Open Pantry vs SAAVI: which is right for your wholesale food business?
The short answer
SAAVI and Open Pantry are both Australian and both put the ordering app in the supplier’s name rather than in a shared marketplace. SAAVI is built around the ERP or accounting system you already run: its branded iOS and Android apps show customers live contract prices, stock, invoices and statements drawn from that system, with warehouse picking and a driver proof-of-delivery app sold as modules. Open Pantry is the operation itself — price lists, pick and pack, FEFO, delivery runs, invoicing, inventory and accounting sync — with AI order capture and published prices from $0 and $149 a month, where every paid SAAVI tier is quoted.
Choose Open Pantry if…
- You want the platform to hold the orders, price lists, stock, picking and invoicing itself and sync to Xero, MYOB or QuickBooks Online, rather than sit as an ordering front end on an ERP you are keeping.
- A share of your orders still arrives as emails, texts and WhatsApp messages. Open Pantry reads them into draft orders shown line by line beside the original message; SAAVI lists an "AI Engine" on its Enterprise plan but does not describe what it does.
- You want to see the price before a sales call: $0 to start and Pro from $149 a month with a 14-day trial, against "Get Quote" on every paid SAAVI tier.
- Lots and expiry with FEFO picking, catch-weight priced on the weight actually picked, and credits and returns matter to you, on the same system that took the order.
Choose SAAVI if…
- You run an ERP or accounting system you are keeping and want your customers’ app to read contract prices, stock, invoices and statements straight from it — SAAVI connects by direct SQL, REST API or file interface, scheduled or live.
- You want your own branded native apps without an enterprise plan. SAAVI includes branded mobile apps from its Standard tier; Open Pantry’s white-label app is on Enterprise.
- Your drivers need truck compliance checks, Bluetooth temperature readings, cash-receipt reconciliation and a product returns form in the proof-of-delivery app — all published SAAVI driver features.
- You want month-to-month billing with no contract and a month’s notice, which SAAVI states on its pricing page.
Open Pantry and SAAVI at a glance
Every SAAVI cell below is footnoted to a dated source at the foot of this page. Where a capability is not described on SAAVI’s own site we mark it partial and say so — that means we could not confirm it, not that it is missing.
| Capability | Open Pantry | SAAVI |
|---|---|---|
| Ordering channels for your customers | YesWeb and iOS/Android ordering, sales-rep ordering on behalf, standing and recurring orders. | YesCustomers order on your branded app at any time, with saved favourites and pantry lists, and sales reps can place digital orders on behalf of customers. Standing or recurring orders are not described publicly.[7] |
| AI order capture from messages and documents | YesEmail, PDF, photo, SMS, WhatsApp and voicemail orders read into a draft order at that customer’s own price list. Above a confidence threshold you set the order is placed automatically; below it, it is shown line by line beside the original message for your team to approve — anything the AI cannot confidently match, including an unknown customer, is flagged rather than guessed. Enterprise plan. | Partial"AI Engine" is listed as an Enterprise-plan inclusion, but no page describes what it does. Reading email, SMS or WhatsApp orders into draft orders is not stated publicly — confirm with vendor.[1] |
| Branded (white-label) ordering app under your own name | YesWhite-label ordering app and custom domain under your own name and app-store listing. You set the logo, colours, sending email address and App Store and Google Play links yourself from your account’s Integrations screen. Enterprise plan. | Yes"Your very own native IOS and Android app available for free for your customers to download from all major app stores", with your own logo and colour scheme, an optional branded web shop and branded push notifications. Whether the app-store listing sits under your own developer account is not stated publicly.[2] |
| Customer-specific pricing, price lists and promotions | YesUnlimited price lists, per-customer price exceptions, promotions and specials. Pro plan and above. | YesCustomers see "their unique contract pricing, monthly promotionals and customised price lists", with your accounting system data presented in real time.[3] |
| Digital pick and pack in the warehouse | YesPick & Pack warehouse app with pick slips, pick waves by storage zone, picker assignment, short picks and substitutions, and a picker productivity report — lines picked per hour by picker over 7, 14 or 30 days. Pro plan and above. | YesA Picking & Packing module with a warehouse digital picking app, barcode scanning, bulk pick reports, release to invoice, manifest management and a delivery run module — sold standalone or bundled with customer ordering.[1] |
| Delivery runs, routing and live ETAs | YesDelivery runs with driver navigation and live ETAs for the venue. | YesA Drivers POD app: drivers optimise the run route with integrated Google Maps, with live driver location and ETA, digital signatures, photos, item-by-item checking and damaged-in-transit handling, and vehicle inspection checks including truck temperature readings.[5] |
| Catch-weight and selling the same product by different units | YesThe same product sold by carton, tray, kilogram or each; catch-weight items priced on the weight picked. | PartialCustomers can order "by units / weight". Pricing a line on the weight actually picked is not described publicly — confirm with vendor.[7] |
| Lot, expiry and FEFO picking | YesLot and expiry tracking with FEFO picking. Pro plan and above. | Partial"Blockchain Traceability" is listed as an Enterprise-plan inclusion. Lot and expiry tracking and FEFO picking are not described publicly — confirm with vendor.[1] |
| Accounting and ERP sync | YesXero, MYOB and QuickBooks Online sync on Pro; ERP integrations on Enterprise. | YesThe centre of the product: "Supporting most industry leading accounting and ERP systems" through direct SQL, REST API and file-based interfaces, scheduled or live. The systems themselves are shown only as logos, so no named system could be verified from the text.[6] |
| Retailer EDI (Coles, Woolworths) | YesEDI order channel for structured retailer and distributor orders, alongside the messaging channels. | Partial"EDI Integration" is listed as an add-on, priced on quote. Which retailers or trading partners it connects to is not stated publicly.[1] |
| Invoicing and payments | YesAutomatic invoicing, credit notes and payment collection by card or bank direct debit on the customer’s terms, with credit limits, automatic credit stops and scheduled reminders for overdue accounts. | PartialOnline orders go "directly to your ERP / financial platform" and "all invoices and PODs are sent digitally upon delivery". Collecting payment on the customer’s invoice terms is not described publicly — confirm with vendor.[7] |
| Bank direct debit on invoice terms | YesBank direct debit on invoice terms — BECS in Australia, Bacs in the UK, SEPA in Europe — alongside card. A failed payment is retried at 1, 3, 7 and 14 days only when the decline reason makes a retry worthwhile; a stolen card is never retried. Credit limits can stop new orders or switch the customer to card-only instead of blocking them. | Partial"Credit Card Payments" is listed as a separately quoted add-on. Bank direct debit, retries and credit stops are not stated publicly — confirm with vendor.[1] |
| In-app messaging with your customers | YesA message thread on every order, visible to your team and the venue, plus push, SMS and email broadcasts to all customers, a segment, a tag or lapsed customers. | PartialBranded push notifications sent directly to customers’ phones, and customisable PDF specials flyers. A two-way conversation thread on each order is not described publicly.[2] |
| Courier booking from the order | YesBook a courier from the order through Starshipit — Australia Post, StarTrack, CouriersPlease, NZ Post, DHL and 40 more — with the label and tracking number kept on the order. | PartialThe published delivery module is for your own drivers and runs. Booking a third-party courier or parcel carrier from the order is not stated publicly — confirm with vendor.[5] |
| Customer and product tags on reports | YesCustomer and product tags you define, applied as a filter on every report tab and every broadcast audience. | PartialAnalytics reports are an add-on and device analytics reporting is an Enterprise inclusion; tagging is not described publicly — confirm with vendor.[1] |
| Inventory, purchasing and vendor invoice matching | YesStocktakes, lots and expiry, purchasing with automatic purchase orders and three-way vendor invoice matching. | PartialWith full ERP access, reps can check stock across all warehouses and when the earliest shipment will arrive. Stocktakes, purchase orders and vendor invoice matching are not described as SAAVI features — confirm with vendor.[4] |
| Marketplace and buyer discovery | NoNot a marketplace. Your catalogue, pricing and customer list are yours alone and no other supplier can see them. | NoNot a marketplace. Customers order through your own branded app and you keep the direct commercial relationship and the customer data.[7] |
| Published pricing | YesPublished plans: Free $0, Pro from $149/month, Enterprise custom. No percentage of order value. | PartialFour tiers are published by inclusion, but only Starter carries a price (free). Standard, Professional and Enterprise are "Get Quote", as are the picking and driver modules and every add-on. Billed monthly in advance, no contract, one month’s notice, no per-user fees; set-up cost varies with the accounting system.[1] |
| Free plan | YesFree plan at $0 with unlimited customers and unlimited purchase orders, no time limit. | YesStarter is free: 25 orders a month, unlimited customers, products and images, one-touch reordering, a SAAVI-branded web shop only, email and chat support only, no ERP integration and no native mobile apps.[1] |
| Support | YesAustralian-based support; priority on Pro, dedicated on Enterprise. | YesEmail and chat on Starter, 8×5 phone support on Standard, 8×7 on Professional and 24×7 on Enterprise.[1] |
| Markets served | Yes46 countries, each priced in its own currency — Australia and New Zealand first, then the UK and Ireland, the United States and Canada, most of Europe, Singapore, Hong Kong and South-East Asia, the UAE and South Africa — with Australian-based support. | YesAustralian, at 121 King St, Melbourne, and "pioneered mobile ordering automation since 2011". It describes itself as "the largest white-label ordering automation in Australia". Other countries served are not stated publicly.[8] |
Open Pantry capabilities are from our own published plans and feature pages. SAAVI capabilities are from its own published pages, read on 24 September 2026.
Everything Open Pantry runs
SAAVI’s published product is the customer-facing layer — branded apps, a web shop, a rep app, picking and a driver app — over the ERP where your prices, stock and invoices already live. This is everything Open Pantry runs itself, with the page behind each line, so you can see which of those systems it would replace and which it would sit beside.
Taking the order
- Customer ordering portal
- Your customers order on the web or the app, 24/7, at their own prices.
- Your own branded app
- Published as your listing on the App Store and Google Play, on your domain. Enterprise.
- AI order capture, with a review step
- Email, SMS and WhatsApp orders drafted, then shown line by line against the original message for a person to approve. Enterprise.
- Standing and recurring orders
- The weekly order that places itself, with the customer still able to change it.
- Sales-rep ordering on behalf
- Your reps place and edit orders as the customer, from anywhere.
- Product visibility per customer
- Who can see and buy which products, controlled per customer.
Pricing and catalogue
- Catalogue and pricing management
- One catalogue behind every channel, so a price is changed once.
- Customer-specific pricing
- Negotiated prices per customer, honoured everywhere including AI-captured orders.
- Price lists
- Unlimited lists and groups, with per-customer exceptions.
- Specials and promotions
- Time-boxed specials that expire on their own.
- Selling by carton, tray, kilo or each
- The same product sold in the units your customers actually order, catch-weight included.
- Bulk catalogue import
- Products, units, pack sizes and images loaded from a spreadsheet, not retyped.
The warehouse and the run
- Digital pick and pack
- Pick slips on a phone, with short picks and substitutions recorded as they happen. Pro.
- Lot, expiry and FEFO picking
- Oldest stock picked first, and traceable afterwards. Pro.
- Delivery runs and live ETAs
- Runs built, driver navigation, and an ETA the venue can see.
- Order status tracking
- Where every order is, without anyone phoning the warehouse to ask.
- Credits and returns
- A short delivery becomes a credit note instead of an argument.
Money and the back office
- Automatic invoicing and payments
- The invoice follows what was actually picked and delivered.
- Xero, MYOB and QuickBooks sync
- Invoices and credits land in the ledger without re-keying. Pro.
- Inventory
- Stock on hand, stocktakes, and what is committed to tomorrow.
- Purchasing and automatic POs
- Purchase orders raised from what has been sold and what is short.
- Vendor invoice matching
- What you ordered, what arrived and what you were billed, matched three ways.
- Margin and COGS analytics
- Margin by product and by customer, not just revenue.
- Customer CRM
- Who has stopped ordering, and what they used to buy.
- Dashboards and reporting
- The morning numbers on one screen.
Where each one is stronger
Neither product wins on every row, and a comparison that says otherwise is not worth reading.
Open Pantry is stronger at
- A free plan you can actually run a business on: unlimited customers and unlimited purchase orders with no time limit, against SAAVI’s free Starter at 25 orders a month on a SAAVI-branded web shop with no apps and no ERP connection — and published paid prices, where every paid SAAVI tier is a quote.
- AI order capture that is described, not just listed: email, SMS, WhatsApp, PDF, photo and voicemail orders read into drafts at that customer’s price list, placed automatically above a threshold you set and shown line by line beside the original message below it.
- The operation in one system. Inventory and stocktakes, purchasing with automatic POs, three-way vendor invoice matching, invoicing, credits and margin analytics all live in Open Pantry rather than in a separate ERP the ordering app reads from.
- Fresh-food specifics on the same system that took the order: lot and expiry with FEFO picking, catch-weight priced on what was actually picked, and credits and returns.
- Getting paid and getting parcels out: card or bank direct debit on the customer’s terms with retries and credit limits, and courier booking through Starshipit with the label and tracking kept on the order.
SAAVI is stronger at
- Branded native iOS and Android apps from the Standard tier, and a product that has done white-label ordering apps since 2011.
- Integration depth for a business keeping its ERP: direct SQL, REST API or file interfaces, scheduled or live, so customers see the contract prices, stock, invoices and statements that already live in your accounting system.
- Driver-app detail — truck compliance checks, Bluetooth temperature readings, cash-receipt reconciliation, a returns form and end-of-run reports — built for chilled and frozen delivery.
- Phone support on every paid tier, up to 24×7 on Enterprise, with no contract and a month’s notice to leave.
What each one costs
Open Pantry
Three published plans. Free is $0 with unlimited customers and unlimited purchase orders and no time limit. Pro starts at $149 per month, priced by monthly order volume, and adds accounting sync, inventory, invoicing, the Pick & Pack app and delivery runs — with a 14-day free trial and no credit card. Enterprise is custom-priced and adds the white-label app, ERP integrations and AI order capture from email, SMS and WhatsApp.
SAAVI
SAAVI publishes four customer-ordering tiers by inclusion but prices only the first. Starter is free: 25 orders a month, unlimited customers, products and images, a SAAVI-branded web shop only, email and chat support, no ERP integration and no native apps. Standard adds branded mobile apps, ERP integration, PDF invoices and 8×5 phone support; Professional adds live stock availability, complex customer pricing, push notifications, PDF statements and 8×7 support; Enterprise adds unlimited orders, outbound marketing, blockchain traceability, the AI Engine and 24×7 support — all three "Get Quote". The Picking & Packing and Delivery Driver POD modules, and add-ons for delivery tracking, credit card payments, the sales-rep module, barcode scanning, analytics and EDI, are also quoted. Billing is monthly in advance with no contract and a month’s notice, no per-user fees, and set-up costs that "vary based on how complex your accounting system" is.
Source: SAAVI — Pricing (Starter free plan, tier inclusions, picking and driver modules, add-ons, billing terms) · verified 24 September 2026
Switching from SAAVI to Open Pantry
What the move actually involves. We do not promise a timeline — it depends on the size of your catalogue and how quickly your customers move across.
- Import your catalogue. Products, units, pack sizes and images load in bulk from a spreadsheet rather than being retyped — see bulk product uploads and catalogue imports.
- Load your price lists. Customer groups, per-customer exceptions and promotions come across as data, so nobody is re-keying a price book.
- Invite your customers. Venues get a single-click invite to your ordering app; you can run both systems side by side while they move across.
- Keep the messy orders working from day one. Customers who email, text or WhatsApp their order can carry on doing exactly that — AI order capture turns those into draft orders for your team to confirm.
- Connect accounting last. Xero, MYOB or QuickBooks Online is a settings-screen connection once the orders and invoices look right.
Who uses Open Pantry
- Suppliers on Open Pantry
- 600+
- Venues ordering through it
- 5,000+
- Markets served
- AU & NZ
Open Pantry vs SAAVI — common questions
What is the difference between Open Pantry and SAAVI?
Both are Australian, both put the ordering app in your name, and neither is a marketplace. SAAVI is built as a customer-facing layer over the ERP or accounting system you already run: its apps show live contract prices, stock, invoices and statements from that system, with picking and a driver app sold as modules. Open Pantry holds the orders, price lists, stock, picking, delivery runs and invoicing itself and syncs to Xero, MYOB or QuickBooks Online, with AI order capture on Enterprise and published prices from $0.
How much does SAAVI cost for a wholesale food supplier?
Only the Starter plan has a published price, and it is free: 25 orders a month on a SAAVI-branded web shop, with no ERP integration and no native apps. Standard, Professional and Enterprise are all "Get Quote", as are the picking and driver modules and every add-on. SAAVI states billing is monthly in advance with no contract, a month’s notice and no per-user fees, and that set-up costs vary with your accounting system. Verified 24 September 2026.
Does SAAVI give my customers an app with my own branding on it?
Yes. From its Standard plan SAAVI offers your own native iOS and Android app with your logo and colour scheme, free for your customers to download from the app stores, plus a branded web shop and branded push notifications. Open Pantry offers a white-label app on your own App Store and Google Play listing and your own domain on its Enterprise plan. So SAAVI puts branded apps on a lower tier than we do, and that is a fair point in its favour.
Which platform reads orders sent by email, SMS or WhatsApp automatically?
Open Pantry does on its Enterprise plan: email, PDF, photo, SMS, WhatsApp and voicemail orders are read into draft orders at that customer’s own price list, placed automatically above a confidence threshold you set, and shown line by line beside the original message for your team to approve below it. SAAVI lists an "AI Engine" among its Enterprise inclusions but does not describe on its site what it does, so ask them directly whether it reads messages into orders.
Do I need to keep my ERP or accounting system with either platform?
With SAAVI, the ERP or accounting system is the foundation: prices, stock, invoices and statements come from it, and orders go back into it, connected by direct SQL, REST API or file interface. SAAVI does not name the systems it supports in text on its site, so check yours. Open Pantry runs the order, stock, picking and invoicing itself and syncs invoices and credits to Xero, MYOB or QuickBooks Online on Pro, with ERP integrations on Enterprise if you are keeping one.
Does SAAVI do warehouse picking and delivery runs like Open Pantry?
Yes, as modules. SAAVI publishes a Picking & Packing module with a digital picking app, barcode scanning and manifests, and a Drivers POD app with run assignment, route optimisation on Google Maps, live ETAs, signatures, photos, returns and temperature readings. Open Pantry includes the Pick & Pack app and delivery runs with driver navigation and live ETAs on Pro, alongside lot and expiry with FEFO picking, which SAAVI does not describe publicly.
Is there a free plan on Open Pantry or SAAVI?
Both have one, with different limits. SAAVI’s Starter is free for 25 orders a month on a SAAVI-branded web shop, with email and chat support, no ERP integration and no native apps. Open Pantry’s Free plan is $0 with unlimited customers and unlimited purchase orders and no time limit, and Pro has a 14-day free trial with no credit card.
Can my restaurant customers keep ordering the way they do now if I switch?
Yes. Venues can move to your ordering app when they are ready, and until then they can keep emailing, texting or messaging their orders exactly as they do today — those come in as draft orders your team confirms. Most suppliers run both for a period rather than asking every customer to change on one day.
How often is this comparison checked, and what do I do if something is wrong?
Every SAAVI claim on this page is taken from SAAVI’s own published pages on the verification date shown at the top, and the page is re-checked quarterly. Its integrations page shows supported systems as logos rather than text, so we have not named any. Anything marked "not stated publicly" means we could not confirm it from SAAVI’s site — treat it as a question for them, not a verdict. If you believe something here is wrong, tell us and we will correct it.
Sources
Every SAAVI claim on this page comes from one of these pages, read on 24 September 2026. Vendors change their products and their prices; if something here is out of date, tell us and we will fix it.
- SAAVI — Pricing (Starter free plan, tier inclusions, picking and driver modules, add-ons, billing terms) — https://www.saavi.com.au/pricing/ (accessed 24 September 2026)
- SAAVI — Features (custom branding, branded native apps, web shop, delivery tracking, push notifications, ERP) — https://www.saavi.com.au/features/ (accessed 24 September 2026)
- SAAVI — Customer ordering (pantry lists, contract pricing, order tracking, invoices and statements) — https://www.saavi.com.au/customer-ordering/ (accessed 24 September 2026)
- SAAVI — Sales rep ordering (order on behalf, stock across warehouses, margins) — https://www.saavi.com.au/sales-rep-ordering/ (accessed 24 September 2026)
- SAAVI — Drivers POD app (delivery management, route optimisation, live ETA, POD) — https://www.saavi.com.au/delivery-management/ (accessed 24 September 2026)
- SAAVI — ERP integrations (SQL, REST API and file interfaces; systems shown as logos) — https://www.saavi.com.au/integration/ (accessed 24 September 2026)
- SAAVI — Home (ordering by units or weight, digital invoices and PODs, direct customer relationship) — https://www.saavi.com.au/ (accessed 24 September 2026)
- SAAVI — About (Melbourne address, since 2011, white-label positioning) — https://www.saavi.com.au/about/ (accessed 24 September 2026)
- Open Pantry — Wholesale supplier pricing and plans — https://www.theopenpantry.com/suppliers/pricing (accessed 24 September 2026)
See Open Pantry running on your own catalogue
We will load your products and your customers and walk you through ordering, picking, delivery and invoicing on your own data — not a demo dataset.