Supplies in a recipe
How to add supplies to a recipe from the Supplies tab of the components catalog and choose between per-unit or per-batch quantity, with a worked example.
What it is
A supply can be just another recipe component, alongside ingredients and sub-recipes. Unlike an ingredient, it adds no weight and no nutrition: it only adds cost. That's why you add it through its own path, and it shows as a distinct row in the editor's Ingredients tab, with the Supply badge.
How to add a supply
Open the components catalog
In the recipe editor, on the Ingredients tab, click Add components. The modal has two tabs: Ingredients and Supplies.
Switch to the Supplies tab
On the Supplies tab, search with the placeholder "Search supply — e.g. 'box', 'cup liner'" and pick the supply from your catalog. If you have none yet, you'll see "You have no supplies. Create one with '+ New supply'."; you can create one right there with + New supply without leaving the editor.
Set the quantity and the mode
The supply appears as a new row with the Supply badge. On it you set:
- Quantity — how many consumption units you use.
- Mode — Per unit or Per batch (see below).
The row shows the cost per unit it brings from the catalog. It has no unit, weight, or percentage (those columns show a dash), because a supply isn't part of the formula.
Per unit vs. per batch
The mode decides how the quantity spreads over production:
- Per unit — the quantity is per sellable product. AreaCacao multiplies it by the batch's sellable units. Example: 2 cup liners per bonbon.
- Per batch — the quantity is fixed for the whole batch, no matter how many units come out. Example: 1 box per batch or 1 acetate sheet per batch.
Quick rule: if the material touches every piece (cup liner, individual label), it's per unit. If it's something you use once per production run (a presentation box for the batch, a reusable acetate for the run), it's per batch.
Example
A bonbon recipe with a batch of 40 sellable units and two supplies:
| Supply | Mode | Quantity | Cost / unit | Cost in the batch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cup liner | Per unit | 2 | €0.05 | 2 × €0.05 × 40 = €4.00 |
| Box of 40 | Per batch | 1 | €1.20 | 1 × €1.20 = €1.20 |
The batch Supplies cost is €5.20, and per sellable unit €0.13 (€5.20 ÷ 40). Behind this is the engine rule: per unit → cost = quantity × cost/unit × sellable units; per batch → cost = quantity × cost/unit. See the full calculation in Supplies in the cost.
Multi-channel: same product, different packaging
A supply is per recipe, so you can model the real cost of each presentation by creating recipes (or variants) with different supplies. A typical example:
- Direct (DTC) — bonbons in a premium box with a ribbon: add the premium box (per batch) and the ribbon (per unit or per batch).
- Wholesale — the same bonbons in bulk in a plain box: add only the basic box.
Each recipe reflects its own Supplies cost, and that carries into the suggested per-channel prices in the Costs tab. That way the channel with expensive packaging doesn't contaminate the margin of the bulk channel.