Use AI as a 'think partner' to build a café inventory checklist and draft the seasonal menu, then treat every answer as a first draft
Allison Dunn, founder of Hibiscus Brew, a Caribbean wellness café and beverage brand in Brooklyn, New York, in Fortune
AI built the inventory checklist for the café and helped develop the fall menu, which pairs pumpkin spice with roasted plantain. It also sorts her email, builds her to-do list and fills her calendar.
Easy · or we set it up for $197
AI assistant (not named)
The problem
Inventory was her biggest headache: a café that runs on milk, espresso and everything else needs a checklist someone actually keeps.
What happened
Fortune says it solved her biggest headache, the inventory checklist. She calls it her "think partner" and treats its output as "a first draft"; customers are still greeted by name "within three seconds." No time or cost figures are given.
Quoted in the source: Allison Dunn, founder, Hibiscus Brew. Source: Fortune: Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon on AI's economic impact (Nick Lichtenberg) (2026-10-23) · Added 2026-10-23.
How to set it up yourself
- What Hibiscus Brew uses: an AI assistant Fortune doesn't name, as a 'think partner' for the inventory checklist, the fall menu, email and her to-do list. The steps below are our DIY build with ChatGPT or Claude.
- List everything you reorder (milk, espresso, cups, syrups, produce) with its unit, supplier and how fast it runs out on a normal week; your POS item sales report is the quickest source.
- Paste the prompt below into ChatGPT or Claude with that list. Ask for the checklist as a table you can paste into Google Sheets, then add a 'count' column for each shift and print one for the back counter.
- For the seasonal menu, give it your current menu, signature flavors and supplier constraints in the same chat and ask for five drink or pastry ideas with ingredients you already stock. Treat each one as a first draft: taste-test before it goes on the board.
Copy-paste prompt
You're helping me run {CAFE NAME}, a {CAFE TYPE} in {CITY}. Build an inventory checklist from this list of what I stock (item, unit, supplier, typical weekly use): {ITEM LIST}. For each item give: par level for a {DAYS BETWEEN DELIVERIES}-day delivery cycle, reorder point, who to order from and the order day. Group it by storage area ({AREAS, e.g. walk-in, bar, dry storage}) in the order someone would walk it, as a table I can paste into Google Sheets with a blank 'count' column. Flag items where my numbers look inconsistent instead of guessing.We set up one AI automation in your tools, live within 48 hours of getting access, for $197. No call needed. Founding price for our first 10 customers (regular $297).
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