For Independent restaurant groups running a few to a dozen or more locations
Catch vendor price increases on your key items the day the invoice lands
Your broadline distributor raises a few key items by small amounts, or bills one location more than another for the same case. Substitutions come in at a higher price. Nobody reads every line, so the increase sticks for months.
What it can cost you
Example: chicken thighs up $0.40 a pound across 3 locations buying 500 pounds a week each = $600 a week, or $31,200 a year.An illustration, not a promise. Your Opportunity Scan puts a real number on it.
What the system checks overnight
- Compares every invoice line on your key items to the last price paid and the agreed or contract price.
- Compares the price for the same item and pack size across your locations.
- Flags substitutions billed at a higher price than the item ordered.
- Flags new delivery fees, fuel surcharges, or minimum order charges.
- Checks that credits for shorts and returns actually show up on later invoices.
Where it reads from
- MarginEdge
- QuickBooks Online
- Gmail or Outlook (vendor price notices)
Published commodity market reports for proteins and produce, to show whether an increase matches the market.
What happens when it fires
You or your buyer push back or shop the item. The system drafts the email to the sales rep with the invoice lines and the price you paid last time.
Autonomy level: Draft for approval. The system prepares the message or task, and you approve it before anything goes out.
What we guarantee
Every invoice line on your key items compared to the last price and the agreed price within a day of the invoice being entered. We agree on the metric before the Sprint starts and measure it over the first 20 business days after go-live. If we miss it, you get half your Sprint fee back. Dollar savings are tracked in your monthly saves log, reported rather than promised.
Questions
We have dozens of vendors. Does it watch all of them?
It reads every invoice that goes into your invoice tool, and focuses the brief on the items you spend the most on so you are not buried in small changes.
Does it know our contract prices?
If you share the price sheet or contract terms, it checks against them. If not, it checks against your price history.
Do I need new software for this?
No. The system reads from the tools you already use, with read-only access by default. A guardrail layer controls exactly which data the AI can see.
What does it cost?
A 3-week Sprint is $6,000 fixed and includes the morning brief plus one automation tied to an agreed metric. Ongoing support is $1,500 a month, or $500 a month to keep it running without new automations. If the agreed metric is missed over the first 20 business days after go-live, half the Sprint fee is refunded.
How is this different from a dashboard app or a free AI kit?
A dashboard app shows numbers when you go look. A free AI kit gives you the parts, and you do the setup, the upkeep, and the checking. Here the alarms are built for your kind of business, they watch outside data like market rates and rule changes alongside yours, and on Run or Keep-Running, the person who built them keeps them working and logs what they caught.
More alarms for multi-unit restaurant groups
Seven more things worth watching.
- Food cost creep by locationCompare actual to theoretical food cost per location every week, by category, so the store drifting high gets noticed while you can fix it.
- Labor running ahead of salesCompare next week's schedule to forecast sales and reservations per location, and track labor percentage by daypart, so schedules match the business.
- Comps and voids anomaliesCompare comps, voids, and discounts per server, manager, and location to their peers and history, so odd patterns surface while they are fresh.
- Review rating dropsRead every new review across your locations each morning, spot repeated complaints, tie them to service days, and have reply drafts ready.
- Reservation no-show patternsTrack no-shows and late cancels by day, time, party size, and booking channel per location, so deposits and overbooking go where they matter.
- Overtime building mid-weekProject who will cross your overtime threshold before the week ends, including staff who work at more than one location, so you can shift hours.
- Menu item margin slippingRecalculate plate cost for every menu item from the latest invoice prices and compare it to menu price, so you reprice or re-spec before margin fades.
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