Food Manufacturing Software for a Small Business

A small food manufacturer needs software that does five things: recipes with their yields, lots and expiry dates, batch records that say which lots went in, a trace from ingredient to customer, and what each batch really cost. Five kinds of software claim that job: manufacturing planners (MRP), inventory systems with a manufacturing module, food ERPs, food safety platforms, and maker-sized inventory tools. They differ most in what lots and expiry cost you, which runs from included to several hundred dollars a month. The prices below are from each company's own pricing page on September 24, 2026.

The short version

• Write down what you need before you look: recipes with yield, lots and expiry, batch records, a trace, real cost.
• MRP tools like Katana and MRPeasy are strong planners. Check what lots and expiry cost on each.
• Inventory systems with manufacturing, like inFlow and Fishbowl, come from the warehouse side. Lots are often an add-on or a higher tier.
• Food ERPs and food safety platforms are sold by quote. The first suits multi-plant, certified operations; the second helps you write and keep a HACCP plan.
• For a small kitchen or a brand with a co-packer, a maker-sized tool with lots included is usually the right size.
• TaroStack is one of those, with lots on every plan. The section near the end says what it does, and what it doesn't.

What to ask of any of them

Before any demo, here's the list I'd take in:

1. Recipes with sub-recipes (a dough, a sauce base), the units you buy in and the units you use, and a yield or scrap figure, because a recipe that assumes nothing is lost is costing a different product.
2. Lots and expiry dates, with the soonest-expiring lot used first.
3. Batch records that note which lots went in, without a person retyping them.
4. A trace: one lot, backward to the supplier and forward to every customer, in minutes. (How food traceability works explains why that's the test.)
5. What a batch really cost, from what you really paid.

Then the extras that matter to some: production planning, stock held at a co-packer, a customer's minimum-shelf-life rule, and barcode labels on cases. And the things most inventory tools don't do at all: nutrition labels, HACCP plans, and your accounting.

The five kinds, side by side

What lots and expiry cost, at list price

This is the number that separates them, so here it is on its own: the cheapest published way to get lot tracking and expiry dates in each tool, alongside recipes or bills of materials, with a note on what that includes.

(Katana, MRPeasy, inFlow, Fishbowl, Stocksmith.)

None of these is overpriced for what it's built for. Katana's Core plan gives unlimited users and SKUs; MRPeasy's Enterprise tier adds multiple sites and barcode scanning; Fishbowl's Advanced products run from 2 to 200-plus users. The question is whether you're buying the planner you need or the one you might grow into.

MRP: Katana and MRPeasy

MRP software plans materials: from your orders and your bills of materials, it works out what to make, what to buy, and when. Both of these do it well.

Katana has a free plan for up to 30 SKUs, and its Core plan starts at $299/month with one inventory location and unlimited users. Batch and serial numbers with expiry dates are in its Traceability add-on, at $249/month (Katana). If that add-on is the sticking point, Katana MRP alternatives goes through the options.

MRPeasy prices per user: $49 on Starter (production planning, bills of materials, scheduling, lot traceability), $69 on Professional (adding expiry dates, serial numbers and quality control), $99 on Enterprise (multiple sites, barcode scanning, forecasting), and $149 on Unlimited, with a free trial of "15 + 15 days" and no card (MRPeasy). For a food maker, Professional is the realistic starting tier, because expiry dates are the point.

Inventory with manufacturing: inFlow and Fishbowl

inFlow Manufacturing is a separate product from inFlow Inventory, starting at $224/month, or $179/month billed yearly, with two users and one location; lot numbers and expiry dates are add-ons (inFlow). Fishbowl's Advanced Manufacturing "starts at $675 USD/mo." and is quoted by users and deployment, with bills of materials and lot and batch traceability included (Fishbowl). Both are good fits for a maker who's also a warehouse, with pallets, pick lists and a loading dock.

Food ERPs and food safety platforms

A food ERP puts inventory, production, quality, accounting and customer requirements in one system, and it's sold by quote with an implementation project measured in months. It earns that cost when you run more than one plant, hold a GFSI certification such as SQF or BRCGS, or sell to retailers with their own systems requirements. It's usually the wrong answer for a kitchen of six.

Food safety platforms do a different job. FoodReady, for instance, offers a HACCP and preventive controls plan builder, monitoring logs on a phone app, checklists, standard operating procedures and access to consultants, priced by quote, with recall and complaint management on its Enterprise tier (FoodReady). That's the plan and the logs. It sits beside inventory rather than replacing it.

How to choose, in one afternoon

Take the same test into every trial. Receive two lots of one ingredient with different expiry dates. Make a batch. Ship it to two customers. Then trace the older lot, and time yourself. You'll learn more in that hour than in any feature list, including this one, because you'll see who picks the lot, who types what, and how long a trace takes. If you want a written version of that exercise to follow, the mock recall example is one.

Where this stops working

Now TaroStack's limits, plainly. It doesn't write nutrition labels, HACCP plans, food safety plans or TTB reports, and it doesn't make anyone compliant; it keeps the records those plans ask for. There's no live QuickBooks or Xero connection yet. Sales channels are Shopify and Square only, and each Shopify store is connected by hand with you. If you need the ledger, the certification modules and multiple plants in one system, an ERP is the right answer, and if your products don't have lots or dates, an MRP planner may suit you better.

How TaroStack does it

If you're a small kitchen or a brand with a co-packer, the five things at the top of this article are the whole job, and TaroStack does all five without an add-on or a quote. Recipes are versioned, with sub-recipes, unit conversion and a scrap percentage for yield. Recording a batch takes ingredients from the lots that expire first and notes which lots were consumed, and printable batch-record forms carry your own checklist fields and a sign-off. The recall report walks any lot to its suppliers and customers, and timed drills give you the minutes for a buyer's form. Every batch shows its actual cost beside its standard cost, from FIFO cost layers with freight and other landed costs included.

A co-packer's building is a site like any other, so the stock held there is still yours on the screen, and transfers show what's in transit. Planning says what to make and buy, and when, as drafts you approve.

Lots, expiry and recalls are on every plan, from $49 a month. Recipes, batches, true cost and planning are on Standard at $99, for up to three sites and ten people. That's the price on the page, not a quote. The first 30 days are free, and your items, recipes and suppliers import from CSV. If you'd like a hand setting up, ask, and we'll do it with you.

Questions people also ask

What software do food manufacturers use?

Small ones often start with spreadsheets, then move to an inventory or MRP tool once lots and batches get too many to track by hand. Larger ones run a food ERP. Many also use a food safety platform for their HACCP plan and logs. The right mix depends on size, certification and how many sites you run.

Is there free food production software?

Katana has a free plan for up to 30 SKUs. Most others offer trials instead: MRPeasy's is 15 days plus 15 more, inFlow's is two weeks, and ours is 30 days, none needing a card. The truly free option is a spreadsheet, such as the lot tracking spreadsheet on this site.

Do I need an ERP for a small food business?

Usually not until you have more than one plant, a GFSI certification to maintain, or a large retailer's systems requirements to meet. Before that, the implementation cost and time tend to outweigh the benefit. A maker-sized tool with lots and batch records covers what buyers and inspectors ask for at that size. There's more on the maker tools in Craftybase alternatives.

What is MRP software?

Material requirements planning software. It takes your orders, stock and bills of materials and tells you what to make, what to buy, and when. Most MRP tools also track inventory; whether they track lots and expiry, and at what price, is the thing to check. More on bills of materials in bill of materials for food.