The bakery market is on the rise, targeted to reach $810.45 billion by 2029, growing at a CAGR of 5.45% from 2024 to 2029. This growth statistic underpins increased demand for bakery products and, therefore, efficient management in the bakeries. This is where bakery software comes in: it helps the store managers, heads of operations, and HR managers in bakery and restaurant chains streamline their operations to achieve better overall efficiency.
In this article, we’ll explore the top 8 bakery management software solutions for 2024, focusing on key features that address the following critical areas:
Let’s dig deeply into bakery management and each of the software.
What is Bakery Management Software?
Bakery Management Software is a unique tool that is important in managing different aspects of the bakery businesses by the owners or managers of the bakeries. It deals with various parts of the bakery management process, beginning with daily operations and inventory tracking to the processing of orders so that everything inside a bakery business goes seamlessly.
Bakery management software is quite important in making operations in the bakery much easier. It handles inventory, manages orders, schedules production, and maintains compliance with the food safety regulatory system. This eventually results in increased efficiency, better customer service, and eventually better profits.
It also helps the bakery owner save time, reduce errors, and thus have more time for the baking part and satisfaction of customers.
Benefits of Bakery Management Software
1. Increased Efficiency
Bakery management software enhances overall efficiency by automating routine tasks and streamlining operations. With features like automated checklists for kitchen handovers and daily sales logging, the software minimizes manual work and errors. This ensures that all processes are completed on time and operations run smoothly, boosting productivity across the bakery.
2. Enhanced Operational Management
Efficient management of audits and compliance is a key benefit. The software digitizes processes related to pest control, fire safety, equipment checks, and facility quality, simplifying regulatory compliance and operational management. This reduces the time spent on manual record-keeping and helps maintain a high standard of safety and quality.
3. Efficient Fault and Maintenance Management
The ability to report, track, and resolve equipment faults, maintenance issues, and IT incidents quickly is a significant advantage. This feature helps minimize downtime and ensures all equipment remains in good working condition, preventing disruptions to bakery operations.
4. Better Workforce Management
Managing both full-time and part-time staff becomes easier with automated scheduling and attendance tracking. The software allows you to efficiently plan work schedules, monitor staff availability, and track attendance, leading to better workforce management and reduced scheduling conflicts.
8 Bakery Management Software Features that are Must
1. Scheduling and Production Planning
Automated production schedules and staff scheduling tools enable bakery owners to plan their production process in the best possible way. With software connecting this, all orders are serviced on time, and resources are utilized effectively.
Additionally, advanced task management features streamline operations by providing checklists and customizable forms to ensure every step of the production process is completed accurately and on schedule.
2. Employee/Workforce Management
The bakery management software makes tracking employee performance, scheduling shifts, employee management, and other workforce-related activities easier. It ensures that the staff is well-managed and productive for the bakery owner.
3. Employee Onboarding and Training
The bakery management software also facilitates the onboarding and training of employees. This ensures that new employees are properly introduced to the working culture and their workforce is more efficient.
4. Sales and CRM
Sales reporting and analytics tools allow for a better view of the sales performance of a bakery to help in making informed business decisions. Customer relationship management features provide for personalized interactions with customers to enhance the overall customer experience.
5. Compliance and Food Safety
Hygiene audits and tracking of food temperature and equipment are part of the bakery management software. This, in turn, ensures that the bakery complies with the local food regulations regarding food safety.
6. Equipment and Machinery Maintenance
The software aids in the tracking of maintenance of the equipment and machinery to ensure they are in a state of good condition. This prevents breakdowns, thereby ensuring smooth production processes.
7. Inventory Management
Real-time tracking of ingredients and automated alerts on the stock constitute an integral part of the bakery management software. These tools provide the ability for the bakery owner to always have an exact level of inventory and never run out of some essential ingredients.
8. Order Management
Order management is an important element of any bakery. This software offers a checklist for all types of orders and order forms which can be customized to make management of the customer’s orders easier.
Top 8 Bakery Management Software in 2024
Running a bakery requires a lot of effort and money; the right tools mean running it efficiently. In the article, we have noted down the top 9 bakery management software solutions for the year 2024, each with unique features and benefits that can help you thrive in the baking industry.
1. KNOW
KNOW is a comprehensive bakery software for the automation of every large-scale or own-home bakery business operation. This all-in-one solution covers everything from opening to closing and thus relieves the owner and manager of the bakery from all the hassles of daily tasks that generally create chaos. KNOW comes with a very friendly user interface and full control over well-built features designed particularly for baking businesses.
Checklists of All Kinds: With KNOW, you can run kitchen handovers easily, open and close checklists, log daily sales, wastage, and lots more. These checklists ensure that all routine tasks are completed with efficiency and that nothing is overlooked.
Food Safety Hygiene: This application will help you prepare and manage your HACCP checks and hygiene audits. It keeps a record of the temperatures of food and equipment so that you can rest assured that your bakery is working on food safety principles and that hygiene levels are high.https://youtu.be/bUYkAqobe18
Audits and Compliance: KNOW digitizes various compliance tasks, such as but not limited to pest control, fire safety, equipment checks, and facility quality audits. This feature keeps you at the top of regulatory requirements and maintains a safe and compliant operation.
Onboarding and Employee Training: Using the app, tools are in place for custom-made learning journeys that retain bite-sized content for new hires. Accessible from anywhere at any time is the company’s knowledge base; therefore, it aids in onboarding and continuous training.
Faults, Maintenance & Incident Resolution: KNOW helps you report quickly, track, and resolve equipment faults, repairs, incidents, and IT issues, which reduces your downtime and keeps your bakery running.
Scheduling & Attendance Management: Work scheduling and attendance management tools are available for full-time and part-time staff. You can easily save time and track when your staff is available to work, hence making shift management and having enough staffing levels much easier.
Comprehensive bakery management software packed with features that help your bakery prioritize, predict, and perform.
Key Features and Benefits
Sales Management: Manages orders with templates, recurring orders, imports, forecasting, and automation tools.
Inventory Management: Move inventory from purchase to shipment at one or multiple production facilities and remote warehouses.
Production Management: Plan and track production using detailed planning or quick forecasting for any type of recipe-driven product and the number of SKUs produced per day.
Online ordering app: Allows customers to place their orders through the online store, edit, and manage them with cut-off times, online payments, confirmation emails, and customer access permissions.
Best For:
Wholesale bakers
Pricing:
FlexiBake Base – $295/month USD
FlexiBake Professional – $375/month USD
FlexiBake Corporate – $495/month USD
FlexiBake Enterprise – Call for Pricing
3. CakeBoss
CakeBoss sells bakery businesses an online bakery POS system tailored especially to the needs of these businesses.
Ingredient Costing Reports: Fully detailed ingredient costing reports to keep track of your expenses.
Best For:
Startups, SMBs, and Mid-market
Pricing:
The price of the first year is $149.00(USD). All following years are only $20.00 per year.
4. Epos Now
Epos Now is a cloud point-of-sale and payment processing system that helps bakery businesses trade efficiently and effectively.
Key Features and Benefits
Automated Ordering: Eliminates errors by automating ordering and the smooth flow of communication.
Full Restaurant Kitchen Display System: Simplifies operations at the back of the house.
Orders Grouped: By course and order type, speeding up prep time and minimizing waiting time.
Best For:
Cafes, bars, clothes stores, convenience stores, specialist retail stores, restaurants, fast food, hotels and many more.
Pricing:
Epos Now’s POS Pro Solution costs $649
5. Toast POS
Toast is an integrated point-of-sale and restaurant management solution to increase efficiency and significantly decrease costs. It does everything from billing to inventory management, hence very versatile for a bakery.
Key Features and Benefits:
Billing & Invoicing: Fastens your billing with easy invoicing tools.
Discount Management: Manages and applies discounts efficiently across multiple products.
Point of Sale: Strong POS system, specifically constituted to satisfy the needs of bakeries and restaurants.
Inventory Management Software: Tracks the inventory levels in real-time to avoid shortage and overstocking situations.
Best For:
Restaurants and food service industry
Pricing:
Starter Kit – $0
Point of Sale – Starting at $69 /month
Build Your Own – Custom pricing
6. Cybake
Cybake is a bakery software system that many bakers, whether retail or wholesale, are using to take control of operations, cut costs, improve efficiency, and boost sales. It has various tools for managing production planning and customer orders.
Key Features and Benefits:
Production Planning: Now you can plan the production schedule as per the demand without overproduction. Customer Online Ordering: Allows customers to place orders online for added convenience and increased future orders.
In-store Production Planning: Manages in-store production processes for optimum efficiency.
Management Reports: Get detailed reports on monitoring performance that can aid business decisions.
Best For:
Retail and wholesale bakers
Pricing:
Price is not mentioned on their website.
7. GoFrugal
GoFrugal along with its restaurant management software offers a bakery POS software that will help you plan your production intake and increase profits through simple billing, online ordering, and delivery management using recipe management. It integrates various functions that help smoothen large-scale as well as home bakery business operations.
Key Features and Benefits:
Inventory Control: Receive the correct levels of inventory so you always have what you need.
Various Payment Methods and Integrations: Lets customers pay with whatever is most convenient for them.
One Platform for All Ordering: Keeps all of your data from different ordering locations in one integrated platform.
CRM and Loyalty: Improves customer relationships to allow for repeat business with CRM and loyalty programs.
Best For:
Multi-chain bakeries
Pricing:
Starting price $7/month. Free trial and free version available.
8. Wherefour
This flexible bakery software and production module from Wherefour enables businesses to design custom workflows for production or packaging that would more aptly suit the process of one’s large or small business. It provides powerful tools for managing production and inventory.
Key Features and Benefits:
MRP & Forecasting: Get the tools for material requirement planning and forecasting so planning production is efficient.
Bakery Inventory Control: Track all ingredients and supplies to avoid shortages.
Recipe and Cost Management: Manage recipes and costs to ensure the optimization of production and profitability.
Ingredient Traceability: Be able to trace all ingredients for quality and safety.
Best For:
Bakeries of all sizes
Pricing:
Pricing is not mentioned on their website.
Why KNOW?
Ready to Use: No hosting, infrastructure, or IT is needed. KNOW is ready to deploy out of the box.
Highly Configurable: Switch on/off functionality, fine-grain access control, and customize the setup to your exact requirements.
Fast, Lightweight, Frontline Ready: KNOW works offline, tiny 10MB footprint, and is optimized for low-end devices for seamless performance.
User-Friendly Design: The interface is simple and accessible to all users, irrespective of age, skill level, and technical ability in different countries.
Multi-Language Support: KNOW supports all major languages except Klingon.
Exceptional Customer Service: We will help our customers to the extent possible with fantastic support provided at all stages.
User Testimonial
“KNOW has greatly enhanced our communication and kept everybody connected. It’s fantastic to have an easy-to-use tool at our fingertips, keeping everybody in the company updated with regards to the latest changes.” – Cynthia, GM, Crystal Jade
How to Get Started?
Reach out to our team today to schedule a free demo. Begin your journey of digitization with ease and absolutely no extra hassle.
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