Hot sauce goes in a woozy bottle, the tall, narrow glass bottle with a long neck, most often 5 ounces, with an orifice reducer in the neck so it shakes out in drops, and a cap. A shrink band over the cap is what shops expect; a 10-ounce bottle suits restaurants; and a gift box of three sells in December. Most hot sauces are acidified foods, so each bottle also carries a code for the plant, the sauce and when it was packed. In the example below, a New Mexico hot sauce maker prices four options: 60 cents to $3.63 a package.
The short version
- Woozy bottles with an orifice reducer and a cap.
- Shrink bands for shops.
- 10-ounce bottles for restaurants.
- Gift boxes of three in December.
- Every bottle carries the acidified food code.
- Ingredients, net contents, name and address, allergens.
- TaroStack puts the bottle, reducer and cap in each sauce's cost. More below.
The options
| Option | Size | Tamper-evident | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 oz woozy bottle | 5 oz | No | Markets |
| 5 oz woozy with a shrink band | 5 oz | Yes | Shops, grocers |
| 10 oz woozy for restaurants | 10 oz | No | Restaurants |
| Gift box of three 5 oz | Three 5 oz | Yes, boxed | Gift shops |
Bottles are filled hot and capped as the process calls for; reducers go in before the cap. The steps from peppers to bottle are in hot sauce production process.
The label
A bottle's label lists its ingredients in order by weight (21 CFR 101.4), the name and place of business (21 CFR 101.5) and the net quantity (21 CFR 101.105), and declares any major allergen (21 U.S.C. 343(w)). Each container of an acidified food also carries a permanent code for the plant, the product, and the year, day and period it was packed (21 CFR 114.80(b)), often printed on the cap or the label edge; how lot codes work is in lot number on food packaging. This is general information, not legal advice.
An example: four options for a hot sauce maker
Sandia Smoke Hot Sauce, the made-up hot sauce maker in Albuquerque, New Mexico, I use in these examples, bottles about 800 sauces a week for markets, shops and restaurants:
| Option | Parts | Per package | 800 a week |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 oz woozy bottle | Bottle 42¢, reducer 4¢, cap 8¢, label | $0.60 | $477.12 |
| 5 oz woozy with a shrink band | Bottle, reducer, cap, band 3¢, label | $0.63 | $501.60 |
| 10 oz woozy for restaurants | Bottle 65¢, reducer, cap, label | $0.83 | $662.96 |
| Gift box of three 5 oz | Three bottles, box $1.80, three labels | $3.63 | $2,900.16 |
Shops get banded bottles, three cents more than bare ones; restaurants take 10-ounce bottles by the case. The gift box adds $1.80 of box to three bottles, so it's priced as a gift. Starting a sauce business is in how to start a hot sauce business.
Get the calculator
Download the hot sauce packaging calculator. Two sheets: components, each part of each option with its pack price, units, how many a package uses and waste; and compare, each option's cost per package 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 cost sheet doesn't know which batch is in which bottle. When a shop asks about one bottle, the code on the cap has to lead back to the batch, its pH and its peppers.
How TaroStack does it
TaroStack keeps each batch's lot, the packaging in its cost, and where every case went.
Each batch a lot. Each batch of sauce records the ingredient lots it used, gets its own lot and dates, and lot labels print for the packages.
Packaging in the recipe. The bottles, reducers and caps are items in each sauce's recipe, so every batch uses them up at the price you paid, and the count of what's left stays current.
Where it went. Each customer's order records the lots it got, so one recall report shows every customer a batch reached.
| The job | Notebook | In TaroStack |
|---|---|---|
| Which batch is in a package | Written on it | The lot on its label |
| Bottles, reducers and caps left | Counted when you run out | Used by every batch |
| Which shops got a batch | Invoices | One recall report |
Lots, batches, recipes 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.