If you run a food or beverage business, you already know: keeping inventory under control while staying compliant is a challenging task. You must watch perishables, track lots and expiry dates, be prepared for a recall, and still ship on time.
Katana Cloud Inventory is a popular choice for managing inventory, production planning, and providing real-time stock visibility. It supports manufacturing workflows and integrates with various tools, including accounting and e-commerce platforms. But Katana is not the only option.
In this guide, we examine six Katana alternatives designed to support food and beverage manufacturers with enhanced inventory control, traceability, and compliance requirements.
What Katana Cloud Inventory Does Well for the Food & Beverage Industry?
Katana is a manufacturing and inventory platform that provides manufacturers with a central hub to track their inventory, production, purchasing needs, and outgoing shipments.
Katana is easy to understand. The interface is clean, the workflows follow a logical path, and most users can get the basics without a lengthy onboarding process. If you’re looking for something that provides structure without feeling overwhelmed, Katana may be a good fit.
For food and beverage teams, here’s how Katana supports day-to-day operations:
Live inventory
- Shows up-to-date levels of ingredients and finished goods.
- Tracks what’s in stock, committed, or needed for production.
Manufacturing and recipes
- Supports bills of materials.
- Helps you plan and track production orders.
Batch and lot tracking
- Tracks batches for better control and basic traceability.
- Allows expiry date management for perishable items.
Sales and integrations
- Connects to e-commerce and marketplaces to sync orders.
- Integrates with accounting tools to reduce manual entry.
Where Katana fits
For many growing food manufacturers, this combination of real-time inventory, key features like production scheduling, and order management is enough to stay organized and avoid common mistakes, such as double-selling or losing track of batches.
Katana works best for businesses that want something structured but not heavy or complicated.
As companies expand, take on more audits, deal with allergens, or handle more complex production steps, they may eventually outgrow Katana’s lighter approach.
At that stage, teams often look for more food-specific features, deeper traceability, or a full ERP/QMS setup. But for small and early mid-size food operations, Katana can be a practical and approachable starting point.
Decision Checklist: What a Katana Alternative Must Handle for Food Brands
Before exploring alternatives, clarify what you actually need. Use this checklist to compare systems side by side.
1. Perishable inventory control
- Lot and expiry tracking for every item
- FIFO/FEFO support
- Alerts for items nearing expiry
- Insights to reduce waste
2. Food-grade production workflows
- Recipe and formula management
- Batch scaling and yield tracking
- Multi-stage production support
3. Traceability and recall readiness
- Forward and backward lot tracing
- Clear ingredient-to-customer visibility
- Fast recall reporting
- Easy mock recall testing
4. Compliance and food safety
- HACCP and Preventive Controls support
- Digital logs and checks for CCPs
- Supplier documentation and approvals
- Audit-ready records
5. Integrations
- Accounting systems
- E-commerce and marketplace platforms, plus broader integrations that support smooth data flow across systems
- 3PLs or logistics tools
- APIs for customization
6. Fit for your size and growth
- Clear target segment (small, mid, large)
- Ability to scale with more users, sites, or brands
7. Implementation and support
- Onboarding support
- Training and documentation
- Realistic setup timelines
- Transparent pricing
We can’t and won’t tell you what to choose, but this list can be helpful for you to compare the tools below.
Top 10 Katana Alternatives for Food & Beverage Manufacturers
Check out our list of Katana alternatives, learn why they are good alternatives, and discover who they best fit.
This guide is here to help you understand your options, but the right choice will ultimately depend on what works best for your business.
1. FoodReady – Inventory + Food Safety + Traceability in One Platform
What it is:
FoodReady is a platform designed specifically for food businesses that want reliable inventory management, streamlined workflows, and food-safety-focused automation without added complexity.
FoodReady was built around the realities of food production. You manage ingredients with limited shelf life, keeping accurate lot histories, documenting every step of a food safety plan, and preparing for audits without struggle.
The platform tracks ingredients, batches, and expiry dates while supporting everyday production workflows.
What sets FoodReady apart is the depth of its food safety tools: built-in HACCP and Preventive Controls planning, supplier compliance tracking, verification logs, traceability mapping, and recall execution.
Its AI features help teams draft and update food safety plans, structure documentation, and stay ahead of regulatory requirements with far less manual work.
By combining daily operations with compliance and quality oversight, FoodReady provides food companies of all sizes with the kind of structure and visibility they typically only achieve through multiple disconnected systems.
Why it works for food & beverage:
- It’s industry-specific: designed specifically for food and beverage manufacturers and co-packers
- Tracks inventory, batches, and expiry dates
- Templates and tools for HACCP, Preventive Controls, audits, and certifications
- Built-in traceability and recall workflows
Best for:
Food companies of all sizes needing operations, quality, and safety in one platform.
Pricing:
Quote-based; tailored to your size, number of sites, and required modules.
2. Wherefour – ERP and Traceability for Food & Beverage
What it is:
Wherefour is a cloud-based ERP for food, beverage, and other process manufacturers. The system covers lot and batch tracking, ingredient and finished good traceability, recipe/formula management, production scheduling, and cost tracking. It also integrates with accounting systems.
The tool supports multi-facility operations, so manufacturers can scale their operations and maintain visibility and audit readiness.
Why it works:
Wherefour fits food and beverage teams because it’s built around the way food production works. It features real-time lot tracking, expiry, and allergen management, and keeps all records audit-ready without extra manual work.
Production batches are easy to schedule and monitor, and the system tracks labor and ingredients as you go.
Inventory and costing tools support blended and lot-level costs, as well as automatic reorders and FIFO/FEFO practices.
As a result, you can manage perishable items more easily. Traceability is strong, with quick forward and backward lookups and the ability to link COAs and batch details to each shipment.
Best for:
Small to mid-size food manufacturers needing a food-specific ERP.
Pricing:
Subscription pricing provided via quote.
3. BatchMaster ERP – Process ERP for Complex Formulations
What it is
BatchMaster ERP is a process manufacturing system for formula-based industries, including food and beverage and nutraceuticals. The software goes deeper into formulation, batch processing, quality, and regulatory control.
It covers the full lifecycle of a product: recipe development, procurement, production planning, quality checks, compliance, warehousing, and costing. Batchmaster can run as a standalone ERP or as a process-manufacturing layer on top of existing financial systems you may have.
For example, SAP Business One, Microsoft Dynamics, Sage, and QuickBooks.
For food manufacturers, the solution supports detailed formulation, nutritional and allergen data, labeling rules, shelf-life management, and end-to-end lot traceability with recall tools.
This makes it a stronger fit than general inventory platforms when you deal with numerous recipes, strict label claims, and industry-specific regulations.
Why does it work as an alternative to a Katana?
Batchmaster handles complex recipes, versions, and batch scaling with tight control over ingredients and costs. It provides bi-directional lot traceability, recall support, and quality/QA workflows, which are very helpful for regulated food environments.
Batchmaster offers food-specific functions, such as nutritional and allergen management, labeling support, shelf-life rules, and compliance features (HACCP, CAPA, etc.)
Best for
Mid-size to larger manufacturers with complex recipes, multiple product lines, or private-label/contract manufacturing.
Pricing
Quote-based. Ask the software vendor for pricing.
4. Unleashed – Inventory-Led Manufacturing Platform
What it is
Unleashed is a cloud inventory and order-management system that also offers manufacturing features suited to product-based businesses.
It supports inventory across multiple locations, as well as purchase and sales orders, batch tracking, and serial tracking, and integrates with various accounting platforms.
It doesn’t offer every feature of a comprehensive ERP. Still, it provides many growing food brands with the tools to manage stock, production components, and cost visibility in a relatively straightforward manner.
Why it works as a Katana alternative:
Unleashed improves control over inventory flows, cost tracking, and batch/expiry handling. You can monitor stock across warehouses, handle multi-location orders, track lots and expiry dates, and connect directly with accounting systems. This way, inventory and financials always stay aligned.
For brands whose primary need is tighter inventory control, accurate costing, and fewer surprises in production, this makes the platform a practical step up from simpler tools.
Best for
Small to mid-size food and beverage brands where managing inventory accuracy, batch/expiry traceability, and order flows is more critical than full-scale manufacturing or heavy regulatory features.
Pricing
Tiered subscription plans based on the number of users, stock items, and required modules; publicly listed tiers, with additional cost for extra features and integrations.
5. Cin7 Core / Cin7 – Inventory Platform with Food Use Cases
What it is:
Cin7 is a cloud-based inventory platform that handles inventory management, purchasing, manufacturing, and multichannel order workflows. It’s built for brands that sell through multiple channels and need one system to track stock, manage orders, and coordinate manufacturing or assembly.
Why it works:
Cin7 supports batch and expiry tracking, which is essential for food and beverage brands that manage perishable stock. It also works well across different sales channels.
It means that if you’re shipping to retail stores, selling online, or supplying wholesalers, you can manage all those workflows in one platform. The software has strong integrations (e-commerce, 3PL, accounting), so brands can scale without needing separate systems for each channel.
Best for:
Small manufacturers, retailers, e-commerce, and wholesalers.
Pricing:
Paid plans start from $349 per month.
6. Fishbowl Inventory – Inventory and Manufacturing with Expiry Tracking
What it is:
Fishbowl is an inventory and manufacturing system that integrates closely with accounting tools, such as QuickBooks and Xero.
It adds manufacturing and inventory depth to basic accounting setups, bringing in batch tracking, manufacturing orders, warehouse control, and expiry alerts. These are the features many food and beverage businesses need when basic systems are no longer enough.
Why it works:
Fishbowl offers strong lot and expiry tracking with alerting, supporting better inventory control and warehouse visibility. It helps food businesses monitor perishable stock and avoid waste. Its warehouse and inventory capabilities provide visibility into raw materials and finished goods across locations.
Fishbowl provides the operational control layer that lightweight systems often lack. It’s helpful for manufacturers who already use QuickBooks or Xero and don’t want to switch to a new accounting system.
Best for:
Small to mid-size manufacturers staying on QuickBooks but needing deeper ops control.
Pricing:
License or subscription; pricing available upon request.
How To Choose the Alternative? Vendor Shortlist Method: A Simple 5-Step Framework
Choosing new software is a big decision, especially when your days are already full of tracking ingredients, handling paperwork, managing tight production windows, and staying ahead of compliance requirements.
What you want is a tool that reduces stress, automates manual tasks, and gives you confidence that nothing is missing. The goal is to find the one that actually supports the way your team works and makes your operations easier to manage.
We have some tips for you. Here’s a simple and grounded way to evaluate your options:
Step 1 — Focus on the challenges you want to fix
Start with the real problems slowing your team down. Maybe you lose time double-checking lot numbers, struggle with expiry dates, or rely on too many spreadsheets. Perhaps audits feel stressful, or production planning feels more reactive than organized.
When you know the exact issues you need to solve, it becomes much easier to spot which tools are truly aligned with your workflow.
Step 2 — Look at how the solution handles your everyday work
Instead of reviewing key features one by one, think about your daily routines. Ask each vendor to walk you through these tasks as your team actually performs them.
Pay attention to how intuitive the steps are, how much manual work is removed, and whether operators could realistically use it during a busy shift.
Step 3 — Ensure it supports where you’re headed.
Food businesses evolve quickly: new SKUs, new sales channels, certifications, and a second facility. Growth can add complexity fast. Select a system that can accommodate your next stage without requiring any further changes later.
Look for flexible inventory rules, strong traceability, and configuration options that won’t break as you scale.
Step 4 — Check whether information is easy to find and understand
Clear information matters more than fancy dashboards. You should be able to quickly answer questions like:
- What lots were used in this batch?
- When does this ingredient expire?
- Who received this product?
- What changed in this record and when?
Step 5 — Understand the full cost, not just the subscription
The monthly price can be the tip of the iceberg. Think about onboarding, training, and the time your team will invest in switching. Also check for add-on modules, integration fees, and whether you’ll still need a separate system for food safety or documentation.
The right tool should reduce your overall workload.
How to build a strong shortlist?
Pick the two or three systems that:
- Address your most important challenges
- Fit smoothly into your daily routines
- Feel intuitive for your team
- Have room to grow with your operations
- Offer predictable, transparent costs
Once you narrow it down, schedule demos that use your real-world scenarios, so you can see how each tool performs in situations you deal with every week.
Katana Alternatives at a Glance: Comparison Table
Use this table to compare the leading options.
| Software | Primary Focus | Notable Strengths | Pricing Approach | Best For |
FoodReady | Food safety + inventory + production | All-in-one AI-powered platform for inventory, production, HACCP, traceability, and audits | Quote-based | Small to large food manufacturers and co-packers |
| Wherefour | Food & beverage ERP | Strong traceability and batch costing | Subscription, quote-based | Small to mid-size food producers |
| BatchMaster ERP | Process ERP | Deep formulation, costing, and compliance | Quote-based | Mid-size to large manufacturers |
| Unleashed | Inventory-led operations | Strong costing and batch tracking | Tiered SaaS | Small to mid-size brands |
| Cin7 Core / Cin7 | Inventory + light manufacturing | Great for multi-channel brands | Published SaaS pricing | Small to mid-size multi-channel sellers |
| Fishbowl | Inventory + manufacturing | Strong expiry tracking and warehouse tools | Quote-based | SMBs staying on QuickBooks |
Katana Cloud Inventory is a robust platform for teams seeking cloud-based inventory management, basic manufacturing support, and accessible pricing. However, food and beverage operations have unique needs regarding compliance, audits, traceability, and maintaining consistent quality.
Additionally, your business is unique, and you may require a solution that better suits your specific needs. That’s why exploring alternatives makes sense, especially if you’re facing tighter requirements or expanding your operations.
We hope our guide will help you find and compare systems that could match your workflows and risk profile.
And if you want inventory, production, and food safety in one system, FoodReady offers a unified approach that helps teams stay audit-ready and compliant every day.
FAQs
You might have outgrown your current system if you’re relying on spreadsheets more and more, searching for batch details that should be easily accessible, or repeatedly fixing the same inventory issues.
Audits start feeling stressful, and everyone seems to keep their own version of the “truth” in separate tools. When your team spends more energy working around the system than actually running production, that’s usually the moment to explore other options.
It doesn’t have to. Most vendors structure onboarding around your production schedule. A phased rollout, early data cleanup, and running both systems briefly in parallel will reduce disruption. Clear communication with operators is crucial for a smooth transition.
General systems can work if your processes are simple. But food-specific platforms come with built-in support for expiry, allergens, traceability, HACCP tasks, and documentation. If compliance plays a significant role in your day-to-day operations, industry-specific software can be a better option.
Accounting and e-commerce integrations are typically the top priority. As you grow, integrations with 3PLs, lab systems, quality tools, or forecasting apps can also become important. Look for systems with strong native connections or an open API to avoid custom work in the future.
Think about onboarding, training, data migration, and integration setup. Also consider the time your team will save once you automate the processes. A system with a higher subscription fee may still be more cost-effective overall if it eliminates unnecessary tools or reduces the compliance workload.
Most vendors can import historical data, but the level of detail varies. Decide early how much history you need for compliance or internal reporting. Some teams migrate complete lot histories; others keep older records archived outside the system.
Look for responsive support, onboarding that includes real examples from your workflows, and a team familiar with food regulations. Good support accelerates adoption and prevents minor setup mistakes from escalating into larger operational issues.
