The first question facing a buyer placing a mortadella wholesale order is not which variety but which format. The same chicken mortadella with vegetables arrives as a 1350 g log and as 200 g and 450 g sliced tray packs; same recipe, same nutrition panel, same storage condition. The only thing that changes is who makes the slicing decision and how the product behaves once it is opened.
That difference looks minor and then shows up at month end in the waste column. A café without a slicer that buys the log ends up with uneven hand-cut slices and a darkening cut face. A production kitchen turning out hundreds of sandwiches a day that buys sliced packs ends up paying for packaging labour and a higher cost per kilo. The right format depends on the type of business.
In which kitchen does a 1350 g mortadella log pay for itself?
The kitchen where the log earns its place meets three conditions at once: a working slicing machine, steady daily consumption and the discipline to cover the cut face after every use. Where all three hold, Mortella Chicken Mortadella with Vegetables 1350 g arrives at a lower cost per kilo than the sliced product, because no slicing labour is built into the price.
The second advantage of the log is that slice thickness is decided in the kitchen. The same log gives a medium slice for the morning buffet and a paper-thin slice for lunchtime canapés. A sliced pack arrives at one thickness, and that thickness may not suit every use in the operation.
The third advantage concerns the round section. A mortadella log is round, and its slice sits exactly on a burger bun, in a croissant and on a round canapé. On a sandwich line using square bread the corners stay empty, and for that line the log decision should not rest on cost alone. The comparison of log, sliced and square-log formats across the deli range opens up this question of cross-section for product groups in general.
Who are the 200 g and 450 g sliced tray packs for?
The sliced pack is for the business that wants to leave the slicing decision with the producer. Mortella Sliced Chicken Mortadella with Vegetables and Sliced Chicken Mortadella with Pieces come in 200 g and 450 g options, with a shelf life of 90 days in the sealed pack. Opened, the pack gives a countable number of slices, portions are built without a scale and no machine needs cleaning at the end of the shift.
The choice between the two sizes follows the speed of consumption. If an opened pack is finished within the same shift, 450 g means less packaging waste and fewer open-and-close cycles. If a pack stretches across two days, 200 g is the right size; opened sliced product has to be used far sooner than a sealed pack, and half of a 450 g pack would start waiting in the fridge.
Small cafés, breakfast rooms outside hotels, kiosks selling a few dozen sandwiches a day and restaurants that carry mortadella as the second or third deli item on the menu belong in this group.
How is the weekly consumption threshold calculated for a wholesale mortadella order?
The threshold tells you how many days one log will last; if that number passes three, the format should shift to sliced. All the calculation needs is daily mortadella consumption in grams.
Take a worked example. Assume a slice of 20 g, two slices per sandwich and 40 mortadella sandwiches sold per day. Daily consumption comes to 40 × 2 × 20 = 1600 g. A 1350 g log is finished within a day, and for this business the log is the clear choice. If daily sales drop to 10 sandwiches, consumption falls to 400 g and the log sits open for three and a half days; here the sliced pack is the better decision. Replace the assumptions with your own slice weight and sales count before relying on the result.
The same arithmetic runs the other way. If weekly consumption is 2 kg, two 1350 g logs cover the week with room to spare, but the second log is opened midweek and stretches to the weekend; one log plus two 450 g sliced packs delivers the same quantity with less time spent open.
How the cut face of an opened log behaves on the shelf
Sliced and log formats behave differently on the shelf despite sharing a recipe. In a sliced pack every slice has two faces, and the moment the pack is opened all of those faces meet the air. In a log only the cut face is exposed; the rest of the mass stays protected inside the casing.
That means the unused part of a log keeps longer without spoiling, on one condition: the cut face is wrapped after every use and the product is held between 0 °C and +4 °C. If the surface darkens, a thin slice is taken off and discarded. Without that discipline the advantage of the log exists only on paper.
The sliced pack behaves more simply: 90 days sealed, then a sealed container in the fridge and prompt use once opened. For the decision-maker the difference comes down to this: the log asks for discipline and returns flexibility; the sliced pack asks for no discipline and returns none.
Mortadella format by type of business
| Business type | Daily consumption (example) | Slicer | Suggested format | Reasoning |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sandwich production line | 1.5 kg and above | Yes | 1350 g log | Log finished daily, lower cost per kilo |
| Hotel breakfast buffet | 500 g - 1 kg | Yes | Log plus 450 g sliced | Low midweek occupancy covered by sliced packs |
| Café, bagel shop | 200 - 500 g | Usually not | 200 g or 450 g sliced | Opened pack finished the same day, no machine needed |
| Catering, banqueting | Event-driven | Yes | One log per event | Paper-thin canapé slices come from the log |
| School canteen, staff restaurant | Tied to meal count | Usually not | 450 g sliced | Countable portions, no scale needed |
| Deli counter | Display sales | Yes | 1350 g log | Cut face turned to the display, sliced in front of the customer |
The table is a starting point; two businesses of the same type can land in different rows depending on menu structure.
How is a mixed order split between log and sliced?
Busy-day volume goes to the log; low-day volume and the second variety on the menu go to sliced packs. That split keeps the cut face of the log from waiting open for days and ensures a sliced pack is opened only when needed.
A practical division: the main variety (vegetables, say) is bought as a log, because it is the most consumed product and the log empties quickly. The second variety (dried tomato or pieces) is bought sliced, because its consumption is irregular and an opened log would sit half used. Mortella Chicken Mortadella with Dried Tomatoes 1350 g makes sense as a log only on panini-led menus where the dried-tomato variety is the main item.
When comparing quotes, the price of a log and of a sliced pack cannot be set side by side as they stand; net weight, units per case and VAT must be brought to the same unit. The guide to comparing deli case prices across VAT, net weight and units per case sets out the steps of that calculation.
Buyer's checklist for a wholesale mortadella order
- Confirm with the kitchen that the slicing machine works and the blade has been serviced; if there is no machine, remove the log from the shortlist.
- Measure daily consumption in grams and work out how many days one log lasts; beyond three days, switch to sliced.
- Record for one week how many hours an opened sliced pack lasts, and let that record decide between 200 g and 450 g.
- Measure product temperature at delivery and match the production and use-by dates on the pack against the delivery note.
- Compare the net quantity and ingredients declaration on the label against the mandatory information required by the Turkish food labelling regulation (yeni sekmede açılır), and file the allergen declaration.
- For the first order, request one log and one pack of each sliced variety as samples; write to the EMKA FOOD sales team about account opening and a delivery plan.
Do not make the format decision once and leave it; if consumption has changed three months on, recalculate the ratio of log to sliced.
