Products & Ingredients
Products and ingredients
Ingredients with a price history, products built from them in set quantities, and menu items built from products — the recipe behind each dish, recorded.
Last updated September 2, 2026
Menus and menu items are about what the customer sees and pays. Products and components are about what goes into them: the ingredients you buy, what you paid for them and when, and which of them make up each dish. They are optional — plenty of networks run menus and ordering without them — but they are what turns a menu into a recorded recipe you can price against.
| Level | Example | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Component | Prosciutto, by the kilogram, at what you pay for it | Food → Ingredients / Components |
| Product | A cheese selection: 3 components in set quantities | Food → Individual Products |
| Menu item | Charcuterie Board: 2 products plus the modifiers a customer can add | Food → Menu items |
Components
A component is a raw ingredient or bought-in item. Under Food → Ingredients / Components, create categories to keep the list tidy (Meats, Cheeses, Packaging), then Create Component.
- Component Name and its Measurement — Weight, Volume, Length, or Unit for things you count. Pricing Measurement is the size you buy it in.
- Component Cost is a history, not a single number: add a Start Date and the Price from that date. When your supplier changes the price, add a new row rather than overwriting — the earlier rows stay on the record, so what you paid last season is still there. The components list shows each one at its most recent price.
- For a component measured in units, enter the Package Price and Package Quantity — a box of 50 lids for $12.50 — and the per-unit cost follows.
Products
A product is a recipe: components in quantities. Under Food → Individual Products, create categories, then Create Product, name and describe it, add images, and under Components add each component with its Quantity and an Amount Description if the quantity needs explaining ("2 slices"). The components list is the recipe: what goes in, and how much of it.
Attaching products to a menu item
On a menu item, under Products, add each product and how many of it the dish uses. A modifier can also Link to Product, so an add-on the customer chooses records the product it represents. Between them, the dish and its chosen extras describe everything that goes out of the kitchen with that order.