How do you plan your daily prep and ingredient orders?

[zechcamp]

Hey everyone! I’m curious to learn how others are handling their daily prep planning and ingredient ordering.

1) How do you currently plan how much to make each day?
For example, how many cookies should I bake for tomorrow and how much flour should I order for next week. I imagine this is mainly an issue for bakeries or catering, but I’m curious if anyone else in the food & beverage space has a similar daily prep challenge.

2) What data or metrics do you rely on the most when deciding? (sales trends, weather, local events)

3) In an ideal world, what would make your prep process easier or more accurate?

Why I’m Asking:
I’m a developer working on CafeKit.io, a tool designed to help Square bakeries and coffee shops simplify their daily prep. Right now, it automatically pulls Square order data and generates a print-ready prep list. I’m looking for early access users to try it out for free and give feedback.

I’m also planning to add things like

• COGS tracking over time: Syncing sales with ingredients on hand so you know when to reorder and if you need to adjust product pricing.
• Sales forecasting: Helping order ingredients and prep accurately.
• Sales insights: Comparing past performance by day, week, or month, factoring in weather and events.
• Event planning: Anticipating surges or slow days

I’d love to know if any of these would be useful, or if there’s something else you’d like to see! Your feedback would be invaluable. Thanks in advance!