What Are Consumables?
Not everything on a supplier invoice is a food ingredient. Packaging, cleaning products, disposables, and other non-food items all contribute to the cost of running a kitchen - but they behave differently from ingredients when it comes to measurement and costing.
In Brikly, these items are called consumables. They have their own section in CostingBrik, separate from your ingredient library.
Consumables vs ingredients
The key difference is simplicity. Ingredients involve weight and volume conversions - you buy flour in 16kg sacks but measure it in grams for a recipe. Consumables don't need any of that. You buy 8oz cups in a case of 1,000 and use them one at a time.
| Ingredients | Consumables | |
|---|---|---|
| Measurement | Weight, volume, or each (kg, litres, ml) | Units only (units, packs, cases) |
| Unit conversion | Automatic - pack size to base unit | None needed |
| Cost model | Cost per measurement unit (per kg, per litre) | Cost per pack and cost per unit |
| Recipe role | Primary cost drivers | Auxiliary items (packaging, supplies) |
| Examples | Flour, milk, butter, vanilla extract | Takeaway cups, lids, napkins, cleaning spray |
If you weigh it, pour it, or measure it for a recipe - it's an ingredient. If you count it - it's a consumable.
Common examples
- Packaging - takeaway cups, lids, paper bags, pizza boxes, cling film
- Disposables - napkins, stirrers, straws, gloves, hairnets
- Cleaning - surface cleaner, sanitiser, washing-up liquid
- Sundries - till rolls, labels, foil containers
Where consumables appear in Brikly
Consumables have their own area within CostingBrik:
- CostingBrik > Consumables - browse, search, and filter your consumable library
- CostingBrik > Consumables > Categories - organise consumables into colour-coded groups
- Recipe builder - add consumables alongside ingredients to capture the full cost of a dish (e.g. a takeaway coffee costs the beans, the milk, the cup, and the lid)
Consumables also flow through invoice processing. When Brikly extracts line items from a supplier invoice, it can match them to consumables just as it does with ingredients - and the same learning system applies.
Adding a consumable
- Navigate to CostingBrik > Consumables.
- Click Add Consumable.
- Fill in the required fields:
| Field | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Name | A clear, descriptive name | 8oz takeaway cup |
| Category | The group this consumable belongs to | Packaging |
| Base unit | How you count this item | Each |
- Click Save.
Because consumables are always unit-based, you won't see fields like Unit of Measure or weight conversions. Just name it, categorise it, and you're done.
Linking to suppliers
Once a consumable exists, you can link it to one or more suppliers - just like ingredients:
- Open the consumable's detail page.
- Click Add Supplier.
- Enter the supplier's product name, pack size, units per pack, and cost per pack.
- Brikly calculates the cost per unit automatically (cost per pack / units per pack).
If you buy the same consumable from multiple suppliers, mark one as preferred. The preferred supplier's unit cost is what Brikly uses when calculating recipe costs.
Using consumables in recipes
When building a recipe, you can add consumables alongside ingredients. This lets you capture the full cost of serving a dish - not just the food cost.
For example, a takeaway flat white might include:
| Item | Type | Quantity | Unit cost | Line cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Espresso blend | Ingredient | 18g | £0.12 | £0.12 |
| Semi-skimmed milk | Ingredient | 200ml | £0.08 | £0.08 |
| 8oz takeaway cup | Consumable | 1 | £0.04 | £0.04 |
| Sip lid | Consumable | 1 | £0.02 | £0.02 |
| Total | £0.26 |
Without consumables, you'd see a food cost of £0.20. With them, the true cost per serve is £0.26 - a meaningful difference at scale.
Categories
Consumable categories work the same way as ingredient categories - they help you organise your library and filter views as it grows.
To manage categories, go to CostingBrik > Consumables > Categories. Each category has a name, optional description, and a colour for visual grouping.
Categories can also be flagged to appear in the recipe builder, so you can control which types of consumable show up when building recipes.
Price history and invoice matching
Consumable prices are tracked over time, just like ingredient prices. Each time a supplier invoice updates a consumable's cost, Brikly records a new price point so you can spot trends and price increases.
When processing invoices, consumable line items have simpler requirements than ingredients:
| Required for ingredients | Required for consumables |
|---|---|
| Quantity | Quantity |
| Pack size | Pack size |
| Unit size | (not needed) |
| Unit of measure | (not needed) |
| Unit price | Unit price |
This reflects the unit-based nature of consumables - there's no weight or volume to extract.
The learning system builds matching patterns for consumables automatically. After you match "8OZ T/A CUP x1000" to your "8oz takeaway cup" consumable once, Brikly remembers and matches it automatically next time.
Location-specific consumables
If you operate across multiple sites, consumables can be location-specific or shared:
- Shared - available across all your locations (the default)
- Location-specific - only visible at a particular site, useful when different locations use different packaging suppliers or brands
This works the same way as location filtering elsewhere in CostingBrik.