Ordering software for central kitchens
Take your central kitchen off WhatsApp.
Your sites order from a proper catalogue. Your kitchen gets one prep list and one picking list, ready to print at six in the morning.
Built in the UK. Bought once, licensed permanently — no monthly per-site fees.
The way it works now
Six managers, one group chat, and a lot of guessing.
Most multi-site takeaways run their central kitchen on WhatsApp messages and scribbled notes. It works until it doesn't — and when it fails, it fails on a Friday night with a site short of rice.
- 01Orders arrive as messages at all hours, in no particular format.
- 02Someone has to add it all up by hand before prep can start.
- 03A site forgets an item every week, then rings mid-service.
- 04Nobody can tell you what was actually sent versus ordered.
- 05When the kitchen runs short, sites find out on delivery.
How it works
Three stages, in the order a kitchen actually works.
Prep before picking is not a preference — it is how a central kitchen runs. The software enforces the sequence rather than leaving it to memory.
Sites order
Each manager works through the catalogue category by category on their phone. A progress bar shows how many are done, so nothing gets skipped in a hurry.
Kitchen preps
One prep list totals every cooked item across all sites. Print it, work through it, tick it off. Quantities are added up for you.
Kitchen picks
The picking list breaks every product down by site, with a column to write what actually went out. Short on something? Flag it and the site is told.
Nothing gets missed
Managers can't skip a section by accident.
Every category has to be opened and dealt with. Once a category has something in the basket it turns green and stays ticked, so a manager can see at a glance what they still have left to do.
It sounds small. It is the difference between a site remembering the packaging order and ringing you on Saturday because they have no lids.
Tap a category to see how it looks once it's done.
What you get
Everything a central kitchen needs, nothing it doesn't.
Category-by-category
Sites work through the catalogue with a progress bar. Search jumps straight to a product when they know what they want.
Prep & picking lists
Printed on plain paper, low ink, with tick boxes and a column to write what was actually sent.
Live order board
Every order and its status on one screen. Move an order to confirmed, preparing, ready or delivered in a tap.
Tell sites early
Short of something? Record what you can send and why. The site is notified straight away, not on delivery.
Amend and cancel
Managers fix their own order before the kitchen starts. After that, only you can — and every change is logged.
Email and WhatsApp
New orders, status changes and shortfalls go out automatically to the kitchen and the site.
Your products, your order
Import from a spreadsheet, arrange categories by dragging, archive what you no longer stock.
Works on a phone
Built for phones first and installs to the home screen like an app. No app store, no downloads.
Readable by all staff
Larger text, high contrast and a dyslexia-friendly font are built in, for staff who need them.
The difference
Pay once. Use it for good.
The big platforms charge per site, per user, every month, forever — and the day you stop paying you have nothing to show for it. Kitchen Central is bought once and licensed to you permanently.
- A permanent licence — no subscription, no expiry date
- No per-user, per-site or per-order charges — add sites for free
- Runs on your own address, on your own subdomain
- Every order and product is yours to export, any time you like
- Held in escrow — if we ever stop trading, you keep running
Pricing
Plain numbers, written down.
Every customer gets a written service agreement setting out exactly what is included and what is charged separately. No surprises on renewal.
Setting the system up for your business, loading your catalogue, sites and staff, plus training and handover. Your licence starts from that point.
Server, security updates, nightly backups, SSL, fault fixing and support Monday to Friday. Works out at £30 a month.
New features or changes to suit how you work. Anything over two hours is quoted first. Under fifteen minutes isn't charged.
Questions
Before you ask.
How long does it take to get running?
Usually two to three weeks. Most of that is getting your product catalogue right — the software itself is ready. If you already have your products in a spreadsheet, that goes straight in.
Do I need my own server or IT person?
No. It runs on our servers on your own web address, and the yearly fee covers keeping it running. You need nothing more than a phone or a laptop.
What if my staff aren't good with computers?
That was the main thing it was designed around. Ordering is a list of categories with plus and minus buttons. Most managers are placing orders confidently within ten minutes.
Can I add more sites later?
Yes, and it costs nothing extra. There are no per-site charges — add as many as you open.
What happens to my data?
It's yours. You can download a full copy from inside the system at any time without asking anyone. Completed orders are cleared automatically after 30 days to keep things quick, and that period can be changed if you need longer.
What if I want to leave?
Give a month's notice and you'll get a complete export of everything — products, sites, orders and history — free of charge. Your licence to use the software is permanent, so it doesn't lapse when the hosting does. And a copy of the software is held in escrow by a third party, so if we ever stopped trading you would still be able to keep it running.
Get started
See it running with your own products.
Send over a list of what your sites order and we'll set up a working demo with your real catalogue, so you can judge it properly rather than watching a slideshow.
Book a demoOr email hello@kitchencentral.co.uk