Juice is packaged by how it's kept safe and where it's sold. Fresh juice sold at your own counter can go in glass, which looks and feels the best, but costs more than twice as much as plastic in the example. Juice for grocers can go through high-pressure processing at a co-packer to reach a 5-log reduction in harmful bacteria, and that process squeezes the bottle, so it needs flexible PET plastic; glass breaks. Shots go in 2-ounce bottles, and cafés pouring by the glass take half-gallon jugs. Every bottle carries a waterproof label, since juice lives in ice. Two lines on that label are juice's own: unpasteurized juice that hasn't been processed for a 5-log reduction carries FDA's warning statement, and a drink that contains juice states its percent juice, such as "100% juice", near the top of the information panel. In the example below, a San Diego juice bar prices four packages: 27 cents to $1.10 a unit.
The short version
- Counter juice: glass if you want it, PET if you want to save; both work for fresh, unprocessed juice.
- Grocery juice through high-pressure processing: PET, which flexes; glass doesn't.
- Shots in 2 oz bottles; cafés in half-gallon jugs.
- Waterproof labels, because the bottles sit in ice.
- Unpasteurized juice without a 5-log process carries FDA's warning statement.
- Declare the percent juice near the top of the information panel.
- TaroStack keeps each press as a batch with its lot and best-by date, and the bottle in its cost. More below.
The options
| Option | Keeps it | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| 12 oz PET bottle, tamper cap and band | Light, cheap, survives processing | Grocers, high-pressure processed juice |
| 12 oz glass bottle | Premium, heavy | Counter sales |
| 2 oz shot bottle | Small, single serve | Ginger and turmeric shots |
| Half-gallon jug | Bulk | Cafés pouring by the glass |
The label lines that are juice's own
The juice's label carries everything a food label needs: the name, net contents, ingredients, allergens, and your name and address. Two lines are particular to juice. Juice and juice drinks not processed for a 5-log reduction carry the warning statement, prominently, with "WARNING" in bold and the statement in a hairline box (21 CFR 101.17(g)); its exact wording is in juice warning label. And a drink that names or shows a fruit or vegetable declares its percent juice, such as "100% juice" or "Contains 50 percent apple juice", near the top of the information panel in boldface (21 CFR 101.30). This is general information, not legal advice.
An example: four options for a juice bar
Sunset Cliffs Juice Co., the made-up cold-pressed juice bar in San Diego, California, I use in these examples, sells about 500 units a week, glass at the counter, and plans about 2,000 bottles a month to grocers through a co-packer's high-pressure processing:
| Option | Parts | Per unit | 500 a week |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12 oz PET bottle | Bottle and cap 32¢, shrink band 2¢, label 12¢ | $0.47 | $234.70 |
| 12 oz glass bottle | Bottle and cap 95¢, label 12¢ | $1.10 | $550.45 |
| 2 oz shot bottle | Bottle and cap 18¢, label 8¢ | $0.27 | $132.60 |
| Half-gallon jug for cafés | Jug and cap 85¢, label 15¢ | $1.01 | $505.75 |
Costs include a little waste. The grocery juice has to go in PET for the co-packer's high-pressure processing, and the switch saves 63 cents a bottle against glass, about $1,260 a month at 2,000 bottles. The counter keeps glass, with the warning in its hairline box on the back, since counter juice isn't processed. Both labels read "100% juice" at the top of the information panel. The co-packer's quotes are in juice co-packer, and the processor side of the rules in juice HACCP plan.
Get the calculator
Download the juice packaging calculator. Two sheets: components, each part of each option with its pack price, units, how many one unit uses and waste; and compare, each option's cost per unit 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
Counter juice in glass that lasts days, grocery juice in PET that lasts weeks, shots and jugs: four packages, four shelf lives, and a cooler where the bottles look alike. A cost sheet doesn't say which press is in which bottle, or what's about to pass its date.
How TaroStack does it
TaroStack keeps each press as a batch with its lot and best-by date, and the bottle in its cost.
Each press a batch. A press of green juice is a batch from its recipe, taking kale, apples and bottles off stock, with its lot and best-by date, and lot labels print for the bottles.
Packaging in the recipe. The bottle, cap, band and label are part of the recipe, so a bottle's true cost includes them.
Oldest first. First-expired-first-out is the default, and the expiry forecast shows what's coming up on its date.
| The job | Notebook | In TaroStack |
|---|---|---|
| Which press is in a bottle | Marker on the cap | The lot on its label |
| What's near its date | Checked by hand | The expiry forecast |
| What a bottle costs | Worked out once | Each batch's true cost |
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.