Day Dot Labels: How They Work, and When You Need More

Day dots are small colored stickers, one color for each day of the week, stuck on containers in a kitchen so anyone can see at a glance when something was made, or when it must be used, without reading a date. They make first-in-first-out easy in a walk-in: if today is the blue day, anything with last week's blue dot is a week old. Their limit is built in: the colors repeat every week, so a dot can't tell this Monday from last Monday, and a dot carries no lot code. For a kitchen that uses everything within a few days, that's fine. For a maker whose ingredients and products last weeks or months, and who may need to trace a lot, day dots are a start, not a system. In the example below, a kitchen that uses day dots on prep and dated lot labels on everything it keeps longer than five days stops finding mystery tubs at the back of the walk-in. Below is how day dots work, a common color scheme, the rules, and when you need more.

The short version

• Day dots show the day something was made, or the day to use it by, by color.
• Pick one meaning, made on or use by, and make everyone use it.
• A common scheme runs blue, yellow, red, brown, green, orange, black from Monday; check your brand's.
• The colors repeat weekly, so a dot alone can't date anything kept more than six days.
• Write the date on, or use a dated label, for anything kept longer.
• Products you sell, and ingredients you might need to trace, need a lot code and a best-by date.
• TaroStack prints lot labels with the code, dates and a GS1-128 barcode, and sends the oldest out first. More below.

How day dots work

1. Choose what the dot means. Either the day it was made or opened, or the day it must be used by. Using both in one kitchen is how mistakes happen.
2. Stick a dot on every container that goes into storage, on the lid and the side if lids get swapped.
3. Store oldest in front. When the next batch goes in, it goes behind.
4. Check daily. Anything whose use-by color comes round again gets used or thrown out.

A common color scheme

This is one widely used scheme, but brands differ, so check the colors on the labels you buy and post the chart on the walk-in door. What matters is that the whole kitchen uses the same one.

Where day dots stop working

A maker's walk-in usually holds both kinds of stock: prep used within days, where dots work, and ingredients and finished products kept for weeks, where they don't. How to set dates on what you sell is in best by date format, and why the oldest-first rule is really "first expired" for a maker is in FEFO vs FIFO.

A worked example: two kinds of label

Windward Roots, the made-up taro business I use in these examples, uses both:

The rule on the walk-in door: a day dot only on anything used within five days; anything else gets a label with a date and a lot. Since the change, the tubs that used to sit at the back with a faded blue dot and no way to tell which Monday it meant are gone. Labeling ideas for the whole kitchen are in inventory labeling ideas, and printers that put lot codes and dates on labels are in lot code printer.

Where this stops working

Labels say what's on the shelf; they don't say what's on the books. The kitchen can have perfect dots and dated labels, and still order coconut milk it already has, miss the lot that expires next week behind a newer one, and spend an afternoon finding which batches used a recalled lot, because the label is on the can and nowhere else.

How TaroStack does it

TaroStack keeps the dates and lots behind the labels, and prints the labels from them.

Lot labels from the records. Every lot carries its own code and dates: your lot code, the supplier's, production and best-before or use-by dates. Lot labels print with a GS1-128 barcode, carrying the item's GTIN, the use-by date and the lot when the item has a 14-digit GTIN and the lot code alone otherwise, and a ZPL file goes to Zebra printers.

Oldest first, without reading labels. Batches and orders take stock first-expired-first-out by default, whichever lot is at the front of the shelf. Lots close to their date show in your alerts, and a forecast shows what will expire unsold and what it's worth.

And a recall, from any lot. Recording a batch notes which lots were used, so one report walks a supplier's lot to every batch and customer, with what's still on your shelves. Scanning a lot label at counting or picking finds the lot.

Lots and expiry, lot labels with GS1-128 barcodes, first-expired-first-out 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.

Questions people also ask

How do you use day dot stickers?

Decide whether the dot means the day something was made or the day to use it by, stick one on every container that goes into storage, store the oldest in front, and check every day for anything whose color has come round.

What do the colors on day dot labels mean?

Each color is a day of the week. A common scheme is blue for Monday, yellow Tuesday, red Wednesday, brown Thursday, green Friday, orange Saturday and black Sunday, but brands differ.

Are day dots enough for a food business?

For prep used within a few days, often. For anything kept longer, products you sell, and ingredients you may need to trace, add a written date and a lot code.

What's the difference between day dots and lot labels?

A day dot shows a day of the week by color. A lot label shows a lot code and a date, and can carry a barcode, so the stock can be traced and dated beyond a week.