Toffee is hard candy made with butter, and its enemy is moisture: left in the air it turns sticky and loses its snap. So the package has to seal. A cello bag with a header card is the cheapest shelf package; a stand-up pouch with a zipper reseals and stands on a shelf; a kraft gable box with a glassine liner looks like a gift; and a tin is for December. In the example below, a Dallas candy maker prices four options for 8 ounces: 27 cents to $1.65 a package.
The short version
- Keep moisture out: toffee goes sticky in the air.
- Cello bags with header cards are the cheapest shelf package.
- Stand-up pouches with zippers reseal and stand up.
- Kraft gable boxes need a glassine liner.
- Tins are for December.
- Declare milk and tree nuts.
- TaroStack puts the pouch or box in each batch's cost. More below.
The options
| Option | Reseals | Looks | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cello bag with a header card | No | Plain | Peg hooks, markets |
| Stand-up pouch with a zipper | Yes | Shelf | Grocers |
| Kraft gable box with a liner | No | Gift | Gift shops |
| Gift tin with a liner | Yes, lid | Gift | December |
Toffee is broken once cool and packed the same day on a dry day if there's a choice; a humid room makes it tacky before it's sealed. Its year as a business is in toffee business plan.
The label
A package'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)): toffee with butter contains milk, and almonds or pecans are tree nuts. Net weight goes in the bottom third of the front panel, as net weight labeling requirements explains. This is general information, not legal advice.
An example: four options for a toffee maker
Bluebonnet Toffee Co., the made-up candy maker in Dallas, Texas, I use in these examples, packs about 500 8-ounce packages a week of almond and pecan toffee for markets, grocers and gift shops:
| Option | Parts | Per package | 500 a week |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cello bag with a header card | Bag 9¢, header card 12¢, label | $0.27 | $132.60 |
| Stand-up pouch with a zipper | Pouch 38¢, label | $0.44 | $219.30 |
| Kraft gable box with a liner | Box 75¢, liner 8¢, label | $0.90 | $448.80 |
| Gift tin with a liner | Tin $1.50, liner, label | $1.65 | $823.80 |
Grocers asked for the stand-up pouch, which reseals and stands on a shelf; gift shops take the gable box. The tin costs more than the toffee inside it, so it's a December item. Toffee that goes sticky in the package comes back, so the pouch's seal pays for itself. Other candy packaging is in how to package candy for sale.
Get the calculator
Download the toffee 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 pouch. When a grocer asks about one package, or a lot of almonds is recalled, the packages they went into have to be found.
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 toffee records the ingredient lots it used, gets its own lot and dates, and lot labels print for the packages.
Packaging in the recipe. The pouches, boxes and tins are items in each toffee'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 |
| Pouches, boxes and tins 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.