According to one aspect there is provided a consumables preparation area comprising an electronically stored consumables inventory update initiator, said update initiator: comprising one or more of: a barcode scanner, a quick response (QR) code scanner, a Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) tag reader, a scanner configured for optical character recognition (OCR) and digital scales; and being configured for use within the dwelling or establishment in which said consumables are to be transformed for use. According to another aspect there is provided a method of updating an electronically stored consumables inventory using such a consumables preparation area.