Bakery, bakehouse and café

Digital stocktaking in the bakery - precise, time-saving, store-capable

Modern bakeries with a sales area, café or to-go offering are faced with complex stock levels. Ingredients, dough pieces, finished baked goods, drinks, coffee and even non-food items such as packaging must be recorded regularly. At the same time, day-to-day business with an early rush of customers and shift work means there is hardly any time for time-consuming stocktaking. No wonder many bakeries are reluctant to take stock - handwritten counting lists and manual typing are time-consuming and prone to errors. A structured digital inventory can help, especially in branch bakeries: it provides you with a clear snapshot of your stock on the key date without disrupting operations. Below, you can find out about the challenges of stocktaking in bakeries and why a digital solution like BarBrain makes your stocktaking in the bakery much easier.

Typical inventory challenges in the bakery

Bakeries have to overcome some particular hurdles when taking stock:

• Wide variety of products from dough pieces to non-food: From frozen dough pieces (frozen goods) to flour, sugar and other ingredients to freshly baked breads, cakes and snacks - plus non-food items (packaging, napkins, etc.) - the number of items to be counted is enormous.
• Various storage locations (chilled, frozen, ingredient storage, counter area): Stocks are distributed between cold storage, freezer, pantry and sales area/counter storage. Each corner contains different items, which can easily lead to over- or understocking if you lose track.
• Breakage, shrinkage and spoilage: In a bakery, breakage (e.g. broken baked goods) and shrinkage (e.g. unsold goods in the evening or theft) always occur during day-to-day business. Without an accurate inventory, such losses often go unnoticed.
• Changing personnel and shift operation: Different employees often take inventory in early and late shifts. Training new colleagues is difficult if the process is complicated. A lack of staff or inexperience also makes consistent stocktaking difficult.

These factors make it clear: stocktaking in a bakery's café operation requires a system that is flexible, fast and simple - so that you always have an overview despite the high number of items and branch structure.

Why BarBrain is ideal for bakeries

How can you overcome these challenges? BarBrain is a digital inventory app specifically for the hospitality industry that is perfectly tailored to bakeries. The most important functions at a glance:

• Intuitive quantity recording via slider or +/- widget: Counting made easy - you can record any quantity directly in the app using practical buttons or sliders, no need to make cumbersome notes or scan barcodes. Opened containers can also be easily displayed (e.g. half bags of flour).
• Cross-branch use - ideal for head office and branches: BarBrain allows you to manage multiple locations in one app. Each branch can take stock in parallel, while the head office keeps an eye on all the results. This is perfect for bakeries with multiple outlets.
• Storage structure adaptable to the location: Whether counter, café area, storage room or cold store - you can configure BarBrain to reflect your individual storage structure. Every employee can find their way around because the count lists are logically organized by location or department.
• Offline capability - stocktaking even in the cold store or cellar: even if there is no WiFi in the cellar or large deep-freeze warehouse, you can still count with BarBrain. The app records the data offline and synchronizes it as soon as there is an internet connection again. This means you are not tied to an office or network, but can record stock levels anywhere in the business.
• Easy to use - no training required: BarBrain's user interface is so practical and self-explanatory that no lengthy training is required. Even temporary staff or new employees can get started with digital stocktaking straight away. You open the app and get started intuitively - no technical knowledge is required.

Your advantages with BarBrain

Inventory software for bakers brings tangible added value to your business. If you digitize the inventory in your bakery, you will benefit from the following advantages:

• Fast, error-free stocktaking: stocktaking now only takes a fraction of the time. At the same time, you improve accuracy - no more estimates or transposed figures, BarBrain delivers reliable inventory results without manual errors.
• Less shrinkage, more targeted purchasing: regular digital stocktaking reveals losses at an early stage and reduces excess stock. Unnoticed shrinkage can otherwise account for up to 20% of sales in the catering industry - with BarBrain, you can identify such gaps immediately. You also buy more precisely according to actual demand because you know your current stock level exactly.
• Better planning for weekly and monthly requirements: With up-to-date stock data, you can plan production and reorders more accurately. For example, you know exactly how many dough pieces or coffee beans you have in stock for the coming week. This digital stock control helps you to avoid bottlenecks and reduce excess stock - of baked goods or disposable cups, for example. In short: you make better decisions for your weekly and monthly requirements.
• Relief for you and your employees: A stocktake that might have taken all day in the past can now be completed in hours or less. Several employees can count at the same time, making stocktaking teamwork efficient. Nobody has to put in long overtime hours for stocktaking anymore. The result: less stress, happier employees and more time for your actual core business - customers and baking.
  

"It used to take us almost a whole day to take stock in our five stores - with paper, pen and then typing it into Excel. Now we just use the tablet: every store is counted digitally in no time at all. Even my temporary staff find their way around immediately because BarBrain is so clearly and simply structured. The app even works perfectly offline in the large deep-freeze warehouse. The digital inventory saves me several hours of work a month and I finally have accurate figures - from the dough pieces in the chest to the coffee cup on the shelf."

Conclusion: How to modernize your bakery inventory

Stocktaking doesn't have to remain a necessary evil. With the right digital tools, you can modernize your bakery inventory and turn it into an efficient process. BarBrain replaces pen and paper with a smart app and provides you with a precise snapshot of your stock on the inventory date at the touch of a button. The combination of simple operation, store-compatible structure and reliable results saves you time and stress. Instead of taking stock at night on your own, you can easily integrate it into your day-to-day business - without the hassle and without errors. Digital stocktaking in the bakery means precise counting, time-saving completion and maintaining an overview across all branches. Take the step now and simplify your stocktaking with BarBrain - your employees and your business will quickly notice the difference.