Hub distributions

Distributions represent food leaving Surplus to reach a recipient. From a hub, you can manage both onsite pickups (recipient comes to the hub) and route deliveries (food is loaded onto a route for delivery).

The distributions list

The hub's Distributions tab shows all distributions associated with this hub.

Allocating inventory to a distribution

Before a distribution can be completed, items must be allocated to it. Allocation reserves specific inventory for that recipient.

How allocation works

1. Select a scheduled distribution (or create a new one)
2. Choose items from hub inventory to allocate
3. For each item, specify the quantity (full or partial)
4. Save the allocations

When you allocate:

• Full quantity — the entire item row is marked allocated with the distribution ID
• Partial quantity — the item is split: a new row is created for the allocated amount, and the original row's quantity is reduced

Allocated items remain physically at the hub until the distribution is completed.

Editing a distribution

Open a distribution to manage its allocations and details:

From the edit view you can:

• Add or remove allocated items
• Adjust allocated quantities
• Change the recipient or location
• Complete the distribution

Completing a distribution

When a distribution is completed (food has been handed off to the recipient):

1. All allocated items transition to distributed status
2. Their hub location is cleared (they've left the system)
3. The distribution event is marked completed
4. Impact metrics update automatically

Empty completions (zero items) are valid — for example, if a recipient doesn't show up and the distribution is completed as-is.

Hub-connected route distributions

For deliveries via route (not onsite pickup):

1. The distribution has both a hubId (source warehouse) and routeId
2. Items are allocated from hub inventory as usual
3. The route must have a load stop at this hub before the distribution stop
4. When the load completes, items physically move from hub to vehicle
5. When the distribution stop completes, items are finalized as distributed

This is the "load → deliver" pattern that connects hub staging to route execution.

Releasing and cancelling

Releasing allocations

To remove items from a distribution without cancelling the whole event:

• Open the distribution and reduce or remove allocations
• Released items return to active status in hub inventory

Cancelling a distribution

Cancelling releases all allocations and marks the event as terminal. Use this when a planned distribution will not happen at all.

Deleting a hub-connected route distribution

For route distributions sourced from a hub, deletion:

• Releases all allocated items back to hub inventory
• Removes the route stop
• Deletes the distribution event entirely