Founder POV: Are you structuring your orders around your suppliers, or your operation?

This article is adapted from a LinkedIn post by Robbie Francis, Founder of Hops.

Are you structuring your orders around your suppliers, or your operation?

In today’s instalment of the Hospitality Operators OS, we’re breaking down the difference between Supplier POs and Shopping Lists.

But first, zoom out. Ordering isn’t just: Create PO → Send → Done.

In a mature operation, ordering actually sits in a hierarchy: 1️⃣ Predictive sales (What are we going to sell?) 2️⃣ Order by ingredient (What do we need to produce that?) 3️⃣ Shopping list (Where are we getting it from?) 4️⃣ Supplier PO (Send the transaction)

Most systems ONLY give you step four. At Hops®, we’re building ALL four.

Supplier POs = Supplier Logic

A Supplier Purchase Order is clean and direct:

• You select the business unit
• Choose the supplier, add products
• Check minimums, lead times & delivery days
• Send

That’s your foundation, but real hospitality isn’t that tidy.

Operational thinking happens in ingredients, supplier logic happens in SKUs. Your system has to handle both.

Here’s where things get interesting: Chefs don’t think in suppliers::::::: they think in ingredients.

Your head chef doesn’t wake up thinking: “I need to raise three separate POs across four supplier portals.”

They think: 🥕 “I need carrots” 🫒 “I need oil” 🧀 “I need mozzarella”

Shopping Lists = Operational Thinking

Shopping Lists embrace the chaos.

You build one consolidated list based on what the operation actually needs, irrespective of supplier.

Behind the scenes, the system:

• Groups items by supplier, shows delivery days
• Flags minimum order values, displays current stock levels
• Shows what you typically order per week
• Breaks down price per ml / gram (so you can see true value)

This is what we call contextual ordering, because ordering without context is guessing. These questions MATTER:

• How much do we normally order?
• What does stock say we have?
• When was it last counted?
• Is that number even reliable?

Right now with Hops, you can: Build Shopping Lists → Generate Supplier POs.

Soon: Predictive sales → Order by ingredient → Shopping list → Generate POs

Operational thinking at the front, supplier logic handled at the back.

That’s how you embrace the chaos without letting it control you.

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About Robbie Francis
Robbie Francis is the Founder of Hops. He has spent years building and implementing hospitality technology with operators, focused on simplifying back-of-house operations across inventory and finance.

Follow Robbie on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/robbiefrancis

View the original LinkedIn post: Are you structuring your orders around your suppliers, or your operation?