Soup is packaged cold: it's cooled fast first, then filled, so the middle of a quart doesn't sit warm for hours. The usual choice is a 32-ounce deli container with a tamper-evident lid; a 16-ounce pint suits one person and sells at a market; a glass quart jar with a deposit appeals to regulars and comes back; and a stand-up pouch lies flat in a freezer. Every one of them carries "Keep refrigerated" or "Keep frozen". In the example below, a Vermont soup maker prices four options: 26 cents to $1.42 a container.
The short version
- Cool the soup fast, then fill it.
- Deli quarts with tamper-evident lids suit co-ops.
- Pints suit one person and markets.
- Glass jars with a deposit come back.
- Pouches lie flat in a freezer.
- Declare milk, wheat, soy and any other allergen; say keep refrigerated or frozen.
- TaroStack puts the container in each soup's cost. More below.
The options
| Option | Shows tampering | Comes back | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| 32 oz deli container, tamper-evident lid | Yes | No | Co-ops |
| 16 oz deli container, tamper-evident lid | Yes | No | Markets, lunch |
| Glass quart jar with lid | No | Yes, for a deposit | Regulars |
| Frozen stand-up pouch, 24 oz | Sealed | No | Freezer, delivery |
The kitchen's cooling log shows each batch went from hot to cold in time before it was filled; the log is in cooling log template. Jars that come back are washed and sanitized before they're filled again.
The label
The label lists ingredients in order by weight (21 CFR 101.4) and the name and place of business (21 CFR 101.5), with the net quantity, and declares milk in a cream soup, wheat in a roux, soy and any other major allergen (21 U.S.C. 343(w)). How allergens are declared is in food allergen labeling requirements. This is general information, not legal advice.
An example: four options for a soup maker
Mill Race Soup Co., the made-up soup maker in Burlington, Vermont, I use in these examples, fills about 700 containers a week of vegetable and bean soups from a shared kitchen:
| Option | Parts | Per container | 700 a week |
|---|---|---|---|
| 32 oz deli container, tamper-evident lid | Container and lid 30¢, label | $0.36 | $249.90 |
| 16 oz deli container, tamper-evident lid | Container and lid 20¢, label | $0.26 | $178.50 |
| Glass quart jar with lid | Jar $1.33, label | $1.42 | $997.03 |
| Frozen stand-up pouch, 24 oz | Pouch 45¢, label | $0.51 | $360.15 |
Co-ops take the tamper-evident quarts; the winter market sells pints and quarts; the subscription goes out frozen in pouches, which fit more to a delivery cooler. The glass jars were tried at the market and dropped: too few came back to cover the deposit work. The year's numbers are in soup business plan, and soup made at home in can you sell soup from home.
Get the calculator
Download the soup packaging calculator. Two sheets: components, each part of each option with its pack price, units, how many a container uses and waste; and compare, each option's cost per container 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 pot is in which quart, or how many days the co-op's quarts have left. A co-op asking about one quart needs its batch and its date.
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 soup records the ingredient lots it used, gets its own lot and dates, and lot labels print for the packages.
Packaging in the recipe. The containers and pouches are items in each soup'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 |
| Containers and pouches 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.