5.1.1. Raw Material Management

A raw material is any item you buy and keep in stock: flour, minced meat, milk, paper cups, bottled drinks. Recipes, stock counts and cost calculations all draw on the raw material card. Defining raw materials with the right unit and the right price is the first and most important step of the stock system.

Academic sources call this a standard ingredient card. The unit, content and price of each ingredient are defined in one place (Çakır and Özgür Göde, 2025). In Ritapos, this card is the raw material form.

Raw material groups

Start by sorting your raw materials into groups. Groups keep the list tidy and make filtering easier. When you start a stock count, you also choose which groups to count.

Open Stoklar & Reçeteler > Ham maddeler > Ham madde grupları (raw material groups) and add a group. A title and a sort order are enough.

Groups are listed in alphabetical order. Each group shows the number of raw materials it contains. Each row has + Ham madde ekle (add raw material) and Düzenle (edit) buttons.

We suggest building groups around how you count. For example, if the cold room, dry store and bar are separate groups, you can count each area in its own count.

Adding a raw material

The Stoklar & Reçeteler > Ham maddeler > Ham maddeler page lists all raw materials. The table has these columns: Grup (group), Ham madde (raw material), Harici kod (external code), Birim (unit), Bir birimin alış fiyatı (purchase price per unit), Minimum birimin alış fiyatı (purchase price of the smallest unit), Bir birimin satış fiyatı (sale price per unit), Minimum birimin satış fiyatı (sale price of the smallest unit) and İşlemler (actions).

The price cells in the list are shown as editable input boxes.

Each row has Reçete (recipe), Düzenle (edit) and Sil (delete) buttons. To see the invoices that contain a raw material, use the Faturalarda button in the Stoklar list (5.1.2. The Stock Screen and Critical Stock).

To add a raw material, use the + button above the list. The Yeni ham madde (new raw material) panel opens on the right. If you meet an item that is not on the list while entering an incoming invoice, you can open the same form from there.

The main fields are:

• Ham madde grubu (raw material group): the group the item belongs to.
• İsim (name): the name shown in the list and in recipes. A name close to the one on your supplier's invoice makes invoice entry easier.
• Birim (unit): the unit you buy the item in. In the new panel the default unit is Koli* (case). Remember to choose your own unit. Explained in the next section.
• Bir birimin alış fiyatı (purchase price per unit): what one unit costs you. If the unit is kilogram, enter the price of 1 kg. Stock value and invoice entries update from this price.
• Bir birimin satış fiyatı (sale price per unit): the sale price of one unit. Ritapos calculates recipe cost from this price. Franchise centres also use it for the price they charge their branches.
• Vergi (tax): the tax rate. The default is 10.
• Barkod (barcode) and Harici kod (external code) in the Gelişmiş (advanced) section: for barcode scanning and matching with another system.

Under the Birim field the form shows the note "Reçete maliyetleri satış fiyatına göre hesaplanacaktır." (recipe costs will be calculated by sale price). Keep the Bir birimin satış fiyatı field up to date.

The minimum and ideal quantities used for critical stock are not on this form. You enter them with Excel dosyasından stokları güncelle (update stocks from an Excel file). See 5.1.2. The Stock Screen and Critical Stock.

Units and pack contents

The Birim field offers: Koli* (case), Paket* (pack), Kutu* (box), Fıçı* (keg), Şişe* (bottle), Adet (piece), Kilogram, Gram, Litre, cl and ml.

Options with an asterisk are packed units. A recipe never uses a whole case or pack. When you choose a packed unit, the İçerik bilgileri (content details) area opens and you describe what is inside:

• İçindeki adet sayısı: how many pieces are in one pack.
• İçindekilerin birimi: the unit of the contents: Adet, Gram, cl or ml.
• Bir adetin içindeki miktar: the amount in each piece.

Example: you buy extra virgin olive oil (Sızma zeytinyağı) by the case. Each case has 12 bottles of 750 ml. Choose Koli as the unit, enter 12 pieces, choose ml as the content unit and enter 750 as the amount per piece. In recipes you then use this item in ml.

The unit on a recipe line comes from the raw material's unit:

• An item defined in kilograms is used in grams.
• An item defined in litres or cl is used in ml.
• An item defined in pieces is used in pieces.
• A packed item uses its content unit.

So choose the unit with the recipe in mind.

How the smallest unit cost is calculated

When you save a raw material, Ritapos calculates the cost of its smallest unit. You see it in the Minimum birimin alış fiyatı column. Stock value uses the purchase price in this column. Recipe cost and recipe analysis use the Minimum birimin satış fiyatı (sale price of the smallest unit) column.

• For kilograms and litres, the price is divided by 1000.
• For cl, the price is divided by 10.
• For packed units, the price is divided by the number of pieces times the amount per piece. If the content unit is cl, it is also divided by 10.
• The result is rounded to three decimals.

Example (sample data):

• Minced meat, unit Kilogram, purchase price 180.00₺. Smallest unit cost: 180 / 1000 = 0.18₺/g.
• Extra virgin olive oil, unit Koli (12 x 750 ml), purchase price 3,600.00₺. Smallest unit cost: 3,600 / (12 x 750) = 3,600 / 9,000 = 0.40₺/ml.

Always enter the purchase price for the unit you chose. If you enter a bottle price for an item defined by the case, every recipe cost will be wrong.

The purchase unit and the amount used in the kitchen are not always the same. The difference between an ingredient as purchased and its usable part after trimming is called yield (BC Cook Articulation Committee, 2015). How to reflect yield in a recipe is covered in 5.2. Adding and Editing Recipes.

Simple stock tracking

If you sell items as they are, such as bottled water, canned drinks or packed snacks, you do not need to build a separate raw material and recipe. Use simple stock tracking for these items.

When adding a new product, go to Ürün listesi > + > Yeni ürün > Gelişmiş (product list, new product, advanced) and tick Basit stok takibini etkinleştir (enable simple stock tracking). When you save the product, a window creates a raw material with the same name and the unit Adet, and a recipe with 1 piece. Each completed order containing the product reduces this raw material by the quantity sold.

This option appears when you add a new product. Product steps are in 4.2. Adding and Editing Products.

Extra fields for franchise centres

Franchise centres send items to their branches, so they see extra fields on the raw material form.

• Depo'dan sipariş edilebilir (orderable from the warehouse): if Evet (yes), branches can order this item from the central warehouse. Choose Hayır (no) for items branches buy themselves, such as fresh produce. These items stay in recipes but do not appear on the warehouse order list.
• İşletmelerin fatura girişi ile eklemesine de izin ver (allow businesses to add it by invoice): lets branches add this item to stock with their own invoices.

The warehouse order flow is covered in 5.4. Adding a Warehouse Order.

Enrich with Ritapos AI

The İşlemler (actions) menu on the raw materials list includes Ritapos Ai ile zenginleştir (enrich with Ritapos AI). It completes your raw material records with AI. The job runs in the background. We suggest checking the results.

The Excel options in the same menu are covered in 5.1.4. Excel Operations.

Sources

• Çakır, Ş. and Özgür Göde, M. (2025). A systematic review of studies addressing the cost control process in food and beverage businesses. Journal of Tourism, Leisure and Hospitality, 7(1), 57-75. doi.org/10.48119/toleho.1643299
• The BC Cook Articulation Committee (2015). Basic Kitchen and Food Service Management. BCcampus. Chapter: Yield Testing. opentextbc.ca