Catering CMS, Banquet Inquiries & Quotation Engine

This document details the executive catering operations, inquiry triage pipeline, and commercial quotation engine of Eniceberny Bakery and Culinary Hub.

1. Executive Catering Philosophy & Business Scope

Eniceberny provides high-end event catering, luxury dessert stations, corporate hospitality, and authentic Ghanaian banquets across the Ashanti and Greater Accra regions.

graph TD
    A[Public Patron / Corporate Client] -->|Submit Event Details on /catering| B(Inquiry Pipeline /admin/catering)
    B -->|Review Headcount & Budget| C{Feasible?}
    C -->|No| D[Mark Declined with Client Feedback]
    C -->|Yes| E[Assign Event Lead & Status: under_review]
    E -->|Generate Formal Quotation| F[Quote Engine /admin/quotes/create]
    F -->|Itemized Rates & Deposit Terms| G[Formal PDF Proposal / Client Email]
    G -->|Client Acceptance & 50% Deposit| H[One-Click Convert to Order]
    H --> I[Kitchen Production Queue & Event Calendar]

Core Catering Service Profiles:

1. Corporate Hospitality & Boardroom Breakfasts: Fresh artisan pastry boxes, cold-pressed juices, breakfast sliders, and seasonal fruit platters for 10 to 150 executives.
2. Grand Wedding Receptions & Banquets: Multi-tiered artisanal celebration cakes, full chafing dish buffet spreads (Jollof, Fried Rice, Grilled Tilapia, Charcoal Chicken, Plantain), and uniformed service crews for 50 to 500+ guests.
3. Cocktail Soirées & Dessert Stations: Mini meat pies, choux pastries, parfaits, signature Sobolo spritzers, and interactive dessert tables.

2. Inbound Inquiry Pipeline (/admin/catering)

Event leads are collected from the public portal at /catering via CateringController::submitInquiry (POST /catering/inquiry):

2.1 Lead Attributes Collected:

• Client Information: Full Name, Email Address, Primary Phone, WhatsApp Hotline.
• Event Particulars: Event Type (Wedding, Corporate Meeting, Birthday, Social Banquet), Target Date, Venue Location.
• Scale & Budget: Estimated Guest Headcount (e.g. 50–500), Target Budget in Ghana Cedis (budget).
• Culinary Preferences: Dietary constraints (e.g. Nut-Free, Halal, Vegetarian, Gluten-Free), requested menu categories, and freeform client notes.

2.2 Operational Triage Workflow:

• Inquiries enter the system in pending status.
• Event managers review guest counts and culinary requirements against kitchen schedule capacity.
• Status Lifecycle: pending $\rightarrow$ under_review $\rightarrow$ quoted $\rightarrow$ confirmed $\rightarrow$ declined.
• An inquiry can be converted into a formal quotation with one click, pre-populating client contact details, event dates, and guest headcount.

3. Commercial Quotation Engine (/admin/quotes)

The quotation engine empowers administrators to draft, price, review, print, and convert proposals:

3.1 Data Architecture:

• quotes: Stores quote identifier (e.g. QT-260927-4401), client particulars, target event date, headcount, subtotal, discount, tax, total proposal value, status, validity expiration (default 14 days), and terms of service.
• quote_items: Child table storing individual line items with service description, quantity, unit rate in Ghana Cedis (unit_price), and computed line subtotal.

3.2 Dynamic Interactive Builder (/admin/quotes/create)

The quote creation screen leverages reactive Alpine.js architecture:

• Line Items Grid: Operators can add unlimited custom service items (e.g. "Tiered Royal Velvet Wedding Cake", "Chafing Dish Setup & Service Crew", "Assorted Fruit Punch Dispensers").
• Tabular Figures: Quantity steppers and unit rates recalculate line totals and overall proposal sums dynamically with tabular-nums.
• Commercial Adjustments: Apply discretionary promotional discounts and tax levies.
• Standard Terms of Service: Automatically injects Eniceberny's standard booking terms:

  "50% non-refundable deposit required upon acceptance to lock event date. Balance due 48 hours prior to service."

4. Formal Printable Proposal & PDF Sheet (/admin/quotes/{quote}/print)

Clicking "Print / Export PDF" renders an editorial document:

• Header Crest: Brand logo, gold foil styling, and business hotlines.
• Dual-Column Metadata: Left column displays client particulars; right column shows event date, venue, headcount, and quote reference.
• Itemized Ledger: Clean grid of services, portion counts, unit rates, and totals.
• Financial Summary Box: Subtotal, discount deductions, tax additions, and final proposal total.
• Sign-Off Seal: Dual signature lines for Client Acceptance and Executive Chef Approval.
• Clean Media Print Styling: Injected @media print CSS removes navigation bars, footers, and shadows for clean PDF output.

5. Automated Conversion to Production Order

Upon client acceptance and receipt of the booking deposit, the operator clicks "Convert to Order":

// app/Http/Controllers/Admin/QuoteController.php
DB::transaction(function () use ($quote) {
    $order = Order::create([
        'order_number' => 'EB-CAT-' . strtoupper(Str::random(8)),
        'user_id' => $quote->user_id,
        'customer_name' => $quote->customer_name,
        'customer_email' => $quote->customer_email,
        'customer_phone' => $quote->customer_phone,
        'order_type' => 'catering',
        'subtotal' => $quote->subtotal,
        'discount_amount' => $quote->discount_amount,
        'tax_amount' => $quote->tax_amount,
        'total' => $quote->total,
        'status' => 'confirmed',
        'payment_status' => 'partially_paid',
    ]);

    foreach ($quote->items as $item) {
        $order->items()->create([
            'product_name' => $item->description,
            'quantity' => $item->quantity,
            'unit_price' => $item->unit_price,
            'subtotal' => $item->subtotal,
        ]);
    }

    $quote->update(['status' => 'converted']);
    AuditLog::log('quote.converted_to_order', Quote::class, $quote->id);
});

Conversion Side-Effects:

1. Spawns an official Order with order_type: 'catering' and status confirmed.
2. Replicates all quotation line items into immutable OrderItem records.
3. Generates the order receipt and public invoice tracking link (/invoices/{order_number}).
4. Records an immutable audit log entry.
5. Redirects the manager directly to the newly spawned order profile for production scheduling.