Food & Beverage
Food and beverage inventory management for perishable operations
Enforce FIFO and FEFO compliance across every warehouse zone, maintain full batch and lot traceability from supplier to dispatch, and eliminate waste caused by expired or mismanaged stock. Crate gives food and beverage operations the shelf-life visibility and recall readiness that regulators and customers demand.
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- Batch and lot traceability
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- Expiry tracking accuracy
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- FIFO/FEFO compliance
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- Reduction in expired-stock waste
The Challenge
Perishable inventory challenges that erode margin and increase compliance risk
Expiry tracking gaps that turn inventory into waste
Without systematic expiry date capture at the point of receiving, products with short shelf lives get buried behind newer stock. By the time the team discovers them, they are past their sell-by date and headed for write-off — a direct hit to gross margin that compounds across thousands of SKUs.
No lot traceability when a recall is triggered
When a supplier issues a recall or a quality issue surfaces, operations teams scramble to identify which batches are affected and where they were dispatched. Without lot-level tracking tied to specific GRNs and bin locations, recalls take days instead of minutes and expose the business to regulatory penalties.
FIFO and FEFO not enforced in picking and dispatch
Warehouse staff default to grabbing the most accessible pallet rather than the oldest or earliest-expiring stock. Over time, this creates pockets of aging inventory that expire in place while fresher stock ships out — a pattern that is invisible until a cycle count reveals the loss.
Manual tracking of batch and lot information
Spreadsheets and paper logs capture batch numbers inconsistently, if at all. When lot data is recorded manually and stored separately from the inventory system, it is unreliable for audits, disconnected from stock movements, and useless during time-sensitive recall events.
The Solution
How Crate helps food and beverage operations
Lot and batch capture during receiving
Every inbound shipment is recorded with lot number, batch identifier, and manufacturing date at the GRN level. This data is linked to the supplier, purchase order, and the specific bins where goods are stored, creating a traceable chain from dock to dispatch.
Expiry date tracking with shelf-life visibility
Expiry and best-before dates are captured per lot during receiving and tracked across every stock movement. Dashboards surface items approaching expiry so operations teams can prioritize dispatch, plan markdowns, or arrange returns before product becomes unsellable.
Zone types for quarantine, cold storage, and ambient
Define warehouse zones by storage condition — cold chain, ambient, dry, and quarantine. Incoming goods are directed to the correct zone based on item configuration, and zone-level rules prevent misplacement that could compromise product quality or food safety.
Inventory aging and shelf-life reports
Aging reports break down on-hand stock by days remaining to expiry across every warehouse and zone. Identify slow-moving lots, calculate waste exposure, and generate the data needed for FIFO/FEFO compliance audits without manual spreadsheet consolidation.
Low-stock and near-expiry alerts
Configurable alert thresholds notify procurement and warehouse teams when stock falls below reorder points or when lots are within a defined window of their expiry date. Alerts are triggered automatically, ensuring action happens before stockouts or write-offs.
Full audit trail for every stock movement
Every transaction — receiving, putaway, transfer, adjustment, and dispatch — is recorded with timestamps, user identity, lot reference, and before/after quantities. The immutable audit log supports regulatory inspections, internal audits, and supplier dispute resolution.
Workflow
How it works for your team
Receive inbound shipments with lot, batch, and expiry capture
When goods arrive, warehouse staff create a Goods Received Note against the purchase order. Each line item is recorded with its lot number, batch identifier, manufacturing date, and expiry date. Quantities are verified and any variances are flagged immediately.
Putaway into temperature-appropriate zones and bins
Received inventory is directed to the correct warehouse zone based on storage requirements — cold storage for chilled products, ambient for shelf-stable goods, quarantine for items pending quality inspection. Each unit is assigned to a specific bin for precise location tracking.
Monitor shelf life and act on aging alerts
Real-time dashboards display inventory positions with days-to-expiry for every lot. Near-expiry alerts notify operations teams to prioritize dispatch of aging stock, while low-stock alerts ensure replenishment orders are placed before critical items run out.
Pick and dispatch using FIFO/FEFO enforcement
When orders are fulfilled, the system directs picks to the oldest or earliest-expiring lots first. This enforces FIFO and FEFO compliance at the operational level, preventing newer stock from shipping ahead of inventory that is closer to its expiry window.
Trace any lot from supplier to dispatch in seconds
If a quality issue or recall arises, search by lot number or batch identifier to see the complete history — which supplier delivered it, when it was received, where it was stored, and whether it has been dispatched. Full traceability is available instantly, not after days of manual investigation.
Bring expiry control and batch traceability to your food operations
See how Crate helps food and beverage warehouses enforce FIFO/FEFO compliance, eliminate expired-stock waste, and maintain recall-ready traceability across every lot.