Batch Recipes

What is a batch recipe?

A batch recipe is a sub-recipe you make in advance — a tomato sauce, a marinade, a curry paste — that's then used as an ingredient in your menu recipes. Costing a sauce once means you can drop it into ten different menu items without re-entering its ingredient list each time.

Think of it like this:

• Ingredients are raw items you buy from suppliers.
• Batch recipes combine ingredients into a sub-recipe (e.g. "Tomato Sauce — 2kg tomatoes + 50g garlic").
• Menu recipes sit on the menu and can include both ingredients and batch recipes.

When the cost of a batch recipe changes (because an ingredient price moved, or you tweaked the recipe), every menu recipe that uses it updates automatically.

Where to find Batch Recipes

Go to Management > Stock Control > Batch Recipes.

Note: Where batch recipes live depends on how your account is set up:

• Company Menu mode (recommended for multi-store brands): batch recipes are managed at Company level (no store selected in the store switcher). They're shared across every store.
• Per-store menus: batch recipes are managed at Store level (a specific store selected). Each store has its own list.

If the list looks empty when you switch between Company and Store views, that's expected — you're looking at a different list.

Add a batch recipe

1. Open Management > Stock Control > Batch Recipes.
2. Click Add Batch Recipe.
3. Enter a Name (e.g. "Tomato Sauce — 5kg batch"). Use a name that tells you what's in it and what size batch it makes — you'll thank yourself later.
4. Under Ingredients, click Add ingredient to add a line, then for each line:
   • Pick the ingredient from the dropdown.
   • Enter the quantity used in this batch (in the ingredient's unit — kg, l, each, etc.).
5. Watch the Total batch cost at the bottom — it updates as you add lines.
6. Click Save.

Note: If the ingredient you need isn't in the dropdown, you'll need to add it first under Management > Stock Control > Ingredients.

Edit a batch recipe

Click the pencil icon next to the recipe. Make changes — add or remove lines, change quantities — and click Save. The total batch cost recomputes automatically, and any menu recipes using this batch recipe pick up the new cost on save.

Delete a batch recipe

Click the trash icon next to the recipe, then confirm.

Note: If the batch recipe is currently used by one or more menu recipes, deletion is blocked and you'll see a red banner explaining how many menu recipes still reference it. Remove the batch recipe from those menu recipes first (under Management > Stock Control > Menu Recipes), then delete it.

How the cost roll-up works

The total cost of a batch recipe is calculated server-side every time you save:

total_batch_cost = sum of (line quantity × ingredient unit cost) for every line

The unit cost for each ingredient comes from the Ingredients page (set as cost ÷ yield, or cost ÷ volume if there's no yield). So if an ingredient's cost changes, the batch recipe's total updates the next time it's saved — and the menu recipe cost cascade picks it up from there.

If you've changed an ingredient's cost and want every batch recipe and menu recipe to refresh, the cleanest way is to re-save the affected ingredient, which triggers the cascade.

Common pitfalls

• "I added a line but the total didn't change." The line still has an empty quantity or no ingredient picked. The page only counts complete lines.
• "I can see the recipe at Company level but not at Store level." That's Company Menu mode at work — the recipe is owned by the company, and individual stores read from that shared list. If you don't see it at all, make sure the right company is selected in the company switcher at the top of the sidebar.
• "Deletion is blocked but I don't use this batch recipe anywhere." Open the linked menu recipe in Menu Recipes — chances are it has a stale reference. Remove it there first.