Welcome to PrepStation

PrepStation is your command center for recipe costing and kitchen operations. From tracking ingredient costs to planning production and tracing batches, it handles the full lifecycle of food preparation.

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The Complete Kitchen Workflow

PrepStation follows the natural flow of kitchen operations:

┌─────────────┐    ┌─────────────┐    ┌─────────────┐    ┌─────────────┐
│  VENDORS    │ ─► │ INGREDIENTS │ ─► │  RECIPES    │ ─► │   MENUS     │
│  & COSTS    │    │  DATABASE   │    │  & COSTS    │    │  & PRICING  │
└─────────────┘    └─────────────┘    └─────────────┘    └─────────────┘
                                                                │
       ┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
       ▼
┌─────────────┐    ┌─────────────┐    ┌─────────────┐    ┌─────────────┐
│ MEAL PLANS  │ ─► │ PRODUCTION  │ ─► │   BATCH     │ ─► │ TRACEABILITY│
│ & FORECASTS │    │   PLANNING  │    │  COOKING    │    │  & RECORDS  │
└─────────────┘    └─────────────┘    └─────────────┘    └─────────────┘

Changes flow downstream automatically—update a vendor price and every recipe, menu, and production plan updates too.

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Core Capabilities

1. Recipe Costing

Know exactly what every dish costs to make.

Feature	What It Does
Automatic calculation	Costs update as ingredient prices change
Cost per serving	See the true cost of each portion
Menu pricing	Set prices based on actual food cost percentages
Cost history	Track how costs change over time

2. Recipe Management

Feature	What It Does
Smart parsing	Type "2 cups flour" and it just works
Prep recipes	Sauces, stocks, and doughs that feed into other recipes
Scaling	Scale any recipe up or down, costs adjust automatically
Allergen tracking	Allergens flow through from ingredients to recipes to menus
Recipe player	Step-by-step cooking mode with timers

3. Inventory & Purchasing

Feature	What It Does
Stock tracking	Know what's on hand at each location
Par levels	Set minimum quantities and get low stock alerts
Purchase orders	Generate orders from par levels or production needs
Invoice scanning	OCR processing for vendor invoices
Lot tracking	Track vendor lots through your inventory

4. Meal Planning

Feature	What It Does
Calendar view	Schedule meals across days and weeks
Menu assignment	Assign menus to meal slots (breakfast, lunch, dinner)
Cost forecasting	See projected costs before you order
Shopping lists	Generate lists from your meal plans

5. Production Planning

Plan what needs to be made and when.

Feature	What It Does
Requirements calculation	Calculate needs from meal plans, sales data, or menus
Prep recipe detection	Automatically identifies prep recipes that need to be made first
Production plans	Organized task lists showing what to produce
Priority ordering	Control production sequence

6. Batch Production

Execute your production plans with full tracking.

Feature	What It Does
Batch cooking	Produce recipes in quantity with batch IDs
Inventory consumption	Ingredients deduct from inventory automatically
Finished goods	Completed batches add to inventory
Substitution tracking	Record when substitutions are made
Status workflow	Track progress: Pending → In Progress → Completed

7. Traceability

Track every ingredient through the system—critical for recalls and quality control.

Direction	What It Shows
Forward trace	Vendor lot → Productions using it → Customers who received it
Backward trace	Finished product → All ingredient lots that went into it
Recall reports	Identify all affected products and customers from a lot number

8. Data Import

Bulk import data from spreadsheets or scan invoices with OCR.

Import Type	Formats	What Gets Imported
Ingredients	CSV, Excel	Names, costs, units, categories, vendors
Invoices	CSV, Excel, PDF/Image (OCR)	Line items, quantities, prices, vendor info
Sales Data	CSV, Excel	Menu items sold, quantities, dates

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Key Concepts

Prep Recipes

Prep recipes are recipes that become ingredients in other recipes:

• Pizza dough → becomes an ingredient in "Margherita Pizza"
• Chicken stock → becomes an ingredient in "Risotto"
• Caramelized onions → becomes an ingredient in "French Onion Soup"

Costs flow through automatically. When your chicken stock recipe changes, every recipe using it updates.

Multi-Location Support

For operations with multiple kitchens:

Capability	Description
Locations	Each kitchen or warehouse is a separate location
Hierarchy	Organize locations into regions
Sharing	Share recipes and ingredients across locations
Switching	Jump between locations from the navigation

Cost Calculation

Costs are calculated from:

1. Vendor pricing — What you pay for ingredients
2. Unit conversions — Translating recipe units to purchase units
3. Yield adjustments — Accounting for prep waste (peeling, trimming)
4. Portion sizing — Dividing batch costs by servings

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Getting Started

Step	Guide
1	Quick Start — Create your first costed recipe in 5 minutes
2	Creating Recipes — Complete recipe management guide
3	Prep Recipes — Build reusable components

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Getting Help

In the App

• AI Assistant — Click the chat icon to ask questions. The AI understands your recipes and ingredients.
• Guided Tours — New pages highlight key features
• Tooltips — Hover over icons for quick explanations

Documentation

Browse topics in the sidebar, or use search to find specific features.

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System Requirements

PrepStation works in any modern browser: Chrome (recommended), Firefox, Safari, or Edge.

Use a desktop or laptop for administrative tasks. Mobile works for quick lookups, but complex editing is easier on a larger screen.