Keep recipe costs current when supplier prices change, instead of juggling Excel sheets
Johnny Di Francesco, founder of Gradi Group, which runs seven Italian restaurants and gelaterias across Melbourne and Adelaide, interviewed by realcommercial.com.au
Restoke.AI holds all of Gradi's recipes in one system and automatically adjusts recipe costs when an ingredient price goes up or down. It is integrated with the point-of-sale system to compare items sold against stock on hand, ties in updates from third-party suppliers, and factors in real-world yields.
ChatGPT Free $0; Go $8/mo; Plus $20/mo · Google Sheets free with a Google account
Medium · or we do it from $149/mo
ChatGPT, Restoke.AI, Google Sheets
The problem
Recipes were spread across multiple Excel spreadsheets, so ingredient price rises and real-world yields weren't reflected in dish costs straight away.
What happened
"It stabilises our costs," he says. Once yields are accounted for, he says, they're not under-pricing or pushing dishes beyond the market, and margins are more consistent. No percentages are given.
Quoted in the source: Johnny Di Francesco, founder, Gradi Group. Source: realcommercial.com.au: Smarter kitchens, slimmer margins, how restaurants are using AI and tech to slash costs (Henry Johnstone) (2026-05-12) · Added 2026-10-16.
How to set it up yourself
- What Gradi Group used: Restoke.AI, with every recipe in one system, recipe costs updated automatically from supplier prices and yields, and POS sales compared against stock on hand.
- A cheaper version to try (not what Gradi uses): keep one Google Sheet with an Ingredients tab (item, pack size, pack price, usable yield %) and a Recipes tab where each dish looks up its ingredient costs, so one price change flows through every dish.
- When a supplier invoice or price list arrives, paste it into ChatGPT with the prompt below to pull out the new unit prices, then type the changes into the Ingredients tab yourself and check each one against the invoice.
- Once a month, export item sales from your POS, paste them in next to the Recipes tab and ask ChatGPT which dishes are over your target food cost, so you can reprice or rework them.
Copy-paste prompt
Here is a supplier invoice for {RESTAURANT NAME}: {INVOICE TEXT}. List every line as: item, pack size, pack price, price per {UNIT, e.g. kg or litre}. Then compare with my current prices: {CURRENT INGREDIENT PRICES}, and flag anything that changed by more than {THRESHOLD, e.g. 5%}. Don't guess missing pack sizes; mark them CHECK.One short email a day: 3 new AI use cases from real small businesses, each with its source and setup steps, plus a Tool of the Day. Free, no spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Tools used
ChatGPT
General AI assistant for writing, research, brainstorming and analysis.
From Free $0; Go $8/mo; Plus $20/mo; Pro $100/mo (checked 2026-10-14)
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Checked prices: ChatGPT: from Free $0; Go $8/mo; Plus $20/mo; Pro $100/mo (verified 2026-10-14)
Rather not do it yourself?
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