Thanks for playing and the detailed feedback!
Orders aren't purely random, but drawn from a fixed pool of pacing schedules (some front-loaded, some backloaded, marathon single order, etc.) with appetite scaling by level. Some shortfall is expected but the HP provides a limited buffer.
On which columns contribute: any consumption counts toward the next upcoming order. Once an order clears, the accumulated feed resets. So all columns up to and including the order's column (back to the previous order) should count. For tiles larger than 1x1, what matters is which column the food cell is on.
For espresso, it does both: +1 energy per turn and base feed of 3 toward the order. Might have been positioning of the "food"/espresso cell. Definitely a UI clarity issue I need to fix, and add to the tutorial.
Appreciate the kind words on the polish and SFX!