Cake pops are packaged to protect the coating: a scuff, a fingerprint or two pops touching ruins the look that sells them. Once the coating has set hard, each pop goes into a cello treat bag with a twist tie, the cheapest way to keep it clean, for a market table or a bakery case. A custom design that has to travel goes in a single pop box with a window. A dozen for a party stands upright in a display box with a hole insert, so none touch. Wedding favors get a bag, a ribbon and a custom tag with the couple's names on the front and the required lines on the back. In the example below, a Cheyenne cake pop maker prices four options: 9 to 39 cents a pop. Below are the options, the label, the example, and a free cost calculator.
The short version
- Let the coating set hard before bagging, so it doesn't smudge.
- Markets and cases: a cello treat bag with a twist tie.
- Custom designs that travel: a single pop box with a window.
- Parties and gifts: a dozen box with a hole insert, pops upright.
- Wedding favors: bag, ribbon and a tag with names on the front and the label on the back.
- Label with what your state's rules require, or the disclosure your food freedom law sets.
- Count the package in the cost; a single box is a sixth of a basic pop's price.
- TaroStack keeps each batch's lot and date, and the packaging in every batch's cost. More below.
The options
| Option | Protects the coating | Looks like a gift | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cello treat bag and twist tie | From hands and air | Some | Markets, bakery cases |
| Single pop box with window | From bumps too | Yes | Custom designs, delivery |
| Dozen display box with insert | Yes, pops apart | Yes | Parties, gifts |
| Favor bag, ribbon and tag | From hands and air | Yes | Weddings, showers |
The label
Packaged cake pops carry what your state's cottage food or food law requires: commonly the name, ingredients, allergens such as wheat, egg, milk and soy, net weight, and your name and place. Under Wyoming's Food Freedom Act, which the example works under, the buyer is told the food isn't licensed or inspected, as Wyoming food freedom act explains. A favor tag has room for both: names on the front, the required lines on the back. How a cottage food business starts is in how to start a cottage food business.
An example: four options for a cake pop maker
Bluebird Cake Pops, the made-up cake pop maker in Cheyenne, Wyoming, I use in these examples, sells basic dozens, custom themed pops and wedding favors, about 300 pops a week:
| Option | Parts | Per pop | 300 a week |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cello treat bag and twist tie | Bag 3¢, tie, label | $0.09 | $26.41 |
| Single pop box with window | Box 35¢, label | $0.39 | $118.12 |
| Dozen display box with insert, per pop | Box $2.42, insert, label, per pop | $0.26 | $77.42 |
| Wedding favor: bag, ribbon, custom tag | Bag, ribbon, tag 10¢ | $0.22 | $65.07 |
Basic pops go in treat bags; custom dozens go in display boxes, because a $57 dozen is judged by how it arrives; favors get the tags. On a basic pop that sells for $2.50 and costs $1.42 to make, a 39-cent single box would take more than a third of what's left, so single boxes are for custom work. How the pops are priced is in how to price cake pops, and the business in cake pop business plan.
Get the calculator
Download the cake pop packaging calculator. Two sheets: components, each part of each option with its pack price, units, how many a pop uses and waste; and compare, each option's cost per pop 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
A wedding order of 100 favors, two custom dozens and the market table all in one week draw on the same bags, boxes and tags. A cost sheet doesn't say whether there are enough inserts for Saturday.
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 pops gets a lot with its production and best-before dates, and lot labels print with it.
Packaging in the recipe. The bag, box, insert or tag is an item in each product's recipe, so every batch uses them up at the price you paid, and the inserts left are counted by every batch.
What each order earns. Margins show by product and by customer, so a wedding order and a market table are compared plainly.
| The job | Notebook | In TaroStack |
|---|---|---|
| The date on a bag | Written by hand | From the batch's lot |
| Inserts left for Saturday | Counted when you run out | Used by every batch |
| What a wedding order earns | A guess | Margin by customer |
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.