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FRESH PRODUCE

Orders at 5am, on WhatsApp, in kilos and crates. Captured correctly before the truck leaves.

Restaurants, retailers and caterers send produce orders in shorthand, by WhatsApp and photo, before dawn. Weeva reads them, learns each customer's shorthand, prices them from the day's list and puts clean orders in your ERP before loading starts.

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Illustrative example: a fictional order built from Sea Pansy Bistro's WhatsApp messages.

What does order automation look like for fresh produce?

Order automation for a fresh produce supplier reads early-morning WhatsApp messages, photos and emails, turns shorthand such as "2 tom, 3 cuc" into catalogue lines in kilos, crates, punnets and bunches, prices each order from that day's list, merges late additions before cut-off, and posts clean orders to the ERP before the trucks are loaded.

How do orders arrive in fresh produce?

Shorthand orders by WhatsApp before dawn, priced from a list that changes daily.

  • WhatsApp messages
  • Photos of order books
  • Inline email
  • Excel standing orders

One order, start to finish.

Umhlanga Fresh Produce is a fictional produce wholesaler in Durban supplying restaurants and small retailers along the coast.

  1. 01 · Umhlanga Fresh Produce

    An order arrives at 05:12.

    Chef Zanele at Sea Pansy Bistro sends her order on WhatsApp at 05:12, in shorthand, then changes the tomatoes at 05:31.

    Illustrative example: a fictional WhatsApp order from Sea Pansy Bistro, as it arrived.
  2. 02 · Umhlanga Fresh Produce

    Weeva reads, matches and prices it.

    Shorthand is matched to your catalogue and the usual lettuce is remembered for this customer. The forwarded duplicate is held, the late strawberries are merged before cut-off, and every line is priced from today's list.

    Illustrative example: a fictional order built from Sea Pansy Bistro's WhatsApp messages.
  3. 03 · Umhlanga Fresh Produce

    The sales order is in Odoo by 05:52.

    Thandeka Mokoena marks it reviewed at 05:50 and it syncs to Odoo two minutes later, before the picking team starts.

    Illustrative example: an audit log of fictional users showing who changed what, and the value before and after.

Receiving in fresh produce.

Perishables arrive with weight variances and short-dated stock. Receivers need to record what actually came off the truck, by weight, at the bay, before it goes into the cold room.

Products and features for fresh produce.

  • WhatsApp Ordering

    Orders read straight out of WhatsApp, with amendments, duplicates and merging handled.Feature of Sales Order Automation

  • Sales Order Automation

    Customer orders in any format, posted to your ERP as clean sales orders.

  • Goods Receiving Automation

    Delivery notes photographed at the bay, matched to the PO, posted as a GRV.

Read the guideWhatsApp orders for fresh produce suppliers: capturing them correctly before the truck leaves

Integrations common in fresh produce.

Common questions in fresh produce.

Can Weeva read produce shorthand like "2 tom, 3 cuc"?

Yes. The first time a person on your order desk confirms what a customer's shorthand means, Weeva remembers it for that customer. From then on, "2 tom" from that chef resolves to the right product and pack without review, while the same words from a different customer are learned separately.

How does Weeva handle prices that change every day?

Price lists can be updated daily, and orders that arrive without prices are priced from the customer's current list. Price-less matching suits produce, where customers rarely know today's price. If a customer does type a price that differs from your list, it is flagged for review rather than overwritten.

What happens when a customer adds to an order after sending it?

Messages from the same customer inside your ordering window are merged into one order, so a late "and 5kg carrots" joins the order before cut-off rather than becoming a second delivery. A change such as "make that 3 crates not 2" updates the line and keeps the history.

Can it handle weights, crates, punnets and bunches?

Yes. Units of measure and pack sizes are calibrated to your catalogue per customer and per product. A customer who orders tomatoes in kilos and another who orders them in crates are both resolved to the unit you sell, and a quantity that does not fit the pack is flagged.

Does it help with receiving produce from farms?

Yes, through Goods Receiving Automation. The receiver photographs the farm's delivery note at the bay, Weeva matches it to your purchase order and names the differences, such as a short delivery or a weight variance, so the GRV records what actually arrived before the stock goes into the cold room.

See Weeva on your own orders.

Bring three of your own WhatsApp orders and we'll process them live.

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