Do you log food waste with a scale or app that shows what to cut back on?

Tools like Winnow or Leanpath, or the waste log in your inventory app, record waste in seconds and show which items you over-prep.

How to automate it

How to automate “write prep lists and set par levels”

Here are 2 ways to spend less time on this, best first. Each comes with steps you can follow today and, for AI fixes, a prompt to copy.

15 min

typically, every day

50%

of the time can be automated

Easy

to set up

Fix 1 of 2

Software featureBest fix

Let inventory software suggest orders, prep and recipe costs

Back-office tools link sales to stock, suggest order quantities and prep amounts, and keep recipe costs updated when supplier prices change.

Typically saves about 45% of the time4 h to set up

1Check whether your POS or back office already includes inventory (Toast xtraCHEF, Restaurant365, MarketMan, Craftable; for retail, Lightspeed, Square or Shopify).
2Load your items, par levels and suppliers.
3Use the suggested order or prep list and adjust it, instead of starting from scratch.
4Connect supplier ordering so orders go out from the app.

Tools: Toast xtraCHEF · Restaurant365 · MarketMan · Craftable · Lightspeed, Square or Shopify inventory

Fix 2 of 2

Have AI build tomorrow's prep list from sales and stock

Give AI last week's sales by item, tomorrow's bookings and what is on hand. It suggests prep quantities with the maths shown, which you adjust.

Typically saves about 40% of the time10 min to set up

1Export item sales for the same day last week or two from your POS.
2Note bookings, events and what is already prepped.
3Paste into an approved AI assistant with the prompt below.
4Adjust using your own judgement and post the list.

Prompt to copy

Build tomorrow's prep list. Sales of each item on the same day for the last [2] weeks: [PASTE]. Tomorrow's bookings and events: [DETAILS]. Already prepped or on hand: [PASTE]. Recipes and yields: [PASTE OR DESCRIBE]. For each prep item, give the amount to prep with the calculation, rounded to [BATCH SIZE]. Flag anything we may run out of.

Tools: ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini or Microsoft Copilot

Quick wins

Have you tried…

Do you log food waste with a scale or app that shows what to cut back on?: Tools like Winnow or Leanpath, or the waste log in your inventory app, record waste in seconds and show which items you over-prep.

Who does this task

Roles in our library that list this as one of their common tasks. Each guide covers the rest of that role’s week.

Restaurant / kitchen manager Chef / kitchen lead

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