PlateCalc — the spec

A SaaS tool for catering and meal-prep businesses that turns raw ingredient costs into accurate recipe margins, profitable menu prices, and event-ready bulk quotes. Built for small operations of 2–10 people who are losing money to guesswork on portion sizes, underpriced menus, and overproduction waste.

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Decisions locked

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The core loop

1. Add ingredients — user creates or imports ingredients with unit costs (per gram, per kg, per litre). Spreadsheet import speeds this up.
2. Build a recipe — user assembles ingredients into a recipe, entering quantities. The system calculates cost per serving and total recipe cost in real time.
3. Set a price target — user enters a desired profit margin or selling price per menu item. The margin display shows whether the price holds.
4. Scale for an event — user enters guest count or total yield needed. Every ingredient quantity and cost scales automatically.
5. Log actuals and waste — after the event, user records what was actually used. The waste log flags overproduction variances above a set threshold.
6. Generate a quote — user rolls up all menu items for a booking into a single bulk order cost summary and exports it as a client-facing quote.

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v1 scope

Recipe Builder with Per-Ingredient Cost Tracking
A structured form where each recipe line holds an ingredient, quantity, unit, and live unit cost pulled from the ingredient library. Lives on the Recipe Detail screen.

Real-Time Cost Calculation and Margin Display
As ingredients are added or quantities change, the screen shows running totals: cost per serving, total recipe cost, selling price, and gross margin percentage. No save-and-refresh — updates on input.

Menu Item Pricing with Built-In Profit Targets
Each recipe can be promoted to a menu item with a target margin set by the user. The system back-calculates the minimum viable selling price and flags if the current price falls short. Lives on the Menu Pricing screen.

Bulk Order Cost Rollup and Quote Generation
User selects a set of menu items, enters quantities per item, and the system produces a consolidated cost sheet and a formatted quote document. Covers ingredient totals, labor markup if set, and total price. Lives on the Orders and Quotes screen.

Waste Log with Variance Alerts on Overproduction
After each event, the user logs actual consumption per ingredient. The system compares planned vs. used quantities and raises a variance alert when overproduction exceeds a configurable threshold. Lives on the Waste Tracker screen.

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Deliberately later

• Auto-scale recipes by portion count or total yield — scaling logic inside the event flow covers v1 needs; a dedicated scaling mode with saved scale presets adds value once users have a library of tested recipes.
• Portion size standardization with weight or volume — requires integration with weight-per-serving data and potentially barcode/label output; meaningful only after the cost model is trusted.
• Ingredient cost update sync across all recipes — powerful but risky without a clear versioning model; build after users have enough recipes that a cost change has real blast radius.

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Data model sketch

• users — id, name, email, role, team\_id
• teams — id, name, plan\_tier, created\_at
• ingredients — id, team\_id, name, unit, cost\_per\_unit, supplier, updated\_at
• recipes — id, team\_id, name, servings, notes, created\_at
• recipe_lines — id, recipe\_id, ingredient\_id, quantity, unit, line\_cost
• menu_items — id, team\_id, recipe\_id, selling\_price, target\_margin, status
• orders — id, team\_id, client\_name, event\_date, status, total\_cost, total\_price
• order_lines — id, order\_id, menu\_item\_id, quantity, line\_cost
• waste_logs — id, order\_id, ingredient\_id, planned\_qty, actual\_qty, variance, alert\_triggered

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Screens

• Dashboard — snapshot of recent orders, margin health, and outstanding waste logs.
• Ingredient Library — full list of ingredients with costs; supports spreadsheet import and manual add.
• Recipe Builder — create and edit recipes with live cost and margin output.
• Menu Pricing — manage menu items, set selling prices, view profit target status across the board.
• Orders and Quotes — build bulk orders from menu items, review cost rollup, generate and download client quotes.
• Waste Tracker — log actuals per order, view variance reports, configure overproduction alert thresholds.
• Account and Team Settings — user management, roles, and plan details.

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How to use this document

• Bring it into Mind Palace, where the guided platform and its AI coach pick up from exactly this document and build the product with you step by step.
• Hand it to a developer as the complete v1 brief — scope, data model, and screens are defined and ready.
• Keep it as the single source of truth while you build, so every feature decision traces back to one document.