Packaging sizes and order quantities: planning your food purchases
How pack size, carton configuration, pallets and containers shape your landed cost, your stock rotation and your waste — and how to plan quantities for imported food products.
By MARY JAD team · Published · 4 min read
When buyers compare food offers, they usually compare unit prices. But two other decisions often have a bigger impact on profitability: which pack size to buy, and how much to order at a time. Together they determine your landed cost per kilo, your storage needs, your stock rotation and the amount of product that ends up wasted.
This article explains how to reason about both, using examples from Moroccan products such as olives, tapenades, harissa and olive oil.
Pack size: matching the format to consumption
The right pack is the one your end customer can use up before quality declines.
| Channel | Typical formats |
|---|---|
| Retail shelves, delicatessen | jars of 180–500 g, bottles of 250 ml–1 L, pouches |
| Restaurants and caterers | tubs of 250 g–1 kg, buckets of 3–4 kg, bottles of 1–5 L |
| Deli counters | buckets of 3–8 kg |
| Food manufacturers | 8 kg buckets or larger containers where available |
A restaurant using a few hundred grams of harissa per week may waste product with an 8 kg bucket; a 1 kg tub or 4 kg bucket may be cheaper per kilo actually used. Conversely, a busy deli counter selling green olives by weight will benefit from 8 kg buckets.
Packaging weight and transport cost
Glass is heavy. A pallet of small glass jars carries a significant share of packaging weight compared with a pallet of plastic buckets. When you compare offers, ask for:
- net weight per unit and units per carton;
- cartons per layer and layers per pallet;
- gross weight per pallet;
- pallet type and dimensions.
With these figures, your forwarder can calculate how many pallets fit in a container and the transport cost per kilo of product.
From cartons to containers
Most international food shipments are built in steps:
- Units are packed in cartons (or buckets are stacked directly).
- Cartons are stacked on pallets and stretch-wrapped.
- Pallets are loaded into a container or truck.
Mixed pallets (several products on one pallet) and mixed containers (several products in one container) let you diversify your range without multiplying shipments. They require good coordination, so mention it in your request for quotation.
Planning order quantities
A simple method to size an order:
1. Estimate demand per reference
Use sales history if you have it, or a cautious estimate for new products. Express it per month, in units or kilos.
2. Define the coverage period
How many months of stock should one order cover? It depends on:
- the lead time (preparation plus transport);
- the shelf life remaining at delivery;
- your storage capacity and cash flow.
3. Add a safety stock
Allow for delays and demand peaks, typically a few weeks of sales depending on how reliable transport is on your route.
4. Check against minimum quantities
Compare your figure with the supplier’s minimum order quantity (MOQ) and with full-pallet or full-container quantities. Rounding up to a full pallet often lowers the cost per kilo; rounding up beyond your shelf-life window creates waste.
5. Review after each order
Track rotation, write-offs and stock-outs, and adjust.
Shelf life: the constraint that overrides price
A lower unit price on a larger order is no saving if part of the stock expires. For each product, ask:
- the total shelf life from production;
- the minimum remaining shelf life guaranteed at delivery;
- the shelf life after opening for food-service packs.
Labels and private label
Pack size also affects labelling. Consumer packs must carry the full labelling required by your market, in the right language; this may mean labels applied at origin or over-stickers applied on arrival. Food-service and bulk packs may follow different information rules depending on your country. If you want your own brand (private label), plan extra time for artwork approval and check whether the supplier can apply your labels at the volumes you intend to buy. Mention these points in your request so that the offer reflects the real cost and lead time.
Worked example
A distributor wants to list a black olive tapenade for delicatessens and a green olive tapenade for caterers:
- delicatessen channel → 180 g jars, a few cartons per store per month;
- caterer channel → 1 kg tubs and 3 kg buckets;
- both are consolidated on mixed pallets with olives and red harissa to fill the shipment efficiently.
The result: fewer shipments, a better transport cost per kilo, and formats matched to how each customer actually uses the product.
How MARY JAD can help
Our catalogue lists the available formats for each product, from retail jars to bulk buckets, and our bulk & wholesale page explains professional formats. In our offers, we state carton and pallet configurations where available so you can calculate your landed cost.
Send your volumes and destination through our request for quotation form and we will propose formats and quantities adapted to your channels.
Planning a sourcing project?
Describe your products, formats and volumes: we reply with a written offer.
