Cinnamon rolls are packaged around the icing: it smears on anything it touches and sticks rolls together. A domed clamshell keeps the icing off the lid, the standard single for a case or a market. A half-dozen box with a window and a parchment liner holds a family order without the bottoms sticking. A foil pan with a dome lid sells six unbaked or par-baked rolls to bake at home, with the baking instructions on the label. A cello bag with a tie is the cheapest single, for glazed or unfrosted rolls. Rolls with cream cheese frosting may need to be kept cold if they'll sit for hours, so the label says how to store them. In the example below, an Athens bakery prices four options: 12 to 24 cents a roll. Below are the options, the label, the example, and a free cost calculator.
The short version
- Let the rolls cool before icing and packing, or the icing melts into the package.
- Singles: a domed clamshell that keeps the icing off the lid.
- Family and office orders: a half-dozen window box with a parchment liner.
- Holiday mornings: six take-and-bake rolls in a foil pan with a dome lid and instructions.
- Glazed or unfrosted: a cello bag with a tie.
- Say how to store cream cheese frosting, and date every package.
- Count the package in the cost; a clamshell is about a tenth of a roll's cost.
- TaroStack keeps each batch's lot and date, and the packaging in every batch's cost. More below.
The options
| Option | Keeps icing clean | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Domed clamshell, one roll | Yes, the dome clears it | Cases, markets |
| Half-dozen window box | Yes, with a liner | Families, offices |
| Foil pan with dome lid, six to bake | Icing packed on the side | Holiday orders, take-and-bake |
| Cello bag and tie | No | Glazed or unfrosted rolls |
The label and storage
A packaged roll carries the label your license requires: the name, net weight, ingredients, allergens such as wheat, milk and egg, and the name and place of business. A take-and-bake pan adds the baking instructions and says to keep it refrigerated or frozen until baking. Cream cheese frosting is a reason to say "keep refrigerated" on a roll that sits more than a few hours; how a food's need for temperature control is decided is in TCS foods list, and the date in best by date format.
An example: four options for a bakery
Red Clay Bakehouse, the made-up bakery in Athens, Georgia, I use in these examples, bakes about 460 cinnamon rolls a week in a shared kitchen: singles, half dozens, take-and-bake pans and rolls for a café:
| Option | Parts | Per roll | 460 a week |
|---|---|---|---|
| Domed clamshell, one roll | Clamshell 20¢, label | $0.24 | $110.73 |
| Half-dozen box, per roll | Box 90¢, liner, label | $0.16 | $74.77 |
| Take-and-bake pan, per roll | Pan and lid 96¢, label | $0.17 | $78.51 |
| Cello bag and tie, one roll | Bag 8¢, tie, label | $0.12 | $56.65 |
Singles go in domed clamshells, half dozens in boxes, the holiday pans are their own product, and the café gets rolls on a tray to sell from its case. The clamshell is in the $2.17 a single roll costs, about a tenth of it. How the rolls are priced is in how to price homemade cinnamon rolls, and the business in cinnamon roll business plan.
Get the calculator
Download the cinnamon roll packaging calculator. Two sheets: components, each part of each option with its pack price, units, how many a roll uses and waste; and compare, each option's cost per roll 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
Singles, boxes, take-and-bake pans and café trays all come out of the same bakes, and frosted rolls keep only a day or two. A cost sheet doesn't say which batch went to the café, or how many pans are left for the holiday orders.
How TaroStack does it
TaroStack keeps each batch's lot and date, and the packaging in every batch's cost.
Each batch dated. A bake of rolls gets a lot with its production and best-before dates, and lot labels print with it.
Packaging in the recipe. The clamshell, box or pan 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 yesterday's rolls go first, and a forecast shows what will expire unsold.
| The job | Notebook | In TaroStack |
|---|---|---|
| The date on a box | Written by hand | From the batch's lot |
| Foil pans left for the holidays | Counted when you run out | Used by every batch |
| Which rolls 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.