Running out of the one thing you can't run out of
Oat milk, cups, the good beans. Stock gets checked when someone remembers, and the order goes in after it's already a problem.
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Industries · Cafes & Restaurants
Fewer things that only live in someone's head.
The menu is planned and the line moves. The ordering, the handoffs between shifts, and the "how do we make this again?" questions mostly run on memory.
Built for: Cafes · Bakeries · Small restaurants · Juice bars · Catering kitchens
Where the week goes
Where a busy shift loses track.
Shift handoffs that happen in passing
The opener needs to know the dishwasher is acting up and a customer left a catering question. That information travels by sticky note, if it travels at all.
Procedures nobody can find
How to clean the espresso machine at close, what goes in the seasonal special, who to call when the walk-in runs warm. It's written down somewhere, which is the problem.
Catering and large-order questions
They arrive by email, Instagram, and phone, each asking the same handful of questions. Answering them well takes time the floor doesn't have.
What we'd build
Three systems built around the shift.
Each one keeps a person in charge of anything that leaves the building.
01
Low-stock to supplier draft
A stock check turns into a ready-to-send supplier message before it becomes an emergency. It's the first workflow in Milk Run, our pilot for Toronto cafes.
- When
- A stock level you record hits the reorder point you set.
- What happens
- A supplier message is prepared with the item, quantity, and your approved wording.
- Who's in charge
- A designated person reviews it, edits if needed, and sends it.
02
Shift handoff notes
The closing shift's notes reach the opener in one tidy message.
- When
- The closing shift sends a quick voice note or text before leaving.
- What happens
- It becomes a short, organized handoff: equipment issues, items running low, and messages to return.
- Who's in charge
- The opener reads it at the start of the shift. Nothing is acted on automatically.
03
Recipe and procedure lookup
Staff get the right answer from your own documents, mid-shift, without hunting for a binder.
- When
- Someone asks in your team chat.
- What happens
- The answer comes from your own recipes and procedures, along with where it's written.
- Who's in charge
- You choose which documents it can read. If the answer isn't there, it says so.
What it looks like
Ask the recipe question once, in the group chat.
New staff ask the same questions every week, usually while the person who knows is on bar. A quick message gets the answer from the recipe sheet you already keep.
When the seasonal menu changes, you update the sheet. The answers change with it.
Illustrative example. Names and details are made up.
Team chat · #morning-crew
J
how many pumps of syrup in a large maple latte?
Three pumps for a large, two for a medium. From the Fall Menu sheet in the shared drive, updated Sept 28.
Works with what you have
Start with the tools behind the counter.
Most independent cafes run on a POS, a few spreadsheets, a supplier's email or text thread, and a group chat. That's enough to start.
We don't promise a POS connection until we've tested it with your exact setup. Plenty of useful workflows don't need one at all.
What stays human
- Recipes, menu, and quality calls
- Food safety decisions
- Placing and approving orders
- How you treat your regulars
Questions owners ask
Before you book a call.
Will it place supplier orders automatically?
Not in the base setup. It prepares a draft, and a person on your team reviews, edits, or sends it.
Does it work with our POS?
Sometimes. It depends on what your POS can export or connect to, which we check before building anything.
What is Milk Run?
Milk Run is a small, paid pilot for independent Toronto cafes. It starts with one workflow, like the low-stock check above, and ends with a tested handoff your team can run.
What about food safety records?
Food safety logs and decisions stay with your team and your existing process. We can help make procedures easier to find, but we don't automate food safety decisions.
Keep reading
Related guides and tools.
Other industries
Want this built for your cafe?
Free 30-minute consultation. We'll find the task that keeps slipping and tell you honestly whether it's worth building a system for.
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