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For hot sauce, cold brew, kombucha and snack brands

Food and beverage ERP, sized for a small brand

TrackFinch is a food and beverage ERP for small food and drink brands. Recipes, batches and packing runs, a lot code and best-by on every case, oldest stock out first, and which customer got which lot, all in one place. Your books stay in QuickBooks: TrackFinch hands you a CSV file, not a sync.

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The supplier form

The questions a distributor asks before the first order

The buyer said yes. Then the supplier form came: lot codes, holds, recalls, lab results. Here is the kind of thing it asks, with a plain answer and the TrackFinch screen that holds it.

A spreadsheet can answer it once. The trouble is every week, with new runs, new shipments and the same questions. TrackFinch keeps the records while the line works, so the answer is already there.

ExampleThe kind of questions a distributor or grocery buyer asks. Not a real retailer's form.

Supplier questionnairePart B · Traceability and lot control
ProductHot sauce, case of 12

  1. Does every case carry a lot code and a best-by date?

    Yes. Every finished run gets its own lot code, plus a best-by worked out from the product's shelf life. Print a sheet of lot labels for the cases. Scan the QR code and it opens that lot.

    In TrackFinchLotsWO-0098Print labels

  2. Can you hold product until it's cleared for release?

    Yes. Put any lot on hold. When an order ships or a run takes stock, TrackFinch passes over that lot until you release it.

    In TrackFinchLotsWO-0141Hold

  3. If an ingredient is recalled, can you name every lot it went into and every customer who got them?

    Yes. Search the supplier's lot number. TrackFinch follows it forward to every lot made from it and every order that shipped them, then hands you the customer list as a spreadsheet.

    In TrackFinchLotsSupplier lotCustomer list (CSV)

  4. Do you ship the oldest stock first?

    Yes. When an order ships or a run takes stock, TrackFinch uses the released lots with the nearest best-by first.

    In TrackFinchOrdersSO-1187Ship items

  5. Can you send lab results (COA) for the lots in each shipment?

    Yes. Attach the lab sheet to its lot. A shipped order downloads one zip file holding the files attached to each lot it carried.

    In TrackFinchOrdersSO-1187Lab results (ZIP)

  6. Have you run a mock recall, and can we see the report?

    Yes. Start a timed mock recall from any lot. The printed report shows how long it took, every customer who got the lot and whether the counts balance.

    In TrackFinchLotsMock recallPrint report

These are the records a form like this asks for, not a certification. For the recall side in depth, see food traceability software.

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How you make it

Recipes that include the bottle, the jar and the label

You make a base once and pack it into more than one product, each with its own bottles, caps and labels. Any food and beverage manufacturing software you look at should follow that without a workaround. Here it is in TrackFinch, on an example sauce brand.

Stockpot of green jalapeño mash beside empty glass sauce bottles and a tray of caps on a steel prep table

  1. The mash is its own batch

    Make the jalapeño mash on its own work order. It gets a lot and a best-by, like anything you sell.

  2. Each packing run is a recipe

    Mash and the other ingredients (vinegar, lime juice, syrup), plus jars or bottles, lids or caps, labels and cases. The run takes the mash lot with the nearest best-by and records every lot that went in.

  3. Each run makes its own case lot

    It's numbered with the work order, with a best-by from that product's shelf life. That's the lot code on the case.

ExampleOne jalapeño mash, packed two ways. Made-up lots and dates.

Base batch

Jalapeño mash

Counted in L
  • WO-014060 LBest-by Dec 4
Packing run WO-0142

Hot sauce, case of 12

Recipe, per case

  • Jalapeño mashfrom lot WO-01391.2L
  • White vinegar0.57L
  • 5 oz glass jar12jars
  • Lid, 58 mm12lids
  • Label, hot sauce12labels
  • Shipping case, 121case
Makes lotWO-0142Best-by: run date + 365 days
Packing run WO-0143

Margarita mixer, case of 6

Recipe, per case

  • Jalapeño mashfrom lot WO-01390.3L
  • Lime juice1.5L
  • Cane syrup1.2L
  • Water1.5L
  • 750 ml bottle6bottles
  • Cap, 28 mm6caps
  • Label, mixer6labels
  • Shipping case, 61case
Makes lotWO-0143Best-by: run date + 270 days

Every item counts in the unit you work in, one unit per item: liters of mash, vinegar and lime juice, then jars, lids, labels and cases.

TrackFinch checks your open orders against your recipes and stock, and if you'll run short of lids or labels before the run, it lists what you're short and can start a draft purchase order for you in one tap.

Start freeStart with your base and one product.

Shelf life

Nearest best-by goes out first

Old cases shouldn't sit at the back while new ones ship. TrackFinch works through your lots in best-by order, so the oldest stock leaves first and every shipment knows its lots.

  • Nearest best-by first

    When you ship an order, TrackFinch takes cases from the released lot with the nearest best-by, then the next, and records which lots went. Runs do the same when they pull mash or any other ingredient.

  • Held lots get skipped

    Lots on hold, rejected or recalled are passed over. Release one and it's back in line.

  • No date goes last

    A lot without a best-by is only picked after the dated ones.

On the Lots list, Expiring ≤30d shows what's due in the next 30 days and Expired shows what's already past its date.

Worth knowing

TrackFinch won't stop a past-date lot by itself. Picking goes by best-by order, not today's date. Check Expired and put those lots on hold.

ExampleSO-1218 · Grocer BConfirmedShipped
Hot sauce, case of 1230 of 30 cases picked
On the shelf, nearest best-by first
  1. WO-0104ReleasedBest-by Dec 3
    Took 80 cases
  2. WO-0108On holdBest-by Dec 9
    Skipped10 cases
  3. WO-0110ReleasedBest-by Dec 14
    Took 120 cases
  4. WO-0119ReleasedBest-by Feb 6
    12 cases
  5. OPEN-01ReleasedNo best-by
    Goes last4 cases
Shipped8WO-0104+12WO-0110+10WO-0113=30cases

Shipping and paperwork

Every shipment knows its lots and carries its paperwork

A buyer asks which lots were on their delivery, then asks for the lab sheets. In TrackFinch the order already knows, and the files are already on the lots.

  • Each order line records its lots

    When you ship, TrackFinch writes down which lots went out on every line. Who got lot WO-0098? Search it on Lots, and its page lists every customer and order that received it.

  • One zip of lab sheets per shipment

    Attach the lab sheet or certificate to the lot it covers. On a shipped order, COA packet bundles the files from every lot it carried, a folder per lot, and tells you if none are attached yet. It packs what you uploaded. It doesn't write certificates.

  • Labels that open the lot

    Print a sheet of lot labels with the lot number, date and a QR code. Scan one with a phone and the lot opens: what went in, where it went and its files.

Pallet of plain shipping cases, half stretch-wrapped, by an open warehouse door

If you co-pack

Packing for other brands

Set up each brand's products, and the ingredients they send you, as their own items. A run only pulls the items its recipe names, so one brand's supplied ingredients never land in another brand's run. Put each finished run on hold until the brand or the lab signs off, then release it. When it ships, send that brand the COA packet for its order.

Worth knowing

Brands don't get their own login, and TrackFinch doesn't track stock as owned by a brand. Their own items keep it apart, and you send them the records: the packet, a trace, a customer list.

The honest comparison

What the big food ERPs do that TrackFinch doesn't

If you're weighing TrackFinch against an ERP for food and beverage from one of the big suites, here is what you'd go without. Better you know now than after your first run.

Accounting, invoicing and payroll
Your books stay in QuickBooks. TrackFinch hands them a CSV. There is no sync.
Catch weight
Pricing a case by what it actually weighs.
Nutrition and allergen labels
TrackFinch prints lot labels, not the panel on the jar.
Unit conversion
Buy by the drum, use by the liter. Each item keeps one unit.
Co-products
Two products out of one run. A run here makes one lot.
EDI orders
Orders sent straight from a big retailer's system.
Demand forecasting
Predicting next season's orders from past sales.
Alcohol (TTB) reporting
The federal production and excise reports.

Need one of these in the same system?One of the big suites is the right buy.

Need lots, best-by dates, recipes, runs and orders in one place?Start here.

Price, setup and the line

Free, and running before your next batch

This is food and beverage software you set up yourself. Sign up and it's all there, free:

  • Every module
  • Your whole team
  • No card
  • No demo, no partner to hire

Why free? TrackFinch gets better from what brands tell us after real batches, so we want as many on it as we can get. Everyone who signs up gets all of it, and your records come out as CSV whenever you like. The full list of what's included is on the pricing page.

Point the camera at a lot label and the lot opens.

The line runs it from the phones they carry

TrackFinch works in the browser on a phone, tablet or computer. The camera scans lot labels. There's nothing to install. It needs a connection, though: it doesn't work offline.

Your first run in TrackFinch

Three steps, and you can do them before the next batch goes in the pot.

  1. Bring in what you have

    Import your ingredients, packaging and products from a spreadsheet (CSV). Chiles, vinegar, jars, lids, labels, the hot sauce itself.

  2. Set up one base and one product

    Jalapeño mash as its own batch. Then hot sauce, case of 12: mash, vinegar, jars, lids, labels and the case.

  3. Log this week's run

    Plan the work order, start it, complete it. The cases come out with a lot code and a best-by.

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Your data comes out as CSV whenever you like.

Before you sign up

Food and beverage ERP questions, answered straight

  1. Is TrackFinch a food and beverage ERP?

    It's the production, lot and order side of one: recipes, runs, lots, stock and orders in one system, the same side TrackFinch offers any maker as an ERP for small manufacturers. It doesn't do accounting, invoicing or payroll, so your books stay in your accounting software (here's how MRP and ERP differ).

  2. Does TrackFinch take care of FSMA for us?

    No food and beverage ERP software can do that on its own. TrackFinch keeps the lot records and the trace a records request asks for; whether the rule covers you, and what your food safety plan needs, is for you and your advisor to settle.

  3. Does TrackFinch connect to QuickBooks or Shopify?

    No, there's no sync with either. Orders are entered in TrackFinch, and each one records which lots it shipped. What comes out is CSV: reports such as Stock valuation and Open orders for your bookkeeper or your store, and an admin can download the whole workspace as CSV files any time.

  4. Can a co-packer use TrackFinch?

    Yes. Set up each brand's products, and the ingredients each brand supplies, as their own items so their stock stays apart. Brands don't get a login of their own.

  5. Is there a limit on products, lots or people?

    No. Add every product you make, every lot you run and everyone on the line.

  6. We make beer or spirits. Is TrackFinch for us?

    It handles the recipes, batches and lots, but not TTB reporting, kegs or tank levels. The breweries and distilleries page sets out what fits.

Put this week's run in TrackFinch

Set up one base and the product it goes into, then log one run. The next time a buyer asks which lot went where, it's one search.

No demo and no quote. It's a food and beverage ERP you start on yourself, today.

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Free · Every module · No card