Import products
After reading this, you'll be able to import your product catalog into Univents via an Excel template — including recipes and bundles — and know how a repeated import safely updates existing products instead of duplicating them.
You can bring your entire product catalog into Univents via an Excel file — using a guided wizard right inside the inventory, no support request needed. This is especially useful during initial setup when you want to create many items, recipes, and bundles at once. The same wizard also works for contacts and events — see the overview article Import events, products and contacts via Excel for the mechanics that apply to all three.
Starting the import
- Go to Inventory in the menu.
- Click Import in the top right corner.
- The wizard guides you through five steps: Template → Upload → Mapping → Review → Import.
Step 1: Download the template
Click Download template (.xlsx) to get the Excel template. It already has the right column headers, a few example rows, and a Notes sheet listing the allowed values for every column. You don't have to start from scratch — just fill your products into the existing rows.
Already have your own list with different columns? That works too — in the next step you'll map your columns to the target fields manually.
Step 2: Upload the file
Drag your Excel or CSV file into the drop zone or pick it via the file dialog. Supported formats are .xlsx, .xls, and .csv, up to 10 MB and up to 5,000 rows per import.
Step 3: Map columns
The wizard detects your column headers automatically and suggests a mapping. Only two fields are actually required:
| Column | Required | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Name | Yes | Product name as shown on the booking page and invoice |
| Price net | Yes | Net price as a number |
| Type | No | Artikel (item), Rezept (recipe), Bundle, Verleih (rental), Dienstleistung (service), Digitales Produkt (digital product) — defaults to item if left blank |
| Billing model | No | e.g. per piece, per guest, per hour |
| Category | No | Created automatically if it doesn't exist yet |
| Tax rate | No | Defaults to 19% if left blank |
Every other column (SKU, description, allergens, stock, dimensions, Kitchen Monitor production fields, and more) is optional — the full list with allowed values is in the Notes sheet of your downloaded template. If you leave the stock field empty for a product, it's automatically created with unlimited stock.
Importing recipes and bundles together
The product template includes a second sheet, Rezeptur & Bundles (recipe & bundles). There, you link ingredients and bundle components to their parent product — no need to rebuild those relationships manually after the import.
| Column | Required | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Product | Yes | Beef Wellington |
| Component | Yes | Puff pastry |
| Quantity | Yes | 0.2 |
| Unit | No | kg |
| Kind | Yes | Rezeptur (recipe) or Bundle |
You reference the product and component by name or SKU — both sides must already exist in Univents or be included in the same import. If your file contains rows on this sheet, the wizard shows a "Recipe & bundle links detected" note automatically during the Mapping step.
Step 4 & 5: Review and import
Before anything is saved, the Review step shows you, row by row, whether it will be created, updated, or skipped. Rows with errors don't block the rest of the import — you can download the error list as an Excel file and fix the affected rows separately. Once you confirm the review, the actual Import runs with a progress indicator; at the end you get a report with the number of newly created, updated, and skipped products, plus the recipe/bundle links that were created.
Repeating an import safely
Uploading the same file again doesn't create duplicates: Univents recognizes existing products by their SKU (or, if no SKU is present, by name) and only fills in missing fields — existing values are never overwritten. That means you can refine a list iteratively and re-upload it multiple times without losing or duplicating existing products.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to create the category in Univents beforehand? No. If a category doesn't exist yet, the import creates it automatically.
What happens if a row has an error? Only that row is skipped — the rest of the file imports normally. The review step shows you in advance which row is affected and why.
Can I update existing products through the import? Yes. The import recognizes existing products by SKU or name and only fills in empty fields, without overwriting existing values.
What file format is expected? .xlsx, .xls, or .csv, up to 10 MB and up to 5,000 rows. Numbers with a comma decimal separator, as well as German and English values (e.g. "pro Stück" or "Per Piece"), are recognized automatically.
Related articles
- Import events, products and contacts via Excel — the wizard overview, including contacts and events
- Creating & configuring products — creating products manually and fine-tuning pricing
- Kitchen Monitor – production made easy — what happens to the production fields from the import in the Kitchen Monitor