Project · TP Food

Built for Dottites, a Carlisle-based takeaway tired of paying commissions on every order through third-party platforms. The system replaced commission-based ordering with a direct-booking platform owned outright by the business — and added operational features no third-party platform offered.

The architecture

TP Food is structured as a single custom WordPress plugin with everything inside it.

The backend is a PHP REST API exposing seventeen controllers — menu items, addon groups, variants, delivery slots, exception dates, orders, order items, payments, refunds, customers, audit logs, and more. Twenty-six versioned database migrations sit behind it, each one a self-contained schema change that can be rolled back.

The frontend is built with Vite, React and TypeScript, using shadcn/ui components. Two separate React applications are bundled into the plugin — the customer ordering app and the operator app — sharing types and utility code via a common library. Each app gets its own optimised production build.

WooCommerce sits underneath for payments. The plugin creates and manages WooCommerce orders programmatically through the WooCommerce REST API, so the food ordering UI doesn't have to touch a payment processor directly. Refunds, partial refunds and reconciliation work through standard WooCommerce admin.

How we approached the build

TP Food was built using the same AI-accelerated methodology we used for the Learner Management System.

A Project File acted as the AI agent's external memory throughout the build — capturing the data model, the business rules, the deployment process and the boundary cases. Every coding session referenced the Project File and produced milestone journal entries tracking what changed, what was tested, and what the commit hash was.

The architectural thinking was done with Claude — modelling the order lifecycle, the delivery slot allocation logic, the addon group resolution, the kitchen state machine. The code execution was done with Wilson (our name for GitHub Copilot) in milestone-by-milestone sessions, each session bounded by the Restraints layer of the sandwich prompt to prevent scope creep.

The result was a fully production-grade system delivered in a fraction of the time a traditional development house would have quoted.

Delivery slot logic

Delivery slot management is one of the features that off-the-shelf food ordering platforms get wrong most often. TP Food solves it properly.

Standard slots are configured per day per service type. Each slot has a maximum capacity expressed in either order count or kitchen-minute weight. When a customer picks a slot at checkout, the system reserves capacity. When orders are completed, capacity frees up — so a slot that was full earlier in the evening can reopen if orders are dispatched early.

Exception dates override the standard configuration. Closed on Christmas Day? Add an exception. Reduced menu on Sunday lunchtime? Define a Sunday-lunch exception with fewer slots and a limited menu subset. Bad weather closure? Toggle a same-day exception that suspends new orders until lifted.

All of this is configurable through the operator React app. No developer needed for ongoing changes.

The customer ordering app

The customer-facing app loads on the takeaway's WordPress site. Mobile-optimised by default — most customers order from a phone at home. Categories scroll horizontally, menu items have photos, and addon selection is a single tap-through bottom sheet.

Slot selection happens after the basket but before payment. The customer sees available slots for today and a couple of days ahead, with full slots greyed out automatically. Once a slot is selected, the customer has a fixed window to complete checkout before the reservation expires.

Payment runs through WooCommerce — Stripe, Apple Pay, Google Pay are the default options. The customer gets order confirmation immediately, then SMS or email updates as the order progresses through the kitchen. The whole flow takes under 60 seconds for a returning customer with saved details.

The operator app

The operator-facing app runs on a tablet or screen in the kitchen and behind the counter. Orders appear in real time as customers complete checkout. Each order shows the items, the delivery slot, the customer's notes, the payment status, and a status workflow specific to that order type.

Status flow for a typical delivery: New → Preparing → Ready → Out for Delivery → Completed. Status flow for collection: New → Preparing → Ready → Collected. Each status transition can trigger a customer notification automatically. The operator just taps the next status; the system handles the messaging.

Daily, weekly and monthly summaries are built in. Order volume, revenue, average ticket size, peak slot times, popular addons, customer return rates. The operator app doubles as a lightweight business intelligence dashboard for the takeaway owner.

What this proves

TP Food proves that a small independent takeaway can have a bespoke ordering platform — owned outright, with no per-order commission, and with operational features designed around the actual workflow.

The traditional argument against custom food ordering software was that the build cost was prohibitive for small operators. Six-figure quotes for properly engineered systems pushed everyone toward the commission-based platforms, even though those platforms eat the margin order after order.

AI-accelerated development changes that arithmetic. A genuinely bespoke food ordering platform can now be built for a price comparable to a year or two of commission payments to third-party platforms — and after that, every direct order is fully retained margin.

If you run a takeaway, restaurant, dark kitchen or any food-service operation paying commission to third-party platforms, TP Food (or a customised version of it) is worth a conversation.

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