Labelling software that works with your kitchen management system
Most modern food businesses already have some digital compliance related set-up in their kitchens: a HACCP platform, digital opening and closing checks, an online training system. Adding labelling to that usually means adding another screen, another login and another thing for the team to remember.
There's a different way round it, and it's worth considering when you are looking at buying your first food labelling machine.
The problem with adding another system
A commercial kitchen has limited surfaces and limited patience. Every additional device on the pass is one more thing to charge, one more thing to lose, and one more interface a new starter has to learn.
More practically, systems that don't talk to each other risk creating duplicate work. The same product information gets maintained in two places, the same records get kept twice, and eventually one of them stops being accurate. It’s a natural consequence of two tools that cover overlapping ground with no tangible connection between their systems.
So the question when you're assessing labelling software isn't only what it does. It's how it sits alongside what you already run.
Partner apps on the same device
Labl.it takes the approach of putting other platforms on the device the kitchen is already holding, rather than building its own versions of them.
Apps currently available on the Labl.it device include Shield Safety's RiskProof, Food Alert's Alert65, Trail, Telsen, Paddl and Leafe - covering everything from digital HACCP, checklists, temperature monitoring, kitchen management and allergen controls between them. Ordering through Comax and mental health resources from The Burnt Chef Project are on there too.
In practice that means a chef finishing a prep run and moving on to opening checks can do both on the same device, in the same place, without going to find something else or having to pull out their own phone.
Data moves in some cases too. Expiry report data syncs automatically into Trail, so the record produced by labelling ends up in the platform where the rest of your compliance evidence lives.
Why this matters more at multiple sites
At one site, running two systems is an irritation, but it’s unlikely to have massively negative impacts or consequences. Across twelve, it becomes a visibility problem, and a real risk to compliance.
The head office trying to understand compliance across an estate needs the same picture from every venue. Consolidating onto fewer devices makes adoption more likely, and adoption is what makes reporting accurate and comparable.
The Labl.it back office handles the labelling side of that, with centralised products pushed to all sites or selected ones, permissions mapped to your structure, print logs, expiry logs and wastage reports that cover the estate and drill down to individual venues, all exportable as CSV. And our partners cover pretty much the rest.
If your platform isn't on the list
This is the part worth knowing if you're running something we don't currently work with - enterprise customers are invited to tell us which systems they'd want available on the device. Where there's a real operational case, we approach that provider directly and work to build the relationship. The partner list isn't fixed, and a platform we haven't integrated with yet is never a dead end, in our eyes, it’s just an opportunity for a new conversation.
Questions you should be asking any supplier
Does the labelling system work alongside our existing compliance platform, or replace part of it?
Does data move between them, and in which direction?
How many devices will end up on the pass?
Will our team have to maintain the same product information in two places?
Can we export labelling records into the system where we keep everything else?
What happens if we change compliance platforms later?
Frequently asked questions
Does Labl.it integrate with kitchen management software?
Partner apps run directly on the Labl.it device, including RiskProof, Alert65, Trail, Telsen, Paddl and Leafe. Expiry report data also syncs automatically into Trail.
Can we use one device for labelling and compliance checks?
Yes. That's the point of the partner apps, the team uses one device (the Labl.it food labelling machine) rather than several.
What if we use a platform that isn't a Labl.it partner?
Tell us. For enterprise customers we approach the provider directly and work towards integrating them, and we’re always open to exploring new partnerships with hospitality platforms across the industry.
Can we get labelling records out of the system?
Yes. Print logs, expiry logs and wastage reports export as CSV from the back office, per site or across an estate.
Do we have to replace our existing compliance platform?
No. Our approach is to run alongside what you already use rather than replace it. We do labelling, and we do it well.
See how it fits your setup
Whether a labelling system works alongside your existing tools is best answered in your own kitchen, with your own platforms running.
Labl.it comes with a 14-day free trial. If it doesn't fit your setup, return it in the prepaid box at no cost.
