Merging Ingredients

Duplicate ingredients cause fragmented pricing data, split recipe links, and inaccurate cost reports. The merge feature lets you consolidate duplicates into a single ingredient, transferring all associated records automatically.

When to merge

• Naming inconsistencies - "Semi Skimmed Milk" and "Semi-Skimmed Milk 2L" are the same ingredient tracked twice.
• Invoice auto-creation - a new ingredient was auto-created from an invoice when a matching one already existed.
• Team misalignment - different team members added the same ingredient under slightly different names.

How to merge ingredients

1. Navigate to CostingBrik > Ingredients.
2. Open the More menu and select Merge Ingredients.
3. Follow the three-step process.

Step 1: Select ingredients

Choose the ingredients to merge:

• Ingredients to merge from - one or more ingredients that will be removed. You can select multiple sources to consolidate several duplicates at once.
• Ingredient to merge into - the single ingredient that will absorb all records.

Each source ingredient appears as a chip, making it easy to add or remove selections before proceeding.

Step 2: Preview the merge

Brikly shows a detailed breakdown of what will be transferred for each source ingredient:

Category	What transfers
Suppliers	Supplier links and pricing
Recipes	All recipe references update to the target ingredient
Invoices	Historical invoice line item matches
Price history	All recorded price points
Matching patterns	AI-learned matching patterns
Analytics	Usage and cost analytics
Emergency patterns	Emergency purchase patterns

When merging multiple ingredients, a per-ingredient breakdown shows the impact for each source separately, so you can verify every transfer before confirming.

Step 3: Confirm and merge

Review the summary, optionally add a merge note, and click Confirm Merge.

All records transfer to the target ingredient, and the source ingredients are deactivated.

This action cannot be undone

Merging is permanent. Source ingredients are deactivated and their records are reassigned. Review the preview carefully, especially the recipe impact, before confirming.

Multi-ingredient merge

Unlike supplier merge (which is always one-to-one), ingredient merge supports merging multiple sources into one target in a single operation. This is useful when the same ingredient has accumulated several duplicates over time.

For example, you might merge "Milk Semi Skimmed", "S/S Milk", and "Semi Skimmed Milk 2L" into a single "Semi-skimmed milk" ingredient in one step.

Permissions

Merging ingredients requires delete permissions in CostingBrik. Typically only owners and admins have this level of access.

Tips

• Check recipes after merging - while all recipe links transfer automatically, it is worth reviewing affected recipes to confirm quantities and units are correct.
• Merge before bulk import - if you are about to import a supplier's price list, clean up duplicates first to avoid creating even more fragmented records.
• Use consistent naming going forward - after merging, update your ingredient naming conventions to prevent duplicates from reappearing. See Adding Ingredients for naming tips.