Wholesum
WHOLESUM is an AI-powered tool designed to streamline meal planning, ingredient substitution, and shopping lists, catering to various group sizes and dietary re...
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What is Wholesum?
Wholesum is menu planning software designed for outfitters, camps, outdoor programs, personal chefs, and small food teams. It helps users plan group meals that adapt to changing group sizes, dietary needs, and field logistics, ensuring food supports the experience instead of complicating it.
Key features include creating and storing unlimited recipes, scaling recipes to headcount, managing dietary restrictions with auto-substitution, generating PDF and Excel shopping/packing lists, tracking food costs, calendar planning, and AI-generated recipes through Olive. The tool also supports batch-based calculations, multiple location tracking, ingredient tagging, and client-facing menus for professional users.
Wholesum is ideal for outdoor education programs, rafting trips, expedition groups, summer camps, retreat centers, hospitality teams, personal chefs, B&Bs, ranches, and catering operations. It streamlines kitchen logistics, reduces food waste, and saves hours of planning time for groups of any size.
Wholesum pricing
Pricing model: Freemium
Wholesum offers three paid plans billed annually: Basic at $39/month for individuals and small groups planning short trips; Professional at $49/month for outfitters, camps, and retreat groups with food cost tracking and automated dietary substitutions; Enterprise at $64/month for large or multi-location operations with multiple user management and advanced reporting. All plans include unlimited recipes, unlimited meal plans, scale to headcount, calendar planning, Olive AI-generated recipes, dietary restriction flagging, PDF shopping/packing export, and cost tracking. Professional adds auto-substitute dietary restrictions and Excel export. Enterprise adds enhanced exports, packing location reporting, batch calculations, multiple location tracking, ingredient tagging, and multiple users (additional $15/user/month). No free tier is available; users start with a trial.
Wholesum pros
- Scales recipes automatically to any group headcount
- Auto-substitutes ingredients for dietary restrictions
- Generates PDF and Excel shopping lists instantly
- Tracks and estimates food costs per meal
- Unlimited recipes and unlimited meal plans
- AI-powered automatic recipe generation included
- Calendar planning for multi-day trips
- Batch-based calculations for large groups
- Packing location reporting for logistics
- Multiple location tracking for enterprises
- Ingredient tagging for better organization
- Cloud-based access from any device
- Mobile app for shopping lists on the go
- Reduces food waste significantly
- Excel export with enhanced customization
- Works for camps, outfitters, and personal chefs
- Cancel or upgrade subscription anytime
- Annual billing saves compared to monthly
Wholesum cons
- No free tier - all plans are paid
- Minimum $39/month for Basic plan
- Mobile app only shows shopping lists, not full planning
- Additional $15/user/month for multiple users
- Initial recipe setup takes significant time
- Browser requires modern support (older browsers not supported)
- No offline mode mentioned
- Annual billing required for advertised rates
Frequently asked questions about Wholesum
What is Wholesum and what does it do?
Wholesum is menu planning software for outfitters, camps, and outdoor programs. It helps you plan group meals, manage dietary restrictions, scale recipes to headcount, and generate packing-ready shopping lists in minutes. The tool adapts meals to changing group sizes, dietary needs, and field logistics.
Who should use Wholesum?
Wholesum is designed for outfitters, adventure programs, expedition groups, summer camps, retreat hosts, personal chefs, B&Bs, ranches, sailing charters, rafting trips, and small food teams. It serves anyone planning meals for groups who wants to reduce waste and save time.
How does recipe scaling work?
Wholesum automatically scales recipes to your exact headcount. You create recipes once, then when building meal plans, indicate your group size and the tool does the math to adjust ingredient quantities precisely for your number of people.
What dietary restriction features are included?
All plans let you flag dietary restrictions. Professional and Enterprise plans include automatic ingredient substitution, which replaces ingredients that don't meet dietary needs. You can also manage substitution meals and view dietary restriction overview reports.
What shopping list formats can I export?
All plans include PDF shopping and packing export. Professional and Enterprise plans add Excel shopping/packing export. Enterprise includes enhanced and custom PDF and Excel export options with defined columns for professional formatting.
Does Wholesum track food costs?
Yes, all plans include tracking and estimating costs. You can add cost details to ingredients (cost, inventory, purchase store, purchase department), and Wholesum calculates estimated costs for meal plans to help you stay within budget.
What is the difference between Basic, Professional, and Enterprise?
Basic ($39/month) is for individuals and small groups with core features. Professional ($49/month) adds auto-substitute dietary restrictions and Excel export for outfitters and camps. Enterprise ($64/month) includes multiple location tracking, ingredient tagging, batch calculations, packing location reporting, and multiple user support for large operations.
Is there a free version of Wholesum?
No, Wholesum does not offer a free tier. All plans are paid, but you can start with a trial to test the software before committing to annual billing.
How does the mobile app work?
The iPhone and Android apps are for accessing shopping lists from meal plans created in your web browser. The app is not a standalone meal planning tool - you must create meal plans on the web platform first, then use the mobile app to view and access your shopping lists on the go.
Can I use Wholesum for multiple locations or users?
Multiple location tracking and ingredient tagging are included in Enterprise. Multiple users are available on Enterprise at an additional $15/user/month. Basic and Professional plans do not include multi-user support.