ChefTec has been the bench mark of Recipe Management software for many years. It can be used in many types of businesses from wholesale, independent restaurants, institutions and multi-unit locations. Read all of my product reviews here!
Overview
The software is built around two major data sets, recipes and ingredients. From there, the two data sets are connected to each other in multiple ways to manage many different tasks from production, ordering, inventory, nutritional information and menu management.
ChefTec offers multiple levels of systems from basic to enterprise depending of the organizations needs. These are ChefTec, ChefTec Plus, ChefTec Ultra, CorTec Premier, CorTec Ultima. Additional modules such as Calendar Builder, Mobile Solutions, Remote Notifications, eRecipe, Reporter, Interfaces and other service solutions are available to each level of program.
Recipe Management
ChefTec uses a table structure to build recipes whereby a user can choose from a list of ingredients or sub-recipe to create a recipe. Each ingredient and sub-recipe can be listed by multiple standard units of volume and weight in standard or metric units. Custom units or conversions related to production and purchase units can be created to reflect the methods employed by any kitchen. These conversions are used to calculate both costs and nutritional data as soon as they are selected into the recipe.
The recipes are then usable in many ways from production and or for sales via interfaces with POS and Caterease. Recipe are marked as “saleable” allow information exchange between the multiple interfaces. The per unit cost can be calculated in ChefTec and updated in Caterease to provide accurate real-time cost information in both systems.
The addition of the Mobile Solutions feature contains a feature that allows users to access recipes from a mobile device or tablet eliminating the need for printed paper or recipe books.
Menu Management
Individual Menus can be created within Cheftec. These are associated with higher level packages. The addition of Calendar Builder as an extra module allows the creation and publication of cycle menus for operations in need of these features. The feature allows you to create up to six (6) menu segments per day using drag and drop functions of recipes and menus from ChefTec/CorTec into the tool. These menus can then be exported in a HTML format for publishing in other applications. Custom menus for individual cost centers and locations can be created.
Product List Management
The use of interfaces allows the creation of production lists based on anticipated sales from a par system such as in a restaurant environment. For catering users, individual or date consolidated production lists can be brought into create production lists as well as shopping lists if ingredients are related to specific vendors and suppliers.
Calculating Food Cost & Inventory Value
The core asset of ChefTec is the detailed recipe costing and inventory calculation capabilities. ChefTec allows users to create sheet-to-shelf inventory lists using multiple units and locations of the same purchased ingredients. Recipe that are in production can also be counted and evaluated as part of the value inventory. ChefTec also allows specific costing rules for the value used to price used to calculate value. Use can use across the board rules such as highest, lowest, last or average priced paid as well as specifying rules for individual items that may require special consideration.
The additional cost Mobile Solutions add-on feature allows the ability to physically count or use a scanner for inventory counting that transfers the data into the database for easy value evaluation. I can also be used to create orders from a personal device or tablet on the fly that can be sent via the available EDI’s. An individual receiving module also provide the ability to receive invoices directly into the system.
Additional non-purchased values such as labor and “Q” factors can be used to create total cost of goods sold per items.
Nutritional Information and Allergen Identification
The complexity of the nutritional analysis feature is a valuable tool for users whom require or a looking to provide nutritional data on the menus items they sell. Nutritional data above an beyond the required items of a nutritional label can be manually entered, copied from similar items already in the system or imported from several recognized sources of data. Each recipe can contain multiple portion sizes for labelling or presentation purposes.
Tagging of allergens can be accomplished from the core list or sources supplied with the software as well as the ability add detail list with a general category.
All or the nutritional labels can be printed with both primary ingredients as well purchased item/sub-recipe ingredients for full disclosure.
Buildable Shopping Lists
The importing of sales data from either a POS or Caterease allows the creation of a shopping list that can be structured to mirror the sheet-to-shelf structure of the inventory. By identifying a relationship between usage and purchase units via the conversion feature will generate a shopping list based on a specific vendor or general purchase units based on needs. These needs can be both actual for a specific BEO or based on a daily par system verses units sold the previous day.
The order can then be placed by sending an order though the various EDI’s. If the user prefers a different method and then the delivery invoice can be electronically imported to update purchase history, inventory value and recipe costs automatically.
The Mobile Solution also allows the creation of requisitions from a central commissary if using the feature as part of the CorTec platform.
System Requirements
The software operates on a Windows platform only. iOS users can users can easily operate the software via remote connection to a Windows server or utilizing software programs that access a windows portion of the iOS system.
Currently ChefTec has reached its update limit with Version 8 as of 7/19 and will not be releasing any new software updates other than maintenance. Data storage can be both server based or cloud based depending on the users preferences. For multi-unit/multi user configurations, access is granted through unique login’s and security access.
Integrations
The software has the largest selection of available interfaces with other industry related software as well as well-established Foodservice Broadliners for ordering and invoice management.
Interfaces include POS, Accounting Solutions, Invoice Processing, Mettler Toledo Scale for Nutritional Labels as well as Caterease. Additional interfaces can be created on an ASCII Format import/export protocol.
The current list of EDI (Electronic Data Integration) connections include:
Sysco, US Foodservice, Cheney Brothers, FreshPoint, Maines, Shamrock Foods, PFG, Reinhart Foodservice and UNFI
Accounting: Quick Books Invoice Processing: Clarifiable, ExtraChef, Orderly, PlateIQ, Chouxbox
On-Boarding
The software comes pre-loaded with a core set of ingredients that contain some standard unit conversions and USDA provided nutritional information when available. Additional services provided by the company include the downloading of recipes into the system prior to delivery to the customer. These are based on a ChefTec collection of recipes, the Professional Chef and Food For Fifty recipe books. Additional recipes can be downloaded if formatted in a html file format or a ChefTec file format if transfer data from a previous system.
The majority of the data entry is associated with the correct entry of the ingredients to be used. For each used or stocked ingredient a company uses, the unique data or vendor details, unit conversions, storage locations, nutritional information and other related fields needs to be done. This can be supported by ChefTec data services or through cooperation of Vendors for whom you may have purchased and EDI interface. Once done the recipe management process becomes more stream lined.
Fee Structure
ChefTec requires a one-time purchase agreement based on level of software, users, services and additional modules. There after there is a scaled annual support fee for troubleshooting, use of the interfaces such as vendor EDI’s and storage solutions
Support
ChefTec has a phone dial in support team that requires an annual support fee for problem solving and technical issues.
Contact Information
https://www.cheftec.com
info@CulinarySoftware.com
1-800-447-1466
