The Products view in Food & Supplements is where you manage your organization's catalog of food and supplement items. Think of it as your pantry ledger; every bag of kibble, can of wet food, bottle of joint supplement, or pack of probiotics lives here.
The Products Table
When you open Food & Supplements from the main menu, you land on the Products view by default. The table shows one row per product with the following columns:
- Name: The product name and brand (brand appears below the name in smaller text).
- Nutrition: A quick summary showing calories and protein per serving, plus any tagged allergens flagged with a warning icon.
- Type: A badge showing whether the item is a Food or Supplement.
- Stock: The current stock quantity with the purchase unit (for example, "12 bags"), plus + and - buttons for quick adjustments. A warning icon appears if stock is at or below the minimum level.
- Cost: The cost per purchase unit (for example, "$24.99/bag").
- Actions: A menu with Edit and Delete options.
You can click any row to open the edit form for that product.
Filtering and Sorting
Above the table you'll find a search bar and a type filter. The type filter lets you show All items, Food only, or Supplements only. You can sort by clicking any column header; the table supports sorting by name, type, stock level, and cost.
Adding a Product
Click Add Item in the top right corner. A dialog opens with four tabs.
Basic Info Tab
- Type (required): Choose Food or Supplement. This determines how the item appears throughout the app (with a beef icon for food or a pill icon for supplements).
- Name (required): A clear, descriptive name. Include the brand and size if it helps distinguish products (for example, "Blue Buffalo Life Protection 30lb").
- Brand: The manufacturer or brand name. This appears as secondary text in tables and cards.
- Purchase Unit: How you buy and count this item in stock. Choose from: Cup, Ounce, Pound, Gram, Kilogram, Milliliter, Liter, Tablet, Capsule, Drop, Scoop, Piece, Can, Pouch, Bottle, Bag, Teaspoon, or Tablespoon.
- Description: Anything helpful about the product: what it's for, which pets it's suited to, flavor notes, etc.
- Instructions: Feeding or dosage instructions, such as "Mix with wet food" or "Give on an empty stomach."
- Product Link: A URL to the product on a retailer's website, useful for reordering.
Nutrition Tab
- Default Serving Size: The standard amount given in one serving (for example, 1.5 cups).
- Serving Unit: The unit for that serving size, chosen from the same list as purchase unit.
- Serving Guidelines by Pet Size: Optional fields for extra-small, small, medium, large, and extra-large pets. If the product manufacturer provides weight-based feeding guidelines, record them here. These values appear as suggestions when you assign the product to a pet.
- Calories per Serving: The caloric content of one default serving. This is used to calculate estimated daily calorie intake on the Pets view.
- Protein (g), Fat (g), Carbohydrates (g), Fiber (g): Macronutrient breakdown per serving.
- Common Allergens: Click to toggle allergens present in the product. Available allergens are Chicken, Beef, Dairy, Eggs, Fish, Lamb, Pork, Wheat, Corn, Soy, and Rice. If a pet has a known allergy that overlaps with a tagged allergen, the system flags the conflict.
Inventory Tab
- Cost per Unit: What you pay for one purchase unit (for example, $24.99 per bag)
- Current Stock: How many purchase units you have on hand right now
- Servings per Purchase: How many servings come in one purchase unit (for example, a 30lb bag might contain 120 cups). This is used to calculate daily cost and to estimate when you'll run out
- Min Stock Level: Set this to receive low-stock alerts when current stock drops to or below this number
- Max Stock Level: Optional upper bound for reference (for example, how much storage you have)
- Expiration Date: Track when the product expires
A tip section at the bottom of this tab reminds you that setting a minimum stock level enables alerts and that current stock decreases automatically when you mark feedings as complete on the Pets view.
Vendor Tab
- Vendor Name: The supplier or store you purchase from
- Vendor Contact: Phone number, email, or account rep name
- Vendor Website: URL for the vendor's site or your account page
- Additional Notes: Any other purchasing details (account numbers, order minimums, delivery schedules)
Stock Alerts
When any product's stock is low, alert banners appear above the table. There are two severity levels:
Critical alerts (orange with a warning icon) appear when any of the following are true: current stock is zero, the estimated days until stock runs out is one day or less, or stock is at or below the minimum level with three or fewer days of supply left. Each alert line shows: the product name and brand, current stock with units, the minimum level for reference, an estimated time remaining (for example, "~3 days left"), and the calculated daily usage rate.
Low-stock warnings (yellow with a clock icon) appear when stock is below the minimum level (but not yet critical), or estimated days until depletion is between two and seven days. They display the same detail as critical alerts.
The daily usage and days-until-out estimates are calculated automatically based on active feeding schedules across all pets assigned to that product. If no pets are on a schedule for a given product, usage data won't be available and only the stock-vs-minimum comparison is used.
Quick Stock Adjustments
Each row in the table has small + and - buttons next to the stock value. Click + to add one unit to stock (e.g., when a delivery arrives) or - to remove one unit. The change saves immediately.
Stock also adjusts automatically when you mark a feeding as complete on the Pets view. The system calculates the fraction of a purchase unit consumed per feeding based on the serving amount and servings-per-purchase ratio, then decrements stock accordingly.
Editing a Product
Click a row in the table, or use the actions menu and choose Edit. The same four-tab form opens, pre-filled with the product's current data. Make your changes and click Update Item to save.
Deleting a Product
Use the actions menu on any row and choose Delete. A confirmation dialog will ask you to confirm before the product is permanently removed. Deleting a product also removes any feeding schedules that reference it.
Practical Tips
- Name products specifically enough that anyone on your team can identify them at a glance. "Purina Pro Plan Sensitive Skin & Stomach 30lb" is more useful than "Dog Food."
- Fill in the Nutrition tab even if you only enter calories. It unlocks the daily calorie estimates on the Pets view, which is valuable for managing pet weight.
- Set min stock levels on the items you go through fastest. A good rule of thumb is to set it to about one week's worth of supply so you have time to reorder.
- Use the Vendor tab to keep purchasing details in one place. When it's time to reorder, everything you need is right there.
- Review expiration dates periodically and rotate stock as needed.
Next, learn how to assign products to individual pets in Pet Feeding Schedules.