cheflow.io – Smart Ordering for Smarter Kitchens.

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Inspiration

I love food and eating out. I’ve always had a deep appreciation for food and the experience of dining out, the flavors, the ambiance, the energy of a well-run kitchen, and the joy of sharing a space with guests who are clearly enjoying every moment. I admire the craft, precision, and dedication of chefs and everyone who keeps a kitchen running smoothly.

But I’ve also come to understand the challenges that happen behind the scenes: time-consuming ordering processes, unreliable deliveries, food waste, and disjointed supplier networks that make daily operations harder than they should be.

That’s when I saw a clear opportunity to create a system that empowers chefs and procurement teams, especially in hotels, restaurants, and concept-driven kitchens, to order smarter, fresher, and more sustainably. A platform that connects them seamlessly with local bio farmers and regional wholesalers, all in one intelligent, centralized place.

What it does

chefFlow is an AI-powered smart ordering platform, a procurement software for hospitality kitchens. It helps chefs, kitchen managers, and procurement teams automatically source the best ingredients from regional wholesalers and bio (organic) farmers — based on real-time needs, availability, and sustainability. They can order from all suppliers at once. Streamline purchasing and receiving. Eliminate food waste, cut food costs and get smoother operations. chefFlow’s procurement software for restaurants includes demand forecasting and real-time inventory management. This is ideal for large-scale food service operations. All your locations can order from their suppliers from a centralised platform.

The solution includes: Operational Excellence Automate and integrate workflows to reduce workload and minimise errors.

Food Cost Control Comprehensive solutions to control Food costs and improve profitability.

Food Safety & Compliance Streamline HACCP compliance, traceability, allergen tracking, and reporting.

Sustainability Track and report on carbon footprints, food waste, water, and land usage.

Scalability & Growth Expand operations, open new locations, and manage large volume of data.

Decision Making Use insights from various data points to improve menus, purchasing, and pricing.

Consistency Ensure consistency in quality and service, improving customer satisfaction.

Artificial Intelligence At the forefront of AI research and implementation in foodservice.

The Platform includes the following handles: I. Develop & Control

Recipes: Develop and store smart recipes
Menus: Data-driven menu engineering
Analytics and Dashboards: Monitor performance across outlets
Carbon Tracking: Track and report CO2 emissions

II. Manage

Inventory: Real-time stock management
Purchasing and Receiving: Order from all suppliers at once
Demand Forecasting: Predict purchase orders
Central Production Unit: Manage orders and plan production
Traceability: Two-way ingredient tracking

III. Plan

Menu Planning: Schedule menu cycles
Production Planning: Schedule production runs
HACCP & Tasks: Maintain compliance

IV. Connect

Integrations: Integrations ready to go
API: Share data with other tools
Trust: Our API, uptime and security
Find a Partner: Find a certified expert

The customers are: Both I. Industries:

Multi-Unit Restaurant: chefFlow connects all your restaurants to a central operating system.
Catering: chefFlow automates daily routines and organise your data in one place.
Central Production Unit: chefFlow produces thousands of meals daily with precision and control.
Hotel: chefFlow makes F&B your moneymaker. chefFlow ontrols costs and delight guests.
Delivery & Takeout: chefFlow lightens the load for your team and sharpen your menu.

II. Teams

C-suite: Restaurant Software for general managers General Manager Grow your restaurant with chefFlow’s back-of-house solution. It’s designed to increase profitability, reduce food costs, and redefine operational excellence.
Menu Development: Restaurant Software for Executive Chefs Executive Chef chefFlow is the online space where your recipes and menus live, including recipe costings, allergen and nutritional information, and your suppliers’ assortment.
Procurement: Restaurant Software For procurement Managers Procurement Manager Optimise your restaurants’ supply chain with our advanced back-of-house solution, allowing your teams to make accurate and confident purchasing decisions on the spot.
Operations: Restaurant Software For Operations Managers Operations Manager Boost operational efficiency with chefFlow. Our platform streamlines workflows, so you can take any challenge head-on while keeping a close eye on the bottom line.
Finance: Restaurant Software For Finance Managers Finance Manager Refine your restaurant’s finances with chefFlow. You get a detailed overview of the revenues and expenses of all branches, allowing you to create accurate budgets and effectively control profit and loss figures.
Data Analyst: Restaurant Software for Data Analysts Data Analyst chefFlow converts the sales and F&B data from your restaurant locations into clear graphs, charts and reports.
Technology: Restaurant Software for Tech Leads Tech Lead Our SaaS platform offers a secure, scalable solution for back-of-house operations that integrates seamlessly into your restaurant’s technical ecosystem.

Here’s what chefFlow enables:

🍽️ Chef-friendly interface: Place orders by simply typing “We need 25 vegetarian breakfasts and 10 gluten-free lunches for tomorrow.”

🔍 AI-driven product matching: The system scans a supplier database to find the best options based on price, freshness, delivery window, and sustainability.

📦 Smart procurement optimization: It auto-generates the most efficient order — reducing costs, minimizing food waste, and supporting local producers.

🧾 Order previews: View and export procurement summaries in PDF or email-ready format.

📊 Supplier insights: Track supplier performance, sustainability scores, and cost over time.

How we built it

Chaflow.io was built as an MVP using Bolt and deployed on Netlify. The stack leverages:

⚙️ Windsurf for backend functions (data, API endpoints, auth) 💬 AI (GPT-powered) logic to interpret chef input like: “Order salmon for 40 guests + 10 vegan breakfasts” 🛒 A mock supplier catalog with price, delivery times, and sustainability scoring 📦 Order generation with optimized matching and PDF previews 🔄 Basic order history and email export for kitchen coordination

The MVP allows chefs to focus on cooking, not comparing prices or making 5 calls just to get fresh bread.

chefFlow's Plans Everything you need to grow your bottom line Complete Back-of-House Solution for Every Business Stage.

Starter Empowering Ambitious Startups Tailor-made for the determined startups ready to make their mark in the hospitality world. Watch a Demo Menu Engineering Procurement Inventory Sales Analytics Insights Hub Most Popular

Growth Fuelling Expansive Ambitions Perfectly designed for the growing brands who have their sights set on scaling new heights. Get a Quote Everything in Starter +

Mobile App for Intake & Counts Order to Par Automated Inventory More Detailed Insights

Professional Elevating Established Brands Ideal for established brands looking to enhance operational efficiency and drive greater success. Get a Quote Everything in Growth +

Demand Forecasting BOM Ordering User Management Custom Fields SSO & 2FA

Enterprise Powering Large- Scale Success Crafted for large-scale food service providers aiming to accelerate growth on a grand scale. Talk to an Expert Everything in Prof. +

99% Uptime SLA Dedicated CS Manager Increased API limits Custom Integrations More Storage Capacity Compare All Features

Go Further With Add-Ons Powerful Extra Tools for Streamlining Your Operations.

HACCP & Tasks Comply with regulations. Plan & check tasks. Store reports. Learn More → Internal Ordering Order from your outlets to the central production kitchen. Learn More → Production Planning End-to-end planning for your central production units. Learn More → Accounting Link your purchase orders with the corresponding invoices. Learn More → Traceability Comply with regulations, track lot numbers and high avoid recall costs. Learn More → API Connect Apicbase with other apps or build your own tech on top of our API. Learn More → Menu Planning Enter portions for a complete back-of-house overview. Learn More → Carbon Footprint Lead in sustainability by tracking your restaurant's carbon emissions. Learn More →

Compare All Features Dive Into The Details to Find Your Perfect Fit.

Starter

Growth

Professional

Feature Comparison Menu Engineering Ingredients Up to 2.000 Up to 5.000 Up to 10.000 Recipes Up to 500 Up to 1.000 Up to 2.000 Step by step instructions

Media Library

QR codes for recipes & menus

Price evolution report

Allergens

Nutritions

Food Labels

Nutri Score

Procurement Supplier Management

Basic Ordering

Order Intake

Order Intake via barcode scanning

Permissions & Alerts

Order Lists

Order to Par

BOM Ordering

Forecast Ordering

Inventory Management Count

Waste Tracking

Count via barcode scanning

Automatic Stock Depletion

Transfers

Sub Recipe Creation

Apicbase App & Barcodes

Sales Analytics ePOS Integration

Sales Matrix

Outlet comparison

CoGS Insights

Import Sales Data Manually

Open/Generic ePOS API

Insights Hub Inventory Reports

Sales Reports

Procurement Reports

Sales Dashboard

CoGS Dashboard

Procurement Activity Dashboard

Count Variance Dashboard

Item Price Evolution Dashboard

Essentials Library Users 3 Included 5 Included 10 Included Location Users 2/locations included 3/locations included 5/locations included Locations Max. 3 Max. 30 Unlimited User Management Predefined User Roles Define Own User Roles Define Own User Roles Apicbase AI Assistant Mail Notifications In-App Notifications In-App Notifications Custom Fields

Library Level Location Level API Connectivity

10.000 requests/month Two Factor Authentication

Translations

Additional Features Nice Label Integration

API Access

API Support

Single Sign On

Additional ePOS Integration

Multi Libraries

Additional Supplier Integration

Challenges we ran into

Many local producers don’t have structured APIs or inventory systems, so integration requires custom adapters or manual mapping.
Balancing price, sustainability, and logistics is tricky — we developed a basic scoring engine but see room for advanced optimization.
The chef user interface has to be intuitive, depending on their system architecture in the kitchen and in food procurement and management, either computer, laptop, tablet and mobile-first. But in either case chefs don’t have time to read documentation.
Chefs and the ones in charge food procurement usually trust the producers and build a personal relationship with them.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Working MVP deployed on Netlify with full frontend/backend functionality
Successfully built a natural language interface that interprets real chef inputs and converts them into structured orders
Integrated a demo supplier database with pricing, delivery, and eco scoring
Built a basic optimization engine that balances cost, logistics, and sustainability
Created PDF order summaries that chefs and managers can easily share
Designed with scalability in mind — ready to integrate real supplier APIs
Focused on real user needs: chefs, not IT managers, are the primary users — so we kept it fast, simple, and intuitive