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05 · Restaurants

BarCommerce. Kitchen prep matched to demand.

Prep matched to the rush, less food in the bin and a lower labour cost per cover. BarCommerce records every order by dish, quarter-hour and zone, and proposes the prep list for the next service.

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Zone T · Sat

A small corner bistro on a rainy evening, with candles on its tables for two.

Prep from memory

On a Saturday the prep list is rarely changed for the weather.

Steel containers of chopped vegetables and herbs under cling film on a long kitchen counter.
Kitchen, an hour before lunch service

The list is usually last Saturday’s, adjusted by feel, and often that works. When the rush starts later or moves out to the terrace, the surplus is binned and staff stand where they stood last week.

Industry data: In US full-service restaurants in 2024, median costs were 32.0% of sales for food and soft drinks and 36.5% for labour, and the median pre-tax profit was 2.8% (National Restaurant Association, 2025).123

What you gain

  1. Prep that matches the rush

    Portions follow what a dish sold on that weekday and hour.

  2. Lower labour cost per cover

    BarCommerce compares each zone’s demand with your roster by the quarter-hour.

  3. Less waste, leaner stock

    Before each delivery, BarCommerce forecasts what the kitchen will use.

  4. Dishes that earn their place

    Sales by dish and hour show which dishes rarely sell.

Industry data: At restaurant sites that ran programmes to measure and reduce food waste, kitchen waste fell by 26% within a year, on average (Champions 12.3, 2019).4

What the software shows

Floor plan · zones · Sat 11:00–⁠23:00
Sat 13:00

Prep list

  1. PastaPrepare more
  2. SaladAs before
  3. SoupPrepare less
  4. PastriesPrepare less
  5. FruitOff the menu
leftovers at close ↓
  • Zone T, Fills from 12:30, Roster short
  • Dining room, Idle 12:30–⁠15:00, Marked on roster
  • Pasta, Most orders 12:45–⁠13:30, Start prep earlier
  • Soup, Left at close, Prepare less
  • Fruit, Rarely sold, Off the menu
  • Before
  • Proposal
  • Not prepared
  • Staffing
  • Queue
  • Idle
  • Peak expected
  • least most

Zones fill one after another, and the floor plan shows which zone your roster leaves short. Yellow on the prep list is what the kitchen no longer needs to make.

Based on the last eight Saturdays.

One decision · BarCommerce · Saturday lunch on the terrace

  1. 10:00

    Restaurant office · Restaurant managerProposed

    BarCommerce proposes having the salads for the terrace prepped by 12:15. On six of the last eight Saturdays, the terrace filled up between 12:30 and 13:00.

  2. 10:12

    Restaurant managerApproved 10:12

    The restaurant manager agrees, and the salads move up the prep list.

  3. 12:15

    KitchenDone

    The salads for the terrace are ready before the first tables fill.

Decision: Zone T · Sat 12:15 · Salads ready before the rush · Approved 10:12

Other industries

Talk to us about BarCommerce

Get in touch, and we will walk you through everything.

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Sources (4)

  1. 1National Restaurant Association, survey median, 10 September 2025. US full-service restaurants, 2024 data, food and non-alcoholic beverage costs. restaurant.org
  2. 2National Restaurant Association, survey median, 8 October 2025. US full-service restaurants, 2024 data, salaries and wages including benefits, from the 2025 Restaurant Operations Data Abstract with more than 900 operators. restaurant.org
  3. 3National Restaurant Association, survey median, 20 August 2025. US full-service restaurants, 2024 data, income before taxes. restaurant.org
  4. 4Champions 12.3 (WRI and WRAP), business case for reducing food loss and waste in restaurants, February 2019. 114 restaurant sites in 12 countries (11 in Europe, plus China), mostly large ones, kitchen waste before the plate. These were waste programmes, not software like ours. champions123.org