The quotation email has three lines: 900 g log, 450 g sliced, 200 g sliced, each with a case price and a units-per-case figure. A buyer who picks the lowest case figure almost always buys the wrong product, because none of the three lines is in the same unit. The pepperoni case price is only an intermediate number; the decision is made on price per kilogram, and before that on cost per slice.
There are no prices below, only formulas. Drop the figures from your own quotation into them and the three lines become comparable in a single column.
Why does a pepperoni case price never decide the purchase by itself?
Because the case is the supplier's logistics unit, not the kitchen's consumption unit. A kitchen consumes pepperoni by the slice, and slice weight and slice count change from pizza to pizza in a controlled way. The case price, by contrast, is a figure bent three times over: by pack weight, by units per case and by VAT treatment. The same supplier's 450 g sliced case can look dearer than the 900 g log case; reduced to kilograms the order may reverse, and reduced to cost per slice it may shift again once trim loss is included.
The method for comparing every deli line on VAT, net weight and units per case is laid out in the guide to comparing deli case prices. This article adapts that method to pepperoni, the one deli item that is consumed by slice count.
The formula for turning a pepperoni case price into a price per kilogram
Three values are needed: the case price (P), units per case (N) and the net quantity printed on the pack label (W, in grams). The formula:
price per kg = P ÷ (N × W ÷ 1000)
Worked example with stated assumptions: if a case of 450 g sliced pepperoni holds 10 trays, net weight is 4.5 kg, and dividing the case price by 4.5 gives the kilogram price. If the 200 g tray ships 20 to a case, net weight is 4 kg. If the 900 g log ships 6 to a case, net weight is 5.4 kg. Units per case vary by supplier; these counts were chosen only to show how the formula runs, and the real count from your quotation has to replace them.
Make sure VAT is treated the same way on all three lines, either all inclusive or all exclusive. A quotation with one line inclusive and another exclusive produces a false gap of more than ten percent in the kilogram price.
How are the 900 g log and the 200 g and 450 g sliced trays brought to the same kilogram base?
For the sliced trays, price per kilogram is the final number: every gram that leaves the tray goes onto a pizza. The log has one more step. Mortella Smoked Beef Pepperoni 900 g is sliced in the kitchen; the two ends and the casing go in the bin, and the first and last slices off the slicer are usually incomplete. For a venue that puts that loss at 5 percent, usable weight is 855 g. The usable kilogram price:
usable price per kg = price per kg ÷ (1 − trim rate)
At 5 percent trim the kilogram price rises by about 5.3 percent. In a kitchen where slicer maintenance slips and trim drifts to 8 percent, the correction becomes 8.7 percent. In the comparison table the sliced product takes zero trim and the log takes the trim the venue has measured itself; only after that step are the three lines in one unit.
| Pack | Units per case (example) | Net kg per case (example) | Trim allowance | Comparison unit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mortella Sliced Beef Pepperoni 200 g | 20 | 4.0 kg | 0% | price per kg |
| Mortella Sliced Beef Pepperoni 450 g | 10 | 4.5 kg | 0% | price per kg |
| Mortella Smoked Beef Pepperoni 900 g | 6 | 5.4 kg | measured by the venue (e.g. 5%) | price per kg ÷ (1 − trim) |
How is cost per slice carried onto the pizza?
A pizzeria's true unit is the slice. Weigh the slice (weigh 20, divide by 20) and put it into:
cost per slice = usable price per kg × slice weight (g) ÷ 1000
pepperoni cost per pizza = cost per slice × slice count
Assuming a 3.5 g slice and 13 slices on a 32 cm pizza, 45.5 g of pepperoni goes onto each pizza; divide the kilogram price by 1000 and multiply by 45.5 to get the deli line. That figure goes onto the recipe card and is read against the target food-cost percentage inside the menu price. How slice weight and thickness move this calculation is explained in the pepperoni selection guide covering slice diameter, thickness and fat; when the slice drops to 3 g, the same count puts only 39 g on the pizza.
With a log, slice weight follows the slicer setting, so cost per slice is not fixed. A venue buying logs should note a weekly weigh-in on the recipe card; otherwise the advantage won on the kilogram price is handed back through thicker slices.
How many cases of pepperoni should a pizzeria order per week?
Order frequency is derived from daily pizza volume:
- Daily pepperoni pizzas × grams per pizza = daily consumption (g)
- Daily consumption × trading days per week = weekly consumption
- Weekly consumption ÷ net case weight = cases per week
Example: 30 pizzas a day, 45.5 g per pizza, six trading days gives weekly consumption of 8.19 kg. If a case of 450 g sliced pepperoni weighs 4.5 kg net, two cases a week are enough with a small remainder. The sliced product's 120-day shelf life makes carrying that remainder into the next week safe, so there is no stock pressure. With logs, an opened log sits with its cut face exposed, so do not buy more logs than a week's consumption.
Checking temperature on receipt and keeping the record is a requirement under Turkey's food hygiene regulation (yeni sekmede açılır); a case arriving outside the 0 to +4 °C range should be refused however good the kilogram price looks. The WHO food safety fact sheet (yeni sekmede açılır) makes the same point from the public-health side: an unbroken cold chain is part of the product, not an extra.
Units per case and pack choice: which case suits which pizzeria?
- Under 10 pizzas a day: 200 g sliced. An opened tray is finished the same day, so there is no opened-product waiting problem; the kilogram price looks high but trim is zero.
- 10 to 40 pizzas a day: 450 g sliced. A tray lasts one or two days, pizzas per tray are predictable and ordering is set weekly.
- Over 40 pizzas a day with a slicer in the kitchen: 900 g log. The kilogram price advantage is meaningful once it covers slicer labour and 5 percent trim; measure before assuming.
These thresholds are not hard borders; they show where the arithmetic tends to flip. Put in your own pizza count and slice weight and the threshold may move.
What should a buyer ask the supplier about a pepperoni quotation?
- Do units per case and net pack quantity match the label exactly?
- Is the price VAT inclusive or exclusive, and is it written the same way on all three packs?
- What is the average slice weight of the sliced product, and can it be confirmed with a sample?
- For the log, what slice thickness is recommended and what end trim should be expected?
- Does the delivery vehicle provide a temperature record, and does the case label carry a lot number?
- Is a mixed case (two pack formats together) possible, and how does the minimum order work?
Do not look for a number on that last question; terms are set per account. Request the current quotation for all three packs and a sample for slice-weight verification from EMKA FOOD, then run the formula with your own figures.
