Key Takeaways
- Manual food costing in 2026 limits profitability, slows responses to supplier price changes, and hides margin erosion.
- AI invoice scanning, live price alerts, and automated recipe costing provide accurate, up-to-date cost and margin data without spreadsheet work.
- Menu engineering improves when POS sales data combines with real-time ingredient costs, so operators can promote dishes that are both popular and profitable.
- Cloud-based dashboards and supplier analytics support consistent cost control across single and multi-site hospitality businesses.
- Jelly brings these tools together for restaurants, pubs, and hotels; to see how it works, book a chat with the Jelly team.
1. AI-Powered Invoice Scanning for Instant Cost Tracking
Modern food costing starts with removing manual invoice entry. AI invoice scanning converts every line from supplier invoices into digital data, with quantities, SKUs, prices, and taxes captured automatically.
Operators gain live visibility of ingredient costs because each new invoice updates the database without manual typing. Cost reports stay current, so decisions on menu pricing and purchasing rely on the latest numbers, not last month’s spreadsheet.
Jelly’s automated invoice scanning captures every item from emailed or uploaded invoices and updates spending and cost data within 24 hours. Operators see the impact of price changes before they hit margins. Book a chat to see Jelly’s invoice scanning in action.
2. Real-Time Price Change Detection and Alerts
Price alerts protect margins by flagging increases as soon as they appear. Automated monitoring tracks every ingredient across all suppliers and highlights changes line by line.
This early warning gives operators time to negotiate, request credit notes, or adjust recipes and menu prices. Margins stay under control because decisions follow current pricing, not end-of-month surprises.
Amber restaurant in East London began using Jelly’s Price Alert feature and now saves around £3,000-£4,000 each month by challenging unexpected increases and agreeing better rates. Chef-Owner Murat Kilic explains the impact simply: “Jelly keeps my business alive.”
3. Automated Recipe Costing and Margin Calculations
Accurate recipe costing is difficult to maintain in spreadsheets. Each dish can involve dozens of ingredients from multiple suppliers, with frequent price changes and tricky unit conversions.
Automated recipe costing systems solve this by linking recipes directly to live invoice data. Chefs select ingredients from a central list, and the system handles unit conversions, portion sizes, and margin calculations in the background.
Jelly’s recipe costing in the Kitchen section cuts the average time to cost a dish from about 28 minutes to around 3 minutes. Recipes draw ingredients from scanned invoices, and each new invoice updates costs and margins automatically. Book a chat to see how Jelly handles recipe costing.
4. Integrated POS and Cost Data for Stronger Menu Engineering
Menu engineering delivers better results when sales and costing data sit in the same place. POS systems show what guests buy most often, while costing tools show how profitable each dish really is.
Linking these data sources highlights four key groups of dishes:
- High popularity, high profit: dishes to promote and feature
- High popularity, low profit: dishes to reprice or rework
- Low popularity, high profit: dishes to reposition or pair with offers
- Low popularity, low profit: dishes to remove from the menu
Jelly’s Menu Engineering (Sales Mix) feature connects with POS systems such as Square and ePOSnow. Operators see which dishes sell, which generate profit, and which need action. Book a chat to explore Jelly’s menu engineering tools.
5. Automated Supplier Performance Analytics
Supplier analytics support stronger negotiations and smarter buying. Automated systems track prices, discounts, and total spend by vendor over time, highlighting patterns that are easy to miss in manual reviews.
Operators can compare suppliers by product category, spot repeated increases, and back up conversations with clear data. Better information leads to clearer expectations, more consistent pricing, and fewer surprises.
Jelly’s Price Alert and reporting tools log every increase and decrease, so chefs and owners enter supplier meetings with specific examples and accurate spend figures. Book a chat to see how Jelly supports supplier negotiations.
6. Cloud-Based Multi-Site Cost Management
Multi-site operators need one view of costs that still respects local differences. Cloud-based systems give head office and site managers access to the same data from any location.
Central teams set consistent costing rules and menu targets, while individual sites manage local suppliers and orders. Shared dashboards show where food costs drift, which locations follow best practice, and where support is needed.
Jelly suits restaurants, pubs, and boutique hotels with revenue above about £500k, including groups with 2-5 sites. The platform delivers real-time insights and workflows that help teams keep control without extra admin. Book a chat to learn how Jelly supports multi-site groups.
7. Insights Dashboard for Clear Cost Visibility
Dashboards translate raw data into clear, visual information. Operators see total spend by supplier, product group, or time period, so patterns become obvious instead of buried in paperwork.
Regular reviews of these dashboards help teams spot overspends, seasonal shifts, and opportunities to consolidate purchasing. Visibility supports planning for menu changes, supplier tenders, and cost-saving projects.
Jelly’s Insights Dashboard presents real-time spending by supplier in a simple report that front-of-house and back-of-house teams can understand quickly. Book a chat to walk through Jelly’s insight reports.
Why Manual Methods Cannot Compete in 2026
Manual invoicing and spreadsheet costing create delays, errors, and blind spots. By the time monthly accounts arrive, price changes have already affected margins, and options for a quick response are limited.
Hospitality businesses now face unstable ingredient costs, higher labour expenses, and strong competition. Profitable operators rely on real-time visibility of costs and margins, then act quickly on that information.
Automated food costing does not replace chef or manager judgement. These tools support better decisions by removing repetitive admin, keeping data accurate, and freeing time for menu development, service quality, and team leadership. Book a chat to discuss moving beyond manual food costing with Jelly.
Frequently Asked Questions
How quickly can automated food costing systems show results?
Most operators see value within the first week, once suppliers send invoices to a dedicated email or staff upload clear photos. Jelly users typically report early visibility gains, followed by measurable margin improvements within about three months, with food costs often reduced by around 3% in that period.
What is the typical ROI for replacing manual food costing processes?
Returns usually come from both time savings and better margins. Jelly users often save 10-20 hours each week on manual admin and improve gross margin by roughly 2 percentage points within the first three months. For a business with £500k annual revenue, this shift can represent a meaningful increase in annual profit.
Can automated systems handle complex recipes with multiple suppliers?
Automated costing platforms such as Jelly work well with complex, multi-supplier recipes. The system tracks prices from all vendors, manages unit conversions, and calculates accurate costs per portion, even when preparation is detailed or multi-step.
How do automated systems handle price fluctuations?
Platforms like Jelly link directly to invoice data and update ingredient prices as invoices arrive. Features such as Price Alerts highlight significant changes, so teams can review menu pricing, portion sizes, or supplier choices before margin damage becomes serious.
What integration is required with existing restaurant systems?
Most modern costing tools connect to POS and accounting software with minimal IT input. Jelly links with POS systems such as Square and ePOSnow for sales data and with accounting tools such as Xero for streamlined bookkeeping through one-click sync. These connections give a joined-up view of sales, costs, and profit without disrupting existing workflows.