# Best Menu Engineering Software for EPOS Now UK (2026)

> Jelly integrates natively with EPOS Now to deliver real-time GP margins, automated invoice scanning & price alerts. See live margins in 5 minutes.

**Published:** 2026-03-03 | **Updated:** 2026-10-29 | **Author:** AI SEO Agent
**URL:** https://www.getjelly.co.uk/blog/best-menu-engineering-eposnow-uk/
**Type:** post

**Categories:** Food cost and GP

![Best Menu Engineering Software for EPOS Now UK (2026)](https://www.getjelly.co.uk/blog/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/1772393307940-d176310535b3-1024x572.jpeg)

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## Content

*Written by: JJ Tan, Founder, Jelly | Last updated: 22 June 2026*

## Key Takeaways for EPOS Now Operators

- Menu engineering software links live ingredient costs to EPOS Now sales data, delivering real-time gross-profit margins without spreadsheets.
- UK food inflation of 3.7–5.5% in 2026 makes automated margin tracking essential for protecting restaurant profitability.
- Jelly provides native EPOS Now integration, automated invoice scanning and instant price alerts in a single UK-focused platform.
- Operators using Jelly typically see a 2-percentage-point GP lift, 3% food-cost reduction and 90% less bookkeeping time within three months.
- [Connect your EPOS Now account and see your live margins in the first five minutes.](https://www.getjelly.co.uk/chat?utm_term=best-menu-engineering-eposnow-uk&utm_campaign=ai_growth_agent)

## Five-minute EPOS Now setup with Jelly

Jelly connects to EPOS Now through a real-time API that pulls item-level sales data the moment a transaction completes. [EPOS Now’s integration hub connects to over 80 apps](https://wise.com/gb/blog/best-pos-systems-for-restaurants), and Jelly sits natively within that ecosystem. Setup follows five clear steps:

1. **Open Jelly** and navigate to the Integrations tab.
2. **Click EPOS Now** and sign in to your EPOS Now account.
3. **Grant permissions** so Jelly can read item-level transaction data.
4. **Select categories**, such as food, beverages or both, to sync into Jelly.
5. **Map POS items to Jelly dishes.** Only items sold since the integration connected appear in the mapping queue, which keeps the list clean and free of legacy menu clutter.

Jelly processes all discount and refund calculations at the individual line level, so margin data remains accurate and clean regardless of transaction complexity. The common friction point, lacking admin access to the EPOS Now account, is flagged by Jelly upfront, before setup begins.

Once the integration is live, Jelly’s real-time data pipeline powers the margin and price-alert benefits that follow.

## Real-time gross-profit and price-alert benefits for owners and chefs

Manual spreadsheets, delayed accountant reports and supplier price creep are the three margin killers most EPOS Now operators describe. Jelly removes all three through automation:

- **Live GP margins.** Ingredient costs update with every scanned invoice, so the gross-profit margin for every dish stays current. A red percentage flags a margin drop, and green confirms improvement. Jelly customers see GP increase by an average of 2 percentage points within the first three months.
- **Price Alert.** Every supplier price increase or decrease is flagged instantly by ingredient, by supplier and by amount. Chefs receive hard data to negotiate credits or switch suppliers before the damage compounds. Jelly users cut food costs by 3% on average in the first three months.
- **Flash Report.** A daily, weekly or monthly GP view calculated from invoice costs and EPOS Now sales data replaces the monthly accountant report with a live dashboard. Jelly delivers a 90% reduction in bookkeeping time.
- **Automated invoice scanning.** Invoices arrive by email or photo. Jelly digitises every line item, including quantity, SKU, price and tax, with no manual entry. Operators save 10–20 hours of admin per month.

[Menu engineering is one of the most powerful margin levers operators control when designed intentionally](https://revenuemanage.com/blog/5-ways-to-increase-restaurant-traffic-and-profits), and operators who build cloud-native, fully integrated platforms gain real-time intelligence that helps manage costs and deliver stronger guest experiences amid ongoing margin pressure.

## Jelly vs Apicbase, MarketMan and Otter comparison

The table below compares Jelly against three alternatives on the four criteria most cited by UK EPOS Now operators: UK hospitality fit, EPOS Now integration depth, onboarding time and pricing transparency. All data points are drawn from publicly available information as of June 2026.

| Criterion | Jelly | Apicbase | MarketMan | Otter |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| **UK hospitality fit** | Built for UK restaurants, pubs and boutique hotels, £129/site/month flat fee in GBP | Enterprise-focused, targets large multi-site groups and hotel chains globally | US-headquartered, UK operators report pricing in USD and support timezone gaps | Primarily a delivery aggregator management tool, limited back-of-house costing |
| **EPOS Now integration depth** | Native real-time API, item-level sales with line-level discount and refund handling | As of June 2026 Apicbase has a publicly listed native EPOS Now integration | No publicly listed native EPOS Now integration as of June 2026 | As of June 2026 Otter has a publicly listed native EPOS Now integration |
| **Onboarding time** | POS live in 5 minutes, initial value within first week | Implementation typically measured in weeks, dedicated onboarding team required | Setup typically takes several weeks including menu build and training | Account setup measured in days, dependent on delivery platform connections |
| **Pricing transparency** | £129/site/month flat rate, no per-user or per-feature charges | Custom enterprise pricing, not publicly listed | Tiered subscription, pricing not publicly listed for UK market | Commission or subscription model, varies by delivery channel volume |

Otter’s core function, aggregating delivery orders, is not directly comparable to Jelly’s recipe costing and GP margin engine. The table entry reflects Otter’s back-of-house costing capability only.

## Onboarding speed and simple flat-rate pricing

Jelly is built to generate value in the first week, not the first quarter. The EPOS Now POS connection takes approximately five minutes. Within 24 hours of photographing or emailing the first invoices into Jelly, Price Alert and spending insights are live. Within one week, dish costs are mapped, GP margins are visible and the Flash Report is running.

Pricing remains a single flat rate of **£129 per site per month**. There are no per-user charges, no feature tiers and no variable fees tied to revenue or transaction volume. To put that in context, for a £500k-revenue site saving 3% on food costs, the monthly saving comfortably exceeds the subscription cost within the first quarter.

[**Get a custom walkthrough built around your site count and current EPOS Now setup.**](https://www.getjelly.co.uk/chat?utm_term=best-menu-engineering-eposnow-uk&utm_campaign=ai_growth_agent)

## UK operator success stories showing measurable GP lift

1. **Amber, East London.** Mediterranean restaurant run by Chef-Owner Murat Kilic. Volatile supplier pricing and manual invoice work were eroding margins before Jelly. After implementing invoice automation, Price Alert and real-time recipe costing, Amber now saves £3,000–£4,000 per month, approximately 68× ROI. “Jelly keeps my business alive.” (Murat Kilic, Chef-Owner, Amber)
2. **Populu, 16 sites.** Populu lifted gross profit from 68% to 72% across all 16 locations after connecting Jelly’s POS integration and live dish costing. A 4-percentage-point GP improvement at multi-site scale represents a material cash uplift across the estate.
3. **[Sushi Revolution, South London.](https://www.getjelly.co.uk/success-stories/sushirevolution?utm_term=best-menu-engineering-eposnow-uk&utm_campaign=ai_growth_agent)** Head Chef Tom uses Jelly to set separate target gross profits on dine-in and delivery menus, accounting for 30% delivery commissions. The result is [actual gross profits 2–3% higher on average](https://www.getjelly.co.uk/success-stories/sushirevolution?utm_term=best-menu-engineering-eposnow-uk&utm_campaign=ai_growth_agent), and the data supported the opening of a second restaurant.

## Most profitable menu items and how Jelly surfaces them

The most profitable menu item is the dish with the highest gross-profit margin that also sells in sufficient volume to contribute meaningfully to total GP. Menu engineers call this a “Star” in the classic BCG matrix. Identifying it manually requires cross-referencing recipe costs against sales counts across every service period. That process can take hours per week in spreadsheets.

Jelly’s Sales Mix report, powered by the live EPOS Now integration, surfaces this answer automatically. Every dish is ranked by GP margin and sales volume in real time. Operators can see at a glance which items are Stars, which are Plowhorses and which are Dogs. [Spotlighting bundles, trade-up items and premium options on digital menus is one of the most powerful margin levers operators control](https://revenuemanage.com/blog/5-ways-to-increase-restaurant-traffic-and-profits), and Jelly’s Sales Mix report shows exactly which items deserve that spotlight.

## Single-site and multi-site EPOS Now setups

Jelly works for both single-site and multi-site operators, with the same five-minute EPOS Now setup per site and the same flat monthly fee per location. Single-site operators gain immediate visibility into dish-level GP without needing a finance team. Multi-site operators, such as Populu across 16 locations, use Jelly as a central source of truth. They compare Sales Mix performance across sites to identify which locations underperform on specific dishes and why.

The Sales Mix report is the key tool for both use cases. For a single site, it highlights which dish to 86 or reprice this week. For a multi-site group, it reveals which site sells the highest-margin dish least effectively. Both answers appear in real time, without waiting for a monthly accountant report.

## Frequently asked questions

### Does Jelly work with EPOS Now for multi-site restaurant groups?

Yes. Jelly connects to each EPOS Now terminal independently through the same five-minute API setup, and each site is managed under a single Jelly account at the flat per-site rate. Owners and finance managers can view GP performance, Sales Mix data and Price Alerts across all sites from one dashboard. This structure makes it straightforward to benchmark locations and identify where margin improvement is needed most.

### How quickly will I see a return on investment from Jelly?

Most operators see measurable impact within the first week through Price Alert, catching supplier price increases that would otherwise go unnoticed until the monthly accountant report. Within three months, operators typically achieve the food cost and GP improvements described earlier. At a £500k annual revenue site, a 3% food cost reduction on a typical 30% food cost base represents approximately £4,500 saved per year, more than 35× the annual subscription cost for a single site.

### What happens to my EPOS Now data if I cancel Jelly?

Your EPOS Now data remains entirely within your EPOS Now account. Jelly reads transaction data via API but does not store or lock your POS data. Invoice data, recipes and dish costings built inside Jelly are exportable. Cancelling Jelly does not affect your EPOS Now setup, transaction history or any other EPOS Now integrations you run alongside Jelly.

### Can Jelly handle delivery menus separately from dine-in menus?

Yes. Jelly’s Cookbook section allows operators to duplicate existing menu items and apply delivery commission overheads, typically 25–30% for major aggregators, to create a separate, costed delivery menu with its own GP targets. The Sales Mix report can then track dine-in and delivery profitability independently, giving a clear picture of which channel contributes most to net margin.

## Conclusion: Live EPOS Now margins without spreadsheets

UK hospitality margins are under sustained pressure in 2026, and manual spreadsheets with delayed reports no longer keep pace. Jelly’s native EPOS Now integration delivers live gross-profit data, automated price alerts and a real-time Sales Mix report within five minutes of connecting, at a flat £129 per site per month with no hidden fees.

The case studies above, from Amber’s four-figure monthly savings to Populu’s multi-site GP lift to Sushi Revolution’s expansion, show the margin impact operators achieve with live data. The operators winning on margin in 2026 are not working harder on spreadsheets. They are working with real-time numbers that guide every menu and purchasing decision.

[**See your EPOS Now margins live before the end of the week, book your walkthrough now.**](https://www.getjelly.co.uk/chat?utm_term=best-menu-engineering-eposnow-uk&utm_campaign=ai_growth_agent)

## Read Next

- [Best Menu Engineering Software for UK Restaurants 2026](https://www.getjelly.co.uk/blog/menu-engineering-profitability-software?utm_term=best-menu-engineering-eposnow-uk&utm_campaign=ai_growth_agent)
- [Best Menu Engineering Software for UK Multi-Site Chains](https://www.getjelly.co.uk/blog/menu-engineering-software-chains-profitability?utm_term=best-menu-engineering-eposnow-uk&utm_campaign=ai_growth_agent)
- [Best Menu Pricing Optimisation Software for UK Restaurants](https://www.getjelly.co.uk/blog/menu-pricing-optimisation-uk-software?utm_term=best-menu-engineering-eposnow-uk&utm_campaign=ai_growth_agent)
- [7 Best Menu Profitability Reporting Tools for UK Restaurants](https://www.getjelly.co.uk/blog/automate-menu-profitability-reporting?utm_term=best-menu-engineering-eposnow-uk&utm_campaign=ai_growth_agent)
- [Best Menu Engineering Software Platforms for UK Restaurants](https://www.getjelly.co.uk/blog/best-menu-engineering-software-uk?utm_term=best-menu-engineering-eposnow-uk&utm_campaign=ai_growth_agent)

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    **Question:**

    - **Name:** How quickly will I see a return on investment from Jelly?
      **Answer:**

      - **Text:** Most operators see measurable impact within the first week through Price Alert, catching supplier price increases that would otherwise go unnoticed until the monthly accountant report. Within three months, operators typically achieve the food cost and GP improvements described earlier. At a £500k annual revenue site, a 3% food cost reduction on a typical 30% food cost base represents approximately £4,500 saved per year, more than 35× the annual subscription cost for a single site.
    **Question:**

    - **Name:** What happens to my EPOS Now data if I cancel Jelly?
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      - **Text:** Your EPOS Now data remains entirely within your EPOS Now account. Jelly reads transaction data via API but does not store or lock your POS data. Invoice data, recipes and dish costings built inside Jelly are exportable. Cancelling Jelly does not affect your EPOS Now setup, transaction history or any other EPOS Now integrations you run alongside Jelly.
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    - **Name:** Can Jelly handle delivery menus separately from dine-in menus?
      **Answer:**

      - **Text:** Yes. Jelly's Cookbook section allows operators to duplicate existing menu items and apply delivery commission overheads, typically 25–30% for major aggregators, to create a separate, costed delivery menu with its own GP targets. The Sales Mix report can then track dine-in and delivery profitability independently, giving a clear picture of which channel contributes most to net margin.

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> **Jelly Blog** — Jelly is the simplest way for growing restaurants to manage their food and beverage operations by automating invoices, inventory, and real-time menu profitability.

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## Citations

- [The F&B Manager CV Template That Gets You Shortlisted](https://www.getjelly.co.uk/blog/best-food-beverage-manager-cv-template/)
- [Cloud-Based Menu Engineering Software for UK Restaurants](https://www.getjelly.co.uk/blog/best-cloud-menu-engineering-software/)
- [Menu Engineering Software Reviews: Live Dish Margins UK](https://www.getjelly.co.uk/blog/best-menu-engineering-software-reviews/)
- [MarketMan Gross Margin: How It Works & Where It Falls Short](https://www.getjelly.co.uk/blog/marketman-gross-margin-insights/)
- [How To Control Food Costs Using Fourth: A UK Playbook](https://www.getjelly.co.uk/blog/control-food-costs-fourth-software/)

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