A butcher shop's inventory changes shape as it moves. Boxed primals come in by the pound, each box with the packing plant's establishment number, a lot and a pack date; they're cut into steaks and roasts; the trim goes to the grinder and the sausage. So the inventory that matters is three records, not one. Receiving: each box with its plant, lot and date. The grinding log: federal law asks retail stores that grind raw beef to keep, for each lot of ground beef, the supplying plants' establishment numbers, the supplier lots and production dates, the materials, including any carried over, the date and time it was made, and when the grinder was cleaned and sanitized, for grinds at a customer's request too, kept one year. A lot runs from one clean-up to the next. The case count: each item by weight, valued at cost, with the date it was cut, so the oldest sells first. When a supplier recalls a lot, the grinding log is how you find out which of your ground beef it went into. In the example below, an Iowa butcher shop gets that call.
The short version
- Receive each box with its plant's establishment number, the supplier's lot and the pack date.
- Keep a grinding log for raw ground beef, lot by lot, clean-up to clean-up.
- Each lot: plants, supplier lots and dates, materials, carryover, the time made, the clean-up time.
- Customer-request grinds go in the log too. Keep it one year.
- Count the case by weight, with the date each item was cut, and sell the oldest first.
- Label trays with your lot, so a recall pulls only what it has to.
- TaroStack keeps each grind as a batch from its supplier lots, with its own lot. More below.
The three records
| Record | What it holds |
|---|---|
| Receiving | Date, supplier, plant establishment number, supplier lot, pack date, pounds, cost |
| Grinding log | Your lot, date and time, source materials, plants, supplier lots and dates, pounds, carryover, clean-up time |
| Case count | Item, date cut, pounds on hand, cost a pound, value, par |
How much a primal yields in steaks is in butcher yield test, and the shop's numbers in butcher shop business plan.
The rules
| Rule | Where |
|---|---|
| Grinding records | For each lot of raw ground beef at a retail store: supplying establishments' numbers, supplier lots and production dates, materials including carryover, date and time produced, when the grinder and food-contact surfaces were cleaned and sanitized (9 CFR 320.1(b)(4)(i)) |
| Customer grinds | Ground at a customer's request: the same records (320.1(b)(4)(ii)) |
| What a lot is | Ground beef produced from one clean-up to the next, using the same source materials (320.1(b)(4)(iii)) |
| How long | One year (9 CFR 320.3(c)) |
Your state inspects the shop under its own retail food code too. This is general information, not legal advice.
An example: a recall call on a Wednesday
Cedar Valley Butcher, the made-up butcher shop in Cedar Falls, Iowa, I use in these examples, ground three lots of beef on Tuesday:
| Our lot | Started | Source | Plant | Supplier lot | Pounds | Cleaned and sanitized |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GB-1020-1 | 7:30 | Chuck roll trim, our cutting | Plant A | A-2291 | 38 | |
| GB-1020-1 | 7:30 | Coarse ground 80/20 chubs | Plant B | B-5512 | 20 | 11:40 |
| GB-1020-2 | 12:10 | Brisket trim | Plant C | C-0817 | 26 | 2:05 |
| GB-1020-3 | 2:15 | Chuck roast, for a customer | Plant A | A-2291 | 3 | 2:30 |
On Wednesday the farm co-op called: Plant B's lot B-5512 was being recalled. The log showed it went into one lot, GB-1020-1, the morning's 58 pounds, and nothing else. The trays in the case carry the shop's lot on their labels, so the 12 pounds left from GB-1020-1 came out and the afternoon's GB-1020-2 trays stayed. The register's Tuesday sales of ground beef told the shop how much had already gone home with customers, and a sign went up at the counter. Tuesday evening's case count, by weight, had come to $803.29 at cost, with the smoked sausage five days old and first in line. Rehearsing that call before it comes is in mock recall and traceability exercise.
Get the spreadsheet
Download the butcher shop inventory spreadsheet. Three sheets: receiving, with each box's supplier, plant, lot, pack date, pounds and cost; the grinding log, lot by lot, with sources, carryover, customer grinds and clean-up times; and the case count by weight, with value, days old and what to order or cut. It's an ordinary Excel file with no macros, and it works in Google Sheets, LibreOffice and Numbers.
Where this stops working
The grinding log works as long as someone copies the plant and lot from every box, and the trays carry the right lot. Three spreadsheets that never talk to each other make a recall a morning of matching lot numbers by hand.
How TaroStack does it
TaroStack keeps each grind as a batch from its supplier lots, with its own lot.
Receiving with lots. Each box is received from its supplier with its lot and date. Scanning a supplier's GS1-128 case label fills in the lot and use-by date.
Each grind a batch. A grind takes the trim and chubs it used off stock, by their lots, and gets its own lot, which goes on the tray labels. Fields of your own on the batch record hold the clean-up time.
Recalls. A supplier lot leads to every batch that used it, and to where those batches went, in one report.
| The job | Spreadsheet | In TaroStack |
|---|---|---|
| Plant and lot from each box | Copied by hand | Received with the lot, or scanned |
| Which grinds used a supplier lot | Searching the log | One recall report |
| The case by weight | A clipboard | A count on a phone, offline |
Lots, batches and recalls are on every plan, from $49 a month. The first 30 days are free, with no credit card. If you'd like a hand setting up, ask, and we'll do it with you.