Donuts are packaged to protect the glaze and toppings, and they're eaten the day they're made, so the package is about handling, not shelf life. Let the glaze set, then pick up each donut with a sheet of wax tissue, which keeps glaze off fingers and paper. Singles go in a bakery bag; families and offices take a dozen box with a window that shows the assortment; a half-dozen box costs more per donut. Cafés that sell from their own case take donuts on trays with tissue and send the trays back. Donuts sold packaged in a store carry the label your license requires and the date they were made. In the example below, an Omaha donut shop prices four options: under 1 cent to 7 cents a donut. Below are the options, the label, the example, and a free cost calculator.
The short version
- Let the glaze set before boxing, or it smears on the lid.
- Pick up every donut with wax tissue.
- Counter singles: a bakery bag.
- Families and offices: a dozen box with a window.
- Smaller orders: a half-dozen box, which costs more per donut.
- Cafés: trays with tissue, sent back after.
- Donuts are a same-day product; date anything sold through someone else.
- TaroStack keeps each fry's lot and date, and the packaging in every batch's cost. More below.
The options
| Option | Protects the glaze | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Bakery bag with wax tissue | Some | Counter singles |
| Dozen box with window | Yes | Families, offices |
| Half-dozen box with window | Yes | Smaller orders |
| Café tray with tissue | On the tray | Cafés selling from their case |
The label and the date
Donuts sold packaged in a store carry the label your license requires: the name, net weight, ingredients, allergens such as wheat, egg, milk and soy, and the name and place of business. Over the counter, unpackaged, they don't need one, but a café or grocer selling them needs the allergens and the date from you. 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 donut shop
Prairie Ring Donuts, the made-up donut shop in Omaha, Nebraska, I use in these examples, fries about 400 donuts a day, six days a week, for its counter, dozens and two cafés:
| Option | Parts | Per donut | 2,400 a week |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bakery bag with wax tissue | Bag 3¢, tissue | $0.04 | $103.10 |
| Dozen box, per donut | Box 55¢, tissue, sticker, per donut | $0.05 | $116.51 |
| Half-dozen box, per donut | Box 42¢, tissue, sticker, per donut | $0.07 | $179.98 |
| Café tray with tissue, per donut | Tray use, tissue, sticker | $0.002 | $5.39 |
The half-dozen box costs half again what the dozen does per donut, so the shop prices a half dozen a little higher per donut than a dozen. On a $2.00 donut that costs 28 cents to make, even the half-dozen box is small; what matters is selling the day's fry. How the donuts are priced is in how to price donuts, and whether it pays in is a donut business profitable.
Get the calculator
Download the donut packaging calculator. Two sheets: components, each part of each option with its pack price, units, how many a donut uses and waste; and compare, each option's cost per donut 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 hundred donuts a day, two cafés and the counter, and whatever doesn't sell by close is a loss. A cost sheet doesn't say how many were thrown away, or what the cafés took.
How TaroStack does it
TaroStack keeps each fry's lot and date, and the packaging in every batch's cost.
Each fry a batch. A fry of glazed donuts is a batch that takes the flour, oil and glaze off stock at what they cost, and gets a lot with its date.
Boxes in the recipe. The box, tissue and sticker are items in a dozen's recipe, so every dozen uses them up at the price you paid.
Losses by reason. Donuts thrown away at close are recorded as expired, by item, so you see what each flavor really sells.
| The job | Notebook | In TaroStack |
|---|---|---|
| What a donut costs | Worked out once | Each fry's true cost |
| Boxes left | Counted when you run out | Used by every dozen |
| What was thrown away | Not recorded | Losses by reason and item |
Lots, recipes, batches and true cost 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.