Brownies are packaged to stay fudgy: air dries them out, so the package is about sealing. Cool the pan completely and cut clean squares, then choose by where they sell. A heat-sealed cello bag with a label is the cheapest airtight single, for markets and online. A clamshell protects the top and stacks on a counter, at twice the price. A gift box with a window and glassine liners turns nine brownies into a present or an office order. And a café that sells them from its own case takes them wrapped in film with a date sticker. Every retail package carries the label your license requires and a date, because brownies keep days, not weeks. In the example below, a Milwaukee brownie bakery prices four options: 3 cents to 22 cents a brownie. Below are the options, the label, the example, and a free cost calculator.
The short version
- Cool brownies completely before wrapping, or steam turns to sogginess.
- Markets and online: a heat-sealed cello bag with a label.
- Counters: a clamshell, which protects the top.
- Gifts and offices: a window box with liners.
- Cafés: wrapped in film with a date sticker, sold from their case.
- Label each retail package with the required lines and a date.
- Count the package in the cost; a clamshell doubles a cello bag.
- TaroStack keeps each batch's lot and date, and the packaging in every batch's cost. More below.
The options
| Option | Airtight | Protects the top | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Heat-sealed cello bag | Yes | No | Markets, online orders |
| Clamshell | Nearly | Yes | Counters, stacked displays |
| Gift box of 9 | No, unless each is wrapped | Yes | Gifts, office orders |
| Film and a date sticker | Yes | No | Cafés selling from their own case |
The label and the date
A brownie sold packaged at retail carries the label your license requires: the name, net weight, ingredients, allergens such as wheat, egg, milk and any nuts, and the name and place of business, plus the cottage food statement if you sell under a cottage food law. A best-by date tells the shop and the customer how long it keeps. How to word the date is in best by date format, and the label in food labeling requirements for small business.
An example: four options for a brownie bakery
Lakeshore Brownie Co., the made-up brownie bakery in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, I use in these examples, bakes in a shared kitchen and sells large brownies at markets and online, gift boxes of 9, and brownies to cafés, about 250 a week:
| Option | Parts | Per brownie | 250 a week |
|---|---|---|---|
| Heat-sealed cello bag | Bag 7¢, label | $0.11 | $27.21 |
| Clamshell | Clamshell 18¢, label | $0.22 | $55.08 |
| Gift box of 9, per brownie | Box $1.04, liners, label and ribbon | $0.18 | $44.09 |
| Wrapped for a café | Film 2¢, date sticker | $0.03 | $7.55 |
Market and online brownies go in cello bags, the cafés get film and stickers, and gift boxes are their own product. On a café brownie that sells for $2.50 and costs $1.66, a 3-cent wrap is nothing, while a clamshell would take a quarter of what's left. How the brownies themselves are priced is in how to price homemade brownies, and every packaging cost in packaging cost per unit.
Get the calculator
Download the brownie packaging calculator. Two sheets: components, each part of each option with its pack price, units, how many a brownie uses and waste; and compare, each option's cost per brownie and per week at your volume, with notes. It's an ordinary Excel file with no macros, and it works in Google Sheets, LibreOffice and Numbers.
Where this stops working
Four packages, three channels, and brownies that keep days: a café that gets last week's tray asks for credit, and a cost sheet doesn't say which batch went where or which brownies are about to run out of date.
How TaroStack does it
TaroStack keeps each batch's lot and date, and the packaging in every batch's cost.
Each batch dated. A batch of brownies gets a lot with its production and best-before dates, and lot labels print with it, so the date on the bag comes from the batch.
Packaging in the recipe. The bag, clamshell or box is an item in each product's recipe, so every batch uses them up at the price you paid.
Oldest first. First-expired-first-out is the default, so the oldest brownies go out first, and a forecast shows what will expire unsold.
| The job | Notebook | In TaroStack |
|---|---|---|
| The date on a bag | Written by hand | From the batch's lot |
| Clamshells left | Counted when you run out | Used by every batch |
| Which brownies go out first | Remembered | First-expired-first-out |
Lots, expiry, recipes and batches 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.