Introduction

Tagrain hospitality, though available as a plugin, is more of an industry vertical. This vertical is targeted towards small cafes and restaurants who are selling food items like Burgers, Wraps, Sandwiches, Muffins, Pastries and beverages like coffee, tea and bottled drinks. 

These Cafes either sell prepackaged and already prepared food items or food items that can be further modified on customer’s request. For example the customer can ask for an extra slice of cheese in their burger OR can ask for an extra shot in the coffee OR can ask to remove ice cubes from the cold drink. 

This article discusses and explains Modifiers and Ingredients in detail. 

Overview

Before we jump into the topic Modifiers and Ingredients we need to understand Menu Items. 

In the context of Hospitality, menu Items are products that are sold on the POS. Modifiers are attached (optional) to Menu Items to further accentuate the product that they are buying. Extra Cheese, Extra Mayonnaise, No Pickles, etc. are good examples of a Modifier. Modifiers can also be marked as Ingredients in the Menu item for better inventory management and reporting, covered later in this article. 

Modifier type of products are characterized by the following features:

• Modifiers cannot be sold independently on the POS. 

• Modifiers can be considered to be as ingredients of a larger product (Menu Item - explained below). 

• Modifiers are products that can either be removed or added to an existing product (Menu Item) being sold on the POS. 

• Modifiers appear on the POS as a popup when a Menu Item is either selected directly OR is selected as part of a combo meal. 

• A modifier may have a base price. This further means that IF the base price = 0, the modifier will NOT be charged for. 

• A Modifier product is by default a non-stock product with an option to convert it into a stock managed product from the Advanced Settings accordion

Modifiers on the POS screen 

A “Modifier” would appear on the Point of Sale (POS) screen as a popup. This would happen in the following scenarios. 

• When a Menu Item is selected directly.

•  When a Menu Item is selected as a part of the “Combo Meal” See: Combo Meals

The screenshot below shows a “Modifier” popup for “Veggie Toastie” on the Point of Sale (POS) screen. 

The image above depicts 3 modifiers - Cheese, Guacamole, and Olives. There are 3 buttons against all the 3 modifiers - No, Standard and Extra. Let’s see what is the role of these buttons in a Modifier as to why they are even there.

The No Button enabled against an item signifies that it will not be added as a modifier, by default. As shown in the image above, Guacamole has No enabled against it. This means that if the Veg Toastie is selected with Guacamole set to No, it will not be  added as a modifier by default. It will however be allowed to be added as a standard portion or an extra portion. 

The Standard Button enabled against an item signifies that it will be added as a modifier, by default. As shown in the image above, Cheese has Standard enabled against it. This means that if the Veg Toastie is selected with Cheese set to Standard, it will be added as a modifier by default. In the example, NO is disabled signifying that Cheese cannot be removed. The Extra button that is enabled will allow an extra portion of Cheese to be added. 

The Extra Button enabled against an item signifies that it will be added as an Extra portion / quantity as defined under the Recipe Quantity header under the Modifiers and Ingredients accordion. As shown in the image above, Olives has Extra enabled against it. This means that if the Veg Toastie is selected with Olives set to Extra, an extra quantity of Olives, will be added as a modifier by default. 

Note: When you add an extra quantity of an item, there could be an extra price attached to it. That price would reflect on the Modifier popup screen. 

How are Modifiers configured in Tagrain Hospitality?

In this section we are going to give a brief overview of each and every setting under the Modifiers and Ingredients accordion.

Product:

This field displays the name and code of the Modifier.

Option:

This field is a drop-down menu which has 2 options : No and Standard. It controls which one of the 2 options will be highlighted on the Modifier Popup. 

Recipe Quantity: 

This field displays the quantity of the Modifier. It is this quantity that is reduced from the inventory when this modifier is selected in the popup menu. 

Treat as Ingredient:

When this is switched ON, it marks the modifier as an ingredient, making it as one of the base constituents of the Menu item.  You will not be able to sell the Menu item, if this modifier is out of stock. When this switch is enabled, the other 2 switches are automatically disabled. 

Extra Allowed:

When this is switched ON, it allows the cashier to add an Extra quantity of the modifier via the modifier popup menu. 

Can be Removed:

When this is switched ON, it allows the cashier to remove the modifier on the modifier popup menu.

Action:

This field contains the “Delete” button and allows you to delete a “Modifier” you no longer require in the configuration.  

How to mark  a “Modifier” as an “Ingredient” in Tagrain Hospitality?

As stated earlier in this article, a Modifier can be treated as an Ingredient in Tagrain Hospitality. This is generally done for better inventory management and reporting. In this section, we will see how you can mark a Modifier as an Ingredient.

Step 1. Navigate to Home >  Inventory > Product.  This will bring up the Product Master screen.

Step 2. Perform a Product search using the Product Code or Product Description In this example we will search for our Veggie Toastie  Menu item.

Step 3. Click on the edit symbol under the “Actions”  menu to bring up the “Edit Product” page, wherein you can define additional checks on a product. 

Step 4. Expand the “Modifiers and Ingredients” section. You will notice that the “Cheese” modifier is NOT marked as an “Ingredient” as of now. 

The “Modifier” popup menu looks something like the picture below:

Step 5. Toggle the switch “Treat as Ingredient” as shown in the picture below to mark the “Cheese Modifier” as an ingredient. 

Since you have now marked the “Cheese Modifier” as an ingredient it will make that “Modifier” as one of the base constituents of the “Menu Item”. What this means is that you cannot prepare and sell the menu item “Veggie Toastie” in this case,  WITHOUT the “Cheese Modifier”. It will also have an impact on the “Modifier” popup menu. It will now  look something like the picture below:

You might have noticed, the “Cheese Modifier” that was displayed earlier on the “Modifier” popup menu, is no longer there. 

Note: Marking a modifier as an ingredient affects stock levels and is explained later in the document.

When you mark a “Modifier” as an ingredient it will make that “Modifier” as one of the base constituents of the “Menu Item”. 

Modifier marked as an Ingredient affects stock levels

As stated earlier in the article, marking a modifier as an ingredient affects stock levels. Let’s try to understand how this works.

In our example, we have marked “Cheese” modifier as an “Ingredient”.  The other 2 modifiers that we are now left with are “Guacamole” and “Olives”.

Extra Allowed: [Guacamole]

Let's say, for the “Guacamole” modifier, we have configured Option = NO and Qty = 0.25. In this case when the Modifier popup menu opens, NO will be highlighted and you will have the choice to select either Standard or Extra. 

When you click “Standard” it will ‘tell’ the application to deduct One Portion of the modifier (0.25) from the inventory. 

When you click “Extra” it will ‘tell’ the application to deduct double the portion of the modifier to 0.25 X 2 = 0.5 from the inventory.

Treat as Ingredient: [Cheese]

In our example, we have marked “Cheese” modifier as an “Ingredient”.  A modifier that has been marked as an ingredient will become crucial to the menu item. The menu item “Veggie Toastie” CANNOT be prepared/served WITHOUT  this “Cheese” modifier. 

Since this modifier is so crucial, it can neither be allowed to be removed NOR an extra portion of the modifier be allowed. It is because of this that both the switches Extra Allowed and Can be removed are disabled. 

Note: If this modifier is stock controlled, it’s stock will be reduced by the quantity (mentioned in the Qty column) when this menu item is sold on the POS.

Suggested Readings

Different Type of Products in Tagrain Hospitality

How to Activate and Deactivate the Hospitality for Quick Serve and Fine Dining Plugin?

Additional Features in Hospitality for Quick Serve and Fine Dining Plugin