Creating and Managing Brand Stock Items

Before recipes can be created for menu items, or stock can be tracked, a list of Stock Items must be built to draw from. Stock items are created at the Brand level, which means this task can only be performed by a user with brand-level access. That user must be logged into the Brand level of the portal before proceeding.

From the Brand level of the portal, switch sections and select Stock Management, then open Brand Stock Items.

Any existing brand-level stock items will be listed here. To add a new item, click New Stock Item.


Creating a New Stock Item

Basic Details

When creating a new stock item, the following fields must be filled in:

  • Name – the name of the stock item
  • Category – the category it belongs to
  • Unit of Measure – the unit that will be used for purchasing, stock tracking, and recipes

If the required category or unit of measure does not yet exist, it can be added using the relevant Plus icon next to each field.

Important: The Unit of Measure is used across the entire system — for purchasing, stock tracking, and recipes. Choose a conventional, easy-to-measure unit such as Kilograms, Litres, or Each for discrete items. Avoid units that are difficult to measure consistently, such as boxes or punnets.

Once the basic details are complete, click Create Item. This opens the full item details form.


Item Details Form

Stock Type and Tax

Set the Stock Type for the item:

  • Food Cost – for items that count towards food costs
  • Non-Food Cost – for other expense items

Then set any applicable taxes, such as VAT, if relevant.

Processed and Apportionable Items

There is an option to indicate whether the item is a processed food item — meaning it is manufactured in-house — or whether it can be apportioned into smaller units.

Stock Code and Description

  • Stock Code – used for reference and reporting purposes
  • Description – an optional field for additional context

Barcode

If barcode scanning is in use, a barcode value can be entered here.

Model Cost and Wastage

The final fields are Model Cost and Wastage.

Wastage refers to the portion of an item that is lost or removed during preparation. For example, when a pineapple is peeled, cored, and chopped, approximately 30% of its weight is removed. Setting the wastage to 30 tells the system to account for this loss.

Because of wastage, the unit cost per kilogram will differ between the bulk (unprepped) state and the prepped state. The system calculates this difference automatically using the wastage percentage when the bulk cost is entered.

Model Costs serve as a target benchmark. Stores can compare their own actual costs against the model cost to check whether they are meeting their costing target.


Returning to the Stock List

After saving the item details, switch back to the Stock Item tab to return to the stock list and continue adding items.

Once all items have been added, they can be used to create recipes for menu items, and stores can use them to record stock activity.


Bulk Actions

Once the stock list grows large, Bulk Actions can be used to update many stock items at once. Uses include updating Tax Rates across multiple items.

To use Bulk Actions:

  1. Select the items to update.
  2. Click Next.
  3. Choose the action to apply.
  4. Review the confirmation screen showing the changes to be committed.
  5. Click Apply Changes.