Also called PAR, Par stock
A par level is the minimum quantity of an item you want on hand before reordering. It should cover the lead time from your supplier plus a buffer for a busier-than-usual period.
Set it too low and you run out mid-service; set it too high and you tie up cash and increase spoilage. The right number comes from typical usage between deliveries, not from a round figure.
Par levels are what turn a stocktake into an order list. Counting without a par tells you what you have; counting against a par tells you what to buy.
Example
If you use roughly 20kg of chicken between twice-weekly deliveries, a par around 25–30kg gives cover without overstocking.
Related terms
Free tools for this
MinimalPOS handles orders, kitchen, billing and reporting in one flow.