Event catering (event catering)

Inventory in catering: mastering all challenges with digital inventory software

Without efficient processes, there is a risk of chaos and losses. According to studies, an average of 20% of turnover is lost every month in the food service industry due to shrinkage, theft and free services. Precise inventory control can significantly reduce these losses. Why is catering inventory so time-consuming and how can digital inventory help?

Challenges in the catering inventory

Several complicating factors come together for caterers. There are often distributed storage locations - from the central warehouse to refrigerated vehicles to the temporary event depot. Goods are transported to events and then returned, which makes inventory tracking complicated. Due to the large number of events, stock levels are constantly fluctuating and there is little time between events to keep a clean record of everything. In addition, there is always the risk of shrinkage - perishable food has to be disposed of, breakage occurs during transportation and theft can never be completely ruled out. Manual stocktaking with pen and paper or Excel is extremely error-prone and time-consuming in this environment. As a result, many catering businesses lack a precise overview of their inventory; it is not uncommon for too much or too little to be purchased, which drives up costs and jeopardizes service quality.

How BarBrain is revolutionizing digital inventory in catering

BarBrain is an inventory software for catering businesses that digitizes, radically simplifies and accelerates the inventory process. With BarBrain, stocktaking in catering is transformed from a chore into an efficient, precise process. The functions specially developed for catering include

• Mobile stocktaking via app: Count your stock conveniently on site - whether in the central warehouse or at an event - with a smartphone or tablet app. Thanks to mobile digital stocktaking, you can keep an overview wherever you are.
• Parallel counting in a team: several employees can take stock of different storage areas or event stations at the same time. BarBrain synchronizes all entries in real time, which drastically reduces the inventory time.
• Automatic evaluation: After the count, BarBrain automatically creates a complete inventory report. No more tedious merging of count lists - you immediately get a clear overview of your current stock.
• Partial quantities & product variety: Even opened crates or bottles are recorded accurately. BarBrain can count half bottles of wine or spirits, for example - extremely important for catering inventory. The system also has an extensive product catalog with thousands of items (beverages, food, non-food) so that every item in catering can be digitally inventoried quickly.
• Real-time overview for planning: All stocks can be called up centrally and are updated live. You always know what quantities are available and can optimally plan purchases and the use of goods for upcoming events.

Advantages for catering companies

The use of BarBrain offers tangible benefits for catering companies. Companies that use BarBrain save more than half the time of traditional stocktaking - which also reduces personnel costs. Thanks to reliable real-time data, you can plan ahead: you can see at a glance which goods are in stock and in what quantities, and avoid both emergency purchases shortly before the event and excess stock in the warehouse. Last but not least, your use of goods in catering is noticeably reduced because less spoils or goes to waste - what you buy is used optimally and not written off unnecessarily. All in all, these effects mean lower costs, less stress and more profitability for your catering business.

Success story from the field

"We used to have to spend hours counting stock after every event. Thanks to BarBrain, we now complete the catering inventory in a fraction of the time and have significantly reduced losses. BarBrain has become an integral part of our day-to-day work."

Conclusion

Stocktaking in catering doesn't have to remain a time-consuming problem. With the right digital inventory solution such as BarBrain, effort, errors and losses can be drastically reduced. Modern inventory software creates transparency and control over stock levels - resulting in time and cost savings as well as more efficient planning for every event. See for yourself and test BarBrain now for free to take your catering inventory to the next level!