A stockroom works when every item has one home and anyone can find it. Start with zones: a receiving spot where deliveries wait to be checked, backstock shelves, the cooler if you have one, supplies like bags and labels, a hold area for damaged, returned or recalled stock, and chemicals on their own. Lay the backstock out in the same order as the sales floor, so restocking aisle 1 means walking to shelf A1. Give each shelf a code, label it, and write the code against each item, so a new hire can put away a delivery without asking. For a food store, the FDA Food Code adds three rules most health departments adopt: food sits at least 6 inches off the floor, damaged and returned products are held apart from what's for sale, and cleaners and sanitizer are stored apart from food and never above it. Then rotation: new stock goes behind old stock, oldest date to the front. In the example below, a specialty food store maps its stockroom before the holiday deliveries. Below are the zones, the rules, the example, and a free stockroom map.
The short version
- Every item gets one home, with a shelf code.
- Zones: receiving, backstock, cooler, supplies, hold, chemicals.
- Backstock in the same order as the sales floor.
- Label shelves with their codes; write the code against each item.
- Food at least 6 inches off the floor.
- Damaged and returned stock in a hold area; chemicals apart, never above food.
- New stock behind old; oldest date to the front.
- TaroStack counts the stockroom on a phone and picks the earliest dates first. More below.
The zones
| Zone | What goes there | Watch for |
|---|---|---|
| Receiving | Deliveries waiting to be checked and dated | Checked the same day, then put away |
| Backstock | Cases of what's on the sales floor | Same order as the floor; off the floor |
| Cooler | Cheese, butter, charcuterie | Oldest date to the front |
| Supplies | Bags, boxes, labels, wrap | Its own shelf, away from food |
| Hold | Damaged, returned, recalled or out-of-date stock | Kept apart until it's credited, returned or thrown out |
| Chemicals | Cleaners, sanitizer | Apart from food, never above it |
Rotation in detail is in stock rotation methods, and counting the room in cycle count form.
The rules
| Rule | Food Code 2022 |
|---|---|
| Off the floor | Food stored clean, dry and at least 6 inches up, unless packaged on dollies or pallets made for it (3-305.11) |
| Hold area | Damaged, spoiled, recalled or returned products held in a designated area apart from food, equipment and packaging (6-404.11) |
| Chemicals | Separated from food by space or a partition, and not above food, equipment or packaging (7-201.11) |
From the FDA Food Code 2022, as your state adopts it. This is general information, not legal advice.
An example: a specialty food store before the holidays
Camel's Back Provisions, the made-up specialty food store in Boise, Idaho, I use in these examples, gave its stockroom nine codes before the holiday deliveries:
| Code | Zone | What goes there |
|---|---|---|
| R1 | Receiving | Deliveries waiting to be checked |
| A1 | Backstock, aisle 1 | Crackers, jams, mustards, in floor order |
| A2 | Backstock, aisle 2 | Oils, vinegars, olives, pasta |
| A3 | Local makers | Bought-in local products; consigned goods on their own shelf |
| C1 | Walk-in, cheese | Wheels and wedges, dated |
| C2 | Walk-in, charcuterie and butter | Salami, prosciutto, butter |
| H1 | Hold | A dented olive oil case waiting for credit |
| S1 | Supplies | Bags, boxes, labels |
| X1 | Chemicals | Cleaners and sanitizer, on the low shelf by the mop sink |
Matching the items to codes turned up two problems: the holiday gift boxes had no home and were stacked on the receiving spot, so they got shelf S1's top, and the sanitizer had been on a shelf above the olive oil. The consigned granola sits on its own marked shelf in A3, which Idaho asks for when a store sells homemade food for a maker. Why the store consigns some products is in how to open a specialty food store.
Get the map
Download the stockroom map. Two sheets: the locations, each code with its zone, what goes there and any rule; and the items, each with its category, location code and backstock, the zone looked up, and items with no location or a wrong code in red. It's an ordinary Excel file with no macros, and it works in Google Sheets, LibreOffice and Numbers.
Where this stops working
The map says where things belong. It doesn't say how many cases are back there, which cheese wheel is oldest, or that the jam on A1 ran out yesterday.
How TaroStack does it
TaroStack counts the stockroom on a phone and keeps each delivery's date with it.
Counts on a phone. The stockroom is counted on a phone, even with no signal, item by item, and each difference shows what it's worth before it's posted.
Dates, earliest first. Each delivery is received with its lot and best-by date, and the earliest date goes out first; what expires is an adjustment with its reason.
Holds kept out of stock. Damaged or returned stock can be put on hold, apart from what's available to sell, until it's credited or thrown out.
Reorders in days of cover. The reorder list shows each item in days of cover, with each supplier's lead time and minimum, so the jam is reordered before A1 empties.
| The job | Clipboard | In TaroStack |
|---|---|---|
| Cases in the back | Walk and count | Counted on a phone |
| Oldest cheese | Read the wrappers | Earliest date first |
| Damaged stock | A pile in the corner | A hold, kept out of stock |
| What to reorder | Walk the shelves | Reorder list in days of cover |
Counts, lots, holds and the reorder list 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.