in place, every POS order deducts its ingredients. If an order is cancelled, the deduction is reversed automatically.
The stock list marks each item as Critical, Low or Healthy against its reorder level. You can search it, filter for low stock, and see the total number of SKUs and the stock value for each branch.
Step 4: record deliveries as they arrive
Stock also has to go up, and this is where records often fall behind. In Kappino you record a delivery, preview the new stock level before saving, and update the cost price in the same step. Every receipt stays in a searchable history.
Item costs follow the weighted average of what you received. When a supplier's price changes, recipe costs and dish margins update as new deliveries arrive.
On plans that include AI Inventory Management, you can also upload the supplier's document: a photo, PDF, spreadsheet or Italian FatturaPA e-invoice. Each scan waits in a Review Queue, and nothing reaches your stock until someone approves it. Our guide to e-invoice import covers each step.
Step 5: act on low-stock alerts
Items are flagged on the stock list as soon as they cross their reorder level. Kappino also sends daily in-app alerts, plus an optional email for items that are out of stock or critically low.
For each item you can link several suppliers, each with their own SKU, pack price, pack size, lead time and minimum order, and mark your preferred one. Whoever places the order can then see where to buy and in what quantity.
Step 6: record what never reached a guest
Sales explain most stock movement, but not all of it. Spoiled, damaged and dropped items also leave the shelf. If nobody records them, the system's numbers and the real shelf slowly drift apart.
With waste management, staff log a loss with a reason, a quantity and photos, and the value written off is calculated. AI Inventory analytics then group waste by reason and show overstock and dead stock, so you can look for a pattern. For practical ideas, read our guide to reducing food waste.
Step 7: check the history when numbers look wrong
Software narrows the gap between recorded and real stock, but it does not replace counting. Portions vary, and things get missed. A regular count, explained in how to take restaurant inventory, shows where the record and the shelf disagree.
When they do, open the item. Kappino shows where it can be bought, which dishes use it, and its full usage history: sales, deliveries received, manual adjustments, waste, transfers and reversals.
Running more than one location
In Kappino, every branch keeps its own stock. You can switch between branches or view them all from one account, and track waste per branch. Stock can move between locations through approved inventory transfers, and each branch manager has a real-time view of their own stock.
Forecasting what you will need
AI Inventory Management uses the last 90 days of consumption to predict next week's ingredient use. For each item you see the predicted demand, its weekly pattern, a confidence level and a suggested quantity to buy. These suggestions are never applied automatically. You decide what to order.
Which Kappino plan includes what
- Starter: Inventory & Supplier Management.
- Growth: adds Waste Management and AI Inventory Management.
- Professional: adds extra branches, which is what makes transfers between locations relevant.
The current details are on the pricing page.
Questions to ask about any inventory system
- Does a sale deduct ingredients by recipe, including sizes and extras?
- What happens to stock when an order is cancelled?
- Can you see why a number changed, line by line?
- Do deliveries update cost prices, and do those costs reach dish margins?
- Is waste recorded with a reason and a value?
- Does each branch keep separate stock?
