Open Pantry
Get a DemoStart Free Trial
Open Pantry
Get a DemoStart Free Trial
ADVANCED STOCK CONTROLNEW

Quality Hold & Supplier Claims: Bad Stock Stops Before It Ships

Open Pantry’s advanced stock control lets a food wholesaler put suspect stock on quality hold so it can’t be sold or picked, raise claims against vendors for damaged or short deliveries, make sure every customer gets the shelf life they asked for, and confirm suggested purchase orders worked out from real sales — all on the same stock record as your orders.

  • Held stock is left out of availability, picking and orders until you release it
  • Damaged, short or warm deliveries become a supplier claim emailed to the vendor
  • Minimum shelf life checked at the pick, and suggested POs you confirm before they send
Start Your Free TrialGet a Demo

★★★★★  Trusted by 600+ suppliers

Open Pantry inventory overview with stock on quality hold excluded from available, beside a supplier claim for damaged cartons sent to the vendor
Recommended by:M&J ChickensFood & Drink BusinessFoodService REPGoogle ★★★★★
Built for food & beverage wholesalersMeatSeafoodProduceDairySmallgoodsBakeryBeverages

The stock problems that cost money happen quietly

A warm delivery gets put away, then picked and shipped before anyone checks it

Damaged and short cartons are written off because chasing the vendor takes too long

A customer asked for five days of life and got three — and now wants a credit

Reordering from memory and a spreadsheet, so you run out of the fast lines and overstock the slow ones

How Advanced Stock Control Works

1

Receive and check

Record damaged cartons, variances, photos and probe temperature as you receive a purchase order.

2

Hold what needs holding

A failed temperature puts the stock on quality hold. Hold anything else by hand — a lot, cartons or a product.

3

Claim it back

Discrepancies become a supplier claim you send to the vendor, then mark credited or rejected.

4

Pick and buy with the rules on

Pickers only get lots that meet each customer’s shelf life, and suggested POs tell you what to reorder.

Start Your Free Trial

Free trial · Cancel anytime

Quality hold that the whole system respects

Put a lot, a set of cartons or a product on hold with a reason — failed temperature, awaiting a test result, damage, a recall. Held stock stays on hand but is left out of available stock, FEFO picking, carts, transfers and scans until you release it, write it off or return it to the vendor.

  • On-quality-hold column and KPI tile
  • Full hold history on the product
Open Pantry quality hold on a lot of chicken thigh fillet held for failed goods-in temperature, with release, write-off and return-to-vendor actions

Receiving discrepancies become supplier claims

When you receive a purchase order, record damaged and short quantities with a reason and a photo, plus the probe temperature. Anything to claim becomes a numbered supplier claim you can send to the vendor by email, then mark credited, rejected or reopened — so nothing is quietly written off.

  • Probe over the limit puts stock on hold
  • Claims listed with an open count
Open Pantry receiving a poultry purchase order with damaged and short lines, a probe temperature over the limit and supplier claim SC-1024

Every customer gets the shelf life they asked for

Set a minimum shelf life per customer, with product overrides. When the picker reaches that line, Open Pantry offers the oldest lot that still meets the rule and skips the ones that don’t. If none does, a supervisor PIN overrides it or the line is shorted — and the office sees it on the order.

Open Pantry picker screen skipping a lamb mince lot with three days left and picking a lot with eight days left to meet a five-day minimum shelf life

Suggested purchase orders, waste reasons and the reports to match

Suggested POs work out what to reorder from sales, stock and what’s already on order, grouped by vendor with a confidence level and a Why? breakdown. Edit the quantities, confirm, and one PO per vendor is emailed with a PDF. Write-offs carry a reason, and the reports pack covers ageing, slow stock, turns, fill rate and vendor performance.

  • Nothing is created or sent until you confirm
  • Price history and future-dated prices
Open Pantry suggested purchase orders grouped by vendor with confidence levels and a create-and-send confirmation
More product lines purchased
24%
Your always-on branded store and app put your full range in front of customers, so baskets grow.
Less order-processing cost
95%
AI order capture and auto-invoicing remove the manual keying between order and books.
Fewer picking errors
80%
Tablet pick & pack with FEFO lot and expiry tracking catches shorts and wrong items before they ship.

Real gains suppliers report after moving ordering, fulfilment and invoicing onto Open Pantry.

Stock Control That Reaches Every Screen

Digital Pick & PackPurchasing & POsLot Tracking & FEFO
M&J Chickens

Trusted by M&J Chickens

$175m+
Annual turnover

M&J Chickens use Open Pantry to move ordering out of calls and messages and into one digital workflow — giving customers a smooth ordering experience and giving the team fewer errors and less admin.

Alex Ortiz — Head of Sales

“Moving to a digital process has transformed our ordering process which is now faster through our own mobile apps.”

Alex Ortiz — Head of Sales
Alex Ortiz — Head of Sales
M&J Chickens
Get a DemoSee how their setup works →

Why not manage it with a clipboard and email?

A note on the coolroom door doesn’t stop a picker taking held stock, and an email to a vendor about damaged cartons is easy to lose. Stock control on paper relies on everyone remembering. In Open Pantry the hold, the claim and the shelf-life rule are on the stock itself, so the system won’t sell, pick or ship what it shouldn’t.

Clipboard and email versus Open Pantry advanced stock control — held stock, supplier claims, shelf life at the pick and suggested purchase orders

Open Pantry for food suppliers in the United Kingdom

UK food and beverage wholesalers use Open Pantry to take orders from restaurants, cafés and venues online, with every order flowing to picking, invoicing and accounting.

Plans priced in
GBP — see UK pricing
Accounting sync
Xero, Sage and QuickBooks Online
Can UK food suppliers use Open Pantry?

Yes. Wholesalers and distributors in the United Kingdom use Open Pantry to take orders from restaurants, cafés and venues through their own branded ordering app and online store. Plans are priced in GBP, and orders and invoices sync with Xero, Sage and QuickBooks Online.

Is there a free plan for suppliers in the United Kingdom?

Yes. The free plan lets you list products and receive unlimited orders. Paid plans add accounting, inventory and delivery tools, come with a free trial and are priced in GBP.

Questions Suppliers Ask About Quality Hold & Supplier Claims

What does a quality hold do?＋
A quality hold marks stock as not for sale while it stays on hand. Held stock is left out of available stock, FEFO picking, carts and oversell checks, picking waves, carton and pallet scans, load-out and transfers. Available becomes on hand less held and allocated stock. A hold is a status, not a stock movement.
What can I put on hold?＋
A whole lot, specific cartons or pallets, or a quantity of a product that isn’t lot-tracked. Each hold has a reason — such as failed goods-in temperature, awaiting a test result, damage, expiry or a recall — and an optional note. You can hold a whole lot straight from the trace screen.
How is held stock released or disposed of?＋
From the Quality hold tab you can release it back to available, write it off with a waste reason, or return it to the vendor (optionally raising a supplier claim). Every step is kept in the product’s hold history.
Can a delivery that arrives warm go on hold automatically?＋
Yes. When you record a probe temperature while receiving a purchase order and it is over your limit, that stock goes on quality hold as it’s received, so it can’t be picked until someone has looked at it.
How do supplier claims work?＋
While receiving, record damaged quantities, variances, a reason and a photo for each line. Lines to claim become a numbered supplier claim (SC-####). Send it to the vendor by email from Purchase orders → Supplier claims, then mark it credited, rejected or reopened, and add notes as it progresses.
Why do write-offs need a reason?＋
Because the waste report is only useful if every write-off is labelled. A reason is required on every write-off path — damage, expiry, shrinkage and so on — and expired lots written off by the system are tagged automatically. You can add your own reasons or switch ones off in settings.
How does minimum shelf life work?＋
Set a minimum number of days of life on delivery for a customer, with overrides for particular products and a default on the product. The picker is offered the oldest lot that still meets the rule. If no lot does, a supervisor can override with their PIN or the line is shorted, and the office sees a “can’t meet shelf life” flag on the order.
Do suggested purchase orders send themselves?＋
No. Suggested POs show what to reorder for each vendor, with editable quantities, a confidence level and a Why? explanation from sales, stock and what’s on order. Nothing is created or sent until you confirm. Then one PO per vendor is created and emailed with a PDF attached.
What is in the reports pack?＋
Stock ageing, dead and slow stock (with promote and write-off actions), turns and cover, fill rate, vendor performance and — when carcass breakdown is on — yield by cut. Each report exports to CSV and has a print view.
Can I schedule a price change for a future date?＋
Yes. Each product has a price history with a chart, cost history and customer margins. When a cost goes up you’ll see an alert to review the customers affected, and you can add a future price that applies itself on the date you choose.
Which plan includes advanced stock control?＋
Advanced stock control is part of the Enterprise plan. Switch it on under Inventory → Settings → Warehouse features and choose which parts you want — quality hold, waste reasons and receiving discrepancies are on by default; shelf life, suggested POs and the reports pack are extras. See the pricing page or book a demo.

Works Even Better With

Lot Tracking, Expiry & FEFO

Lots and use-by dates that holds, shelf-life rules and recalls are built on.

Explore →

Purchasing & Auto-POs

Purchase orders, receiving and vendor management in one place.

Explore →

Vendor Invoice Matching

Match vendor bills against what you ordered and received before you pay.

Explore →

Stop Bad Stock Before It Reaches a Customer.

Join 600+ Australian suppliers running their ordering, fulfilment and invoicing on Open Pantry.

Start Your Free TrialGet a Demo

Setup done for you · Cancel anytime · Your data stays yours

See plans & pricing