Nuts are packaged against oxygen and light: their oils go rancid, slowly in the dark and fast in a sunny window. Roasted and candied nuts also pick up moisture and lose their crunch. So the shelf package is a barrier-lined stand-up pouch with a zip and a small window, which keeps the oils fresh for months and recloses. A clear heat-sealed bag costs much less and shows the nuts, fine for nuts sold within weeks. A tin is the holiday gift. Bakeries and restaurants buy 25 lb boxes with a liner. Every package carries the label your license requires, and tree nuts or peanuts are a major allergen that has to be declared. In the example below, a Texas pecan seller prices four options: about 5 to 74 cents per 8 ounces. Below are the options, the label, the example, and a free cost calculator.
The short version
- Oxygen and light turn nut oils rancid; moisture takes the crunch.
- Shop shelves: a barrier-lined stand-up pouch with a zip and window.
- Sold within weeks: a clear heat-sealed bag.
- Holidays: a tin, priced as a gift.
- Bakeries and restaurants: 25 lb boxes with a liner.
- Declare tree nuts or peanuts on the label.
- Count the package in the cost; a pouch is two and a half times a clear bag.
- TaroStack keeps each roast's lot and date, and which harvest lot went into it. More below.
The options
| Option | Keeps out oxygen and light | Recloses | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Barrier-lined kraft stand-up pouch | Yes | Yes | Shop shelves, online |
| Clear heat-sealed bag | Less | No | Markets, sold within weeks |
| Tin | Yes, lid on | Yes | Holidays, gifts |
| 25 lb box with liner | In the box | Fold and tie | Bakeries, restaurants |
The label
Packaged nuts carry the label your license requires: the name, such as roasted pecans or cinnamon candied pecans, net weight, ingredients, allergens, with tree nuts named by kind (pecans, almonds) and peanuts named as peanuts, and the name and place of business. A plain bag of one kind of nut needs no ingredient list, but candied or seasoned nuts list the sugar, butter or spices. How allergens are tracked across products is in allergen matrix template, and the label in food labeling requirements for small business.
An example: four options for a pecan seller
Brazos Bottom Pecans, a made-up pecan seller in Waco, Texas, I use in these examples, sells roasted and candied pecans from its own orchard, about 250 8 oz units a week in the fall, at markets, online and to two bakeries:
| Option | Parts | Per 8 oz | 250 a week |
|---|---|---|---|
| Barrier-lined kraft pouch | Pouch 28¢, label | $0.32 | $80.58 |
| Clear heat-sealed bag | Bag 9¢, label | $0.13 | $31.84 |
| Tin, 1 lb, per 8 oz | Tin $1.40, label, per 8 oz | $0.74 | $184.40 |
| 25 lb box, per 8 oz | Box $2.20, label, per 8 oz | $0.05 | $11.40 |
Online orders get barrier pouches, because those pecans sit for weeks; the Saturday market sells out of clear bags; tins are December's gift; the bakeries get boxes. A 1 lb tin costs $1.48 to pack, so it carries a gift price. How a home kitchen sells in Texas is in Texas cottage food law, and every packaging cost in packaging cost per unit.
Get the calculator
Download the nut packaging calculator. Two sheets: components, each part of each option with its pack price, units, how many 8 ounces uses and waste; and compare, each option's cost per 8 ounces 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 harvest becomes roasted, candied and bulk pecans for different customers, and a bad lot of nuts has to be traced to every bag. A cost sheet doesn't say which harvest is in which pouch.
How TaroStack does it
TaroStack keeps each roast's lot and date, and which harvest lot went into it.
Each roast a batch. A batch of candied pecans records the pecan, sugar and butter lots it used, automatically, gets its own lot and best-before date, and lot labels print for the pouches.
Packaging in the recipe. The pouch, tin and label are items in each product's recipe, so every batch uses them up at the price you paid.
Where it went. Each bakery's order records the lots it got, so one recall report shows every customer a lot reached.
| The job | Notebook | In TaroStack |
|---|---|---|
| Which harvest is in a pouch | Not recorded | Lots recorded on the batch |
| Pouches and tins left | Counted when you run out | Used by every batch |
| Which customers got a lot | 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.