SMALLGOODS WHOLESALE

Smallgoods Wholesale Ordering: Dated, Picked Oldest First, Billed by Weight

Open Pantry is ordering software for smallgoods and deli producers. Use-by is held against the carton and pick lists run first-expired-first-out, so the oldest stock goes out first; random-weight lines like whole sopressa are weighed at pack and billed at that weight; and the delis and cafés that take the same board every week stop rebuilding it.

  • Use-by on the carton, and pick lists ordered first-expired-first-out
  • Random-weight lines weighed at pack and billed at the weighed figure
  • Standing orders that place themselves, on the current price

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Open Pantry smallgoods catalogue showing sopressa, leg ham and sliced prosciutto with per-kilogram and tray pricing, beside the day’s orders
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Dates and weights are the whole job, and both live on paper

Use-by checked by hand at the coldroom door, one carton at a time

Newest stock picked because it is at the front

Random weights written on the label and re-typed into invoices

Standing deli orders rebuilt from memory every week

From the Coldroom to the Invoice, Once

1

Date the stock as it comes in

Lot and use-by are recorded against the carton, so the date lives with the product rather than in a notebook by the door.

2

Venues order what they always order

Delis and cafés order from your own app and list, or keep emailing. The ones on a repeating board have it created for them.

3

Pick oldest first, weigh as you go

The pick list is already ordered first-expired-first-out. Random-weight pieces are weighed as they are packed and that becomes the delivered quantity.

4

Invoice from what left

The invoice bills the weights captured at pack and syncs to your accounting system without anyone entering a kilogram twice.

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Oldest stock leaves first, without anyone deciding

Smallgoods live and die by dates. Use-by is held against the carton and the pick list is ordered first-expired-first-out, so the oldest stock goes out first automatically rather than depending on which end of the shelf the picker reached. Expiry is visible to the team while there is still time to move it, not at stocktake.

  • Lot and use-by recorded against the carton
  • Pick lists ordered first-expired-first-out automatically
  • Expiry visible before it becomes a write-off
  • Less stock quietly ageing at the back of the room
Open Pantry tracking smallgoods lots and use-by dates with first-expired-first-out picking order

Random weight, billed at the weight you cut

A whole sopressa is never exactly two kilos. Flag those products as catch weight and each piece is weighed as it is packed — typed in, or read from a connected scale if you use one — and the invoice bills the weighed total rather than the quantity ordered. Over or under, it is the weight that went in the box.

  • One entry per piece or carton on the weigh sheet
  • Billed at the weighed figure, over or under the order
  • Set per product, so fixed-weight lines are untouched
  • No weights re-typed from a label later
Open Pantry catch weight for smallgoods: 8 kg of sopressa ordered, pieces weighed at pack totalling 8.71 kg, and 8.71 kg billed

Fixed-weight trays and whole pieces, one catalogue

Sliced prosciutto sells by the tray and by the carton; the whole piece next to it sells by the kilo. They do not need to be different products. Open Pantry holds the pack ladder on one product and converts between the levels automatically, so stock still moves in your base unit and each customer sees only the packs you have opened to them.

  • Base unit, tray and carton on the same product
  • Automatic conversion so stock moves in one unit
  • Fixed-weight and random-weight lines side by side
  • The pick slip shows the pack the customer ordered
Open Pantry pack ladder for sliced prosciutto — per kilogram, tray and carton — with automatic unit conversion

The board that reorders itself

A deli that takes the same eight lines every Tuesday should not rebuild that order every Tuesday. Save it once as a standing order and Open Pantry creates the real order on the cycle you agree — priced at whatever the price is that week, with the account re-checked, and pausable for as long as they are closed.

  • Runs every 7, 14 or 28 days on the cycle you choose
  • Current prices applied each time it runs
  • Account status and credit re-checked before it places
  • Paused or edited at any time, without deleting it
An Open Pantry standing order for a deli repeating weekly with sopressa, prosciutto and chorizo, re-priced each cycle
More product lines purchased
24%
Your always-on branded store and app put your full range in front of customers, so baskets grow.
Less order-processing cost
95%
AI order capture and auto-invoicing remove the manual keying between order and books.
Fewer picking errors
80%
Tablet pick & pack with FEFO lot and expiry tracking catches shorts and wrong items before they ship.

Real gains suppliers report after moving ordering, fulfilment and invoicing onto Open Pantry.

Sits On Top of the Accounting You Already Run

M&J Chickens

Trusted by M&J Chickens

$175m+
Annual turnover

M&J Chickens are a protein wholesaler running the same shape of day — dated stock, weight-based lines and venues ordering right up to the cut-off. Open Pantry moved their ordering out of calls and messages into one digital workflow.

Alex Ortiz — Head of Sales

With Open Pantry, we launched our own fully branded ordering app — it’s helped us protect our customer base, move to digital ordering, and deliver a much better experience to our venues.

Alex Ortiz — Head of Sales
Alex Ortiz — Head of Sales
M&J Chickens

A date written on a carton is only as good as who reads it.

Every smallgoods room has a system for dates, and it is usually a person. It works right up until the morning that person is not there, or the newest carton is at the front, or the pallet gets restacked. Holding the date against the carton and ordering the pick list by it removes the one step that was always going to fail eventually — and it costs the picker nothing, because the list simply comes out in the right order.

Use-by dates checked by hand in a coldroom compared with Open Pantry holding dates on the carton and picking first-expired-first-out

Questions Smallgoods Producers Ask

Does Open Pantry track use-by dates?
Yes. Lot and use-by are recorded against the carton rather than on a sheet by the coldroom door, and that date drives the picking order, so the oldest stock is presented to the picker first.
What is FEFO picking?
First-expired-first-out. The pick list is ordered by use-by date, so the carton closest to its date is the one the picker is sent to first. It removes the judgement call that causes stock to age at the back of the room.
What does lot tracking cover today?
Lot and use-by are recorded against your stock and drive first-expired-first-out picking and expiry visibility, so the oldest carton is always the one presented to the picker. If lot-level traceability through to individual customer orders is something you need, raise it with us during onboarding — it is worth a conversation about where your compliance obligations actually sit.
How are random-weight lines like whole sopressa billed?
With catch weight. Flag the product, and each piece is weighed as it is packed — typed in, or read from a connected scale if you use one. The invoice bills the weighed total rather than the quantity ordered, whether that is over or under.
Can I sell fixed-weight trays and whole pieces from one catalogue?
Yes. A product carries a pack ladder — base unit, tray, carton — with automatic conversion, and catch weight is set per product, so a fixed-weight tray and a random-weight whole piece behave differently while sitting side by side in the same list.
How do standing orders work?
You save a customer’s repeating products and quantities once, and Open Pantry creates the real order for them every 7, 14 or 28 days. Each run applies the current prices and re-checks the account, and it can be paused or edited at any time — pausing holds it until you switch it back on.
Can different customers pay different prices?
Yes. Customers can sit on a shared price list, and any single customer can hold their own price on any individual product. You keep one catalogue and the right price follows into the order and the invoice.
What happens when we are short on a line?
Shorts are recorded at pack, gathered into one message that goes out when picking finishes, and the customer is billed for what actually shipped. The picker can also substitute a comparable product at that customer’s own price.
Do my customers have to use an app?
No. Delis and cafés can order through your own branded app and online store, or keep emailing and texting exactly as they do now — every route lands in the same order list.
Does it connect to my accounting system?
Yes. Invoices sync to Xero, MYOB AccountRight, QuickBooks Online and eight other ledgers, mapped to your own account codes and GST treatment, carrying the weighed quantities across without re-entry.

Let the Dates Do the Deciding

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