[Feature]: Ingredient Inventory Tracker

[WebDevUCC]

What is the feature?

It would be very useful to have ingredient-level inventory, not just menu item stock. For example:

• Define a list of “Ingredients” (bread, lettuce, cheese, tomato, etc.)
• When creating a menu item (e.g. a sandwich), specify how many of each ingredient are needed (e.g. 2 slices of bread, 1 piece of lettuce, 1 slice of cheese)
• When an order is placed for that menu item, automatically subtract the used ingredients from their respective stock totals
• Display low-stock alerts or prevent item from being ordered if ingredients are insufficient

Why this is useful / pain point:

• Prevents overselling based on raw materials, not just finished menu items
• Helps with food cost tracking, waste management, and purchasing
• Gives restaurants better operational control and forecasting

Proposed solution / implementation ideas:

1. Add a new backend model for Ingredient (name, current_stock, unit, etc.).
2. Add a “Recipe” relation on MenuItem that links ingredients + required quantity.
3. When an order is created/saved, hook into the order-complete event to deduct from Ingredient.current_stock for each linked recipe item.
4. Add admin UI to:
   • Manage ingredients (add, remove, set stock)
   • Map recipe to menu items (define which ingredients + quantities)
   • Report on ingredient usage / low stock

Backwards compatibility / opt-in:

• This could be optional (only enabled when a “recipe stock” mode is turned on)
• Existing “stock on menu item” logic remains for those who don’t need recipe-level tracking