A small spice blend business runs in eight steps: receive and check the bulk spices, store them dry and sealed, weigh the blend by the recipe, mix it evenly, sift out lumps and foreign matter, fill each jar by weight, seal and label, and code each jar with a lot. Two steps make or break a blend. Receiving is where quality starts: each bulk spice arrives with its supplier's lot, and buyers often ask for a certificate of analysis showing it was treated or tested for pathogens, since spices are often eaten without cooking. And mixing: a blend that isn't mixed long enough puts all the salt in the first jars and all the cumin in the last. Filling by weight, checked on a scale, keeps every jar at its label weight. Allergens come from the recipe: sesame is one, and so are wheat or milk in some seasonings. In the example below, a Santa Fe spice maker runs 400 jars of taco seasoning.
The short version
- Eight steps: receive, store, weigh, mix, sift, fill by weight, seal and label, code.
- Receive each bulk spice with its lot; buyers often want a certificate of analysis for pathogen treatment or testing.
- Store dry, sealed and off the floor.
- Weigh by recipe; mix long enough that every jar gets the same blend.
- Sift out lumps and foreign matter before filling.
- Fill by weight to the label; code every jar.
- TaroStack records each blend as a batch with its spice lots, and where the jars went. More below.
The eight steps
| Step | What happens | What to record |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Receive | Bulk spices checked, lot recorded, certificate filed | Supplier, lot, certificate |
| 2. Store | Sealed bins, off the floor, away from moisture | |
| 3. Weigh | Each spice weighed by the recipe | Weights, ingredient lots |
| 4. Mix | Blended to the recipe's time | Mix time |
| 5. Sift | Through a screen for lumps and foreign matter | Anything caught |
| 6. Fill | Each jar filled to weight | Check weights |
| 7. Seal and label | Shaker cap, lid, label | Labels used |
| 8. Code | Lot and best-by on each jar | Lot, best-by, jars |
What goes on the label is in spice labeling requirements, and the jar costs in how to open a spice shop.
An example: 400 jars of taco seasoning
Cerrillos Road Spice Co., a made-up spice blend maker in Santa Fe, New Mexico, packs taco seasoning in 70 g jars for gift shops and a grocery chain's local shelf. One run:
| Step | What happened |
|---|---|
| Receive | Chili pepper lot CP-0920 and cumin lot CU-0915, each with a steam-treatment certificate |
| Weigh | 28.6 kg of blend: chili pepper, salt, cumin, garlic powder, paprika, onion powder, oregano |
| Mix | 15 minutes in a ribbon blender |
| Sift | One small stone caught on the screen, noted against the cumin lot |
| Fill | 400 jars at 70 g, every twentieth weighed: 70 to 72 g |
| Code | Lot TS-1018, best by Oct 2028 |
The 28.6 kg covered 400 jars of 70 g, 28 kg, plus what the blender and filler hold back. The stone went into the notes and a message to the cumin supplier, with the lot number. The jars' labels read "Chili pepper, salt, spices, garlic powder, paprika, onion powder", as worked out in the labeling article. What the shop orders and when is in order accuracy formula.
Get the run sheet
Download the spice production run sheet. Two sheets: a blank run sheet to print for each batch, with the eight steps, the check at each and its target, and spaces for the actual reading, the time and initials; and the same run filled in from the example. It's an ordinary Excel file with no macros, and it works in Google Sheets, LibreOffice and Numbers.
Where this stops working
One run fits on a sheet. Four blends that share chili and cumin, from several supplier lots, mean a question about one cumin lot runs through every blend that used it.
How TaroStack does it
TaroStack records each blend as a batch with its spice lots, and where the jars went.
Receiving with lots. Each bulk spice is received with its supplier's lot, and fields of your own on the lot can hold its certificate number.
Batches from the recipe. A run of taco seasoning takes chili, cumin, salt and jars off stock by the recipe, recording the lots it used.
Where it went. Each shop's order records the lots it got, so one recall report runs from the cumin lot to every shop.
| The job | Binder | In TaroStack |
|---|---|---|
| A spice lot's certificate | A folder | A field on the lot |
| Which cumin went into a run | Written, maybe | Lots on the batch |
| Which shops got a lot | Invoices | One recall report |
| What a jar costs | A guess | True cost from the recipe and batch |
Recipes, batches, lots and recalls 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.