Spreadsheets are the go-to solution for most hospitality businesses tracking packaging. They're free, familiar, and seem flexible. But spreadsheets come with hidden costs in time, accuracy, and lost money.
Here are the 5 most common mistakes that keep businesses from getting proper control over their packaging:
Mistake 1: Multiple versions floating around
One person creates a spreadsheet. Another person makes a copy with their own updates. Within weeks, you have 3 different versions — none of them correct. Staff email columns back and forth. Changes get overwritten. The total inventory is unclear.
Who has the real numbers? Nobody knows.
Mistake 2: Manual entry is slow and forgettable
A delivery arrives. Someone should record it in the spreadsheet. But the kitchen is busy, the staff member forgets, and the entry happens at the end of the week — if at all. By then, the numbers don't match what was actually delivered.
The result: your spreadsheet looks organized, but the data is off by weeks.
Mistake 3: No way to verify returns
Empty kegs and crates go back with the next delivery. But there's no system to confirm: did the supplier actually receive what we sent back? Are the counts correct?
With a spreadsheet, you have no audit trail. Discrepancies can't be traced.
Mistake 4: Nobody trusts the numbers
Because the data is incomplete and unreliable, staff stop consulting the spreadsheet. Decisions get made on gut feeling instead. You might hold back stock unnecessarily, or accidentally short a supplier.
The spreadsheet exists, but it's ignored.
Mistake 5: Comparisons and analytics are impossible
With spreadsheets, you can't easily answer simple questions: Which supplier causes the most loss? What's our monthly trend? Are certain locations worse than others?
Answering these requires manually creating new sheets, copying data, and hoping the formulas are right. Most businesses never bother.
A better way
A dedicated packaging app fixes all five problems. Every staff member registers packaging in real-time with one tap. The data is centralized and always up-to-date. Returns are tracked with verification. Analytics are automatic.
No spreadsheet updates. No confusion about which version is current. No lost visibility.
The cost difference? A spreadsheet is "free" but costs hours every week in maintenance and lost accuracy. A proper system costs a few euros per month and saves multiples of that in recovered packaging and time.