The work behind what you serve
From a first batch to
a busy everyday business.
For food you make, serve or sell—at home, in a café or restaurant, through catering, or as packaged products. Choose a decision below and go straight to useful work.
Make one decision clearer
Free Brass Charter tools and guides.
No account needed.
01 · Your next decision
Bring ingredients, packaging, time and selling fees into the same picture. Choose one consistent unit—an item, an order or a batch—before comparing prices.
For a batch, establish how many saleable portions it produces first. The pricing tool uses your cost and time assumptions; it does not calculate recipe yields.
Open the Cost & Pricing Explorer02 · Your next decision
Look at what you can use, what is already committed and what is arriving. Then connect replenishment to supplier quantities and payment dates.
Ingredients and packaging can have different lead times and order sizes. Record condition and expiry information where relevant; the stock planner does not determine food safety.
Open the Stock & Supplies Planner03 · Your next decision
Put preparation, packing and handover work alongside the time you have available. Look for the equipment or production space that could hold things up.
Use the delivery planner for tasks and total hours. It is not a kitchen scheduling system; check shared equipment and overlapping preparation windows separately.
Open the Customer Job & Delivery PlannerPeople & guidance
A podcast, a coaching service and a production directory each serve a different purpose. Choose by the question you need answered.
Free podcast · Independent learning
Forrager interviews cottage food entrepreneurs about their businesses and the work behind them.
Useful experience to learn from. Listening does not include individual advice or confirm what you may sell locally.
Explore the Forrager podcastCoaching · Confirm fees and terms
Restaurant Transformation Coaching supports independent restaurant owners with operating decisions, individual sessions and group work.
Check who would work with you, what is included and the current cost. The provider describes sessions with David Scott Peters or a senior coach.
Explore Restaurant Transformation CoachingFree directory · Facility fees separate
Cornell’s directory lists commercial kitchens and co-packers by state. A co-packer makes and packages food for other businesses.
Contact facilities about capabilities, capacity and fees. Cornell does not endorse the listed companies or maintain their prices.
Explore Cornell’s kitchen directoryDescribe your situation and what you need to understand before contacting someone.
Follow the work
Packaged goods also bring stock and supplier decisions. Catering also involves scope and customer commitments. Explore those connections when they are useful.
Retail & products Client & appointment servicesBrass Charter’s existing guides and tools were matched to the decisions they support. These are general-purpose tools, with food context added here; they remain the same resources throughout the site.
The outside resources serve three distinct needs: learning from home food businesses, applying restaurant operating changes, and finding production facilities. Their descriptions were checked against the providers’ own pages on 5 October 2026.
Visit the People & guidance record for fit, access and source details before choosing an offering.