Pack size

Also called: pack · case pack

Pack size is the units-per-case and size-per-unit of a purchased item — 6 × 3 L, 4 × 5 lb, 24 × 12 oz. It is the conversion factor between the invoice and the recipe, and a change to it moves every plate cost that touches the item.

Storing pack size with each item is what makes automated recosting possible at all. Without it an invoice line reading "$68.40" cannot be turned into a cost per litre, which means it cannot be turned into a plate cost.

Worked example · A pack-size change nobody announced

Mayonnaise, previous pack: 4 × 1 gal, $52.80
Previous unit price: $13.20/gal
New pack: 4 × 3.5 qt, $52.80
New unit price: $15.09/gal
Effective increase: +14.3%

The case price never moved. Every dish using mayonnaise got more expensive and nothing on the invoice said so.

What to record per item

Field	Example	Why it's needed
Units per case	4	Half of the conversion factor
Size per unit	1 gal	The other half
Recipe unit	fl oz	What the recipe actually measures in
Conversion	1 case = 512 fl oz	The number that turns an invoice into a plate cost
Last verified	date	Pack changes are silent — this is how you catch them

The last row is the one people skip and the one that matters. A pack size recorded once at setup and never re-verified will eventually be wrong, and every plate cost downstream of it will be wrong by the same ratio.

The guide that works it through

Recipe Costing, Step by Step: Purchase Unit to Served Portion

Cost a recipe from supplier pack to served portion, with source dates, measured yields, a worked plate and explicit handling of missing ingredient costs.

Related terms

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