Skip to main content

Set up products and product types

A product type sets process defaults like fermentation and shelf life. A product picks a type and its CCPs. Batches inherit both.

Every batch belongs to a product, and every product belongs to a product type. The type carries the process defaults; the product carries the food safety checks.

Product types (admin or owner, under Catalog)

  1. Open Product Types and click Add product type.
  2. Enter the Product Type Name, and set the fields that drive behavior:
    • What kind of product is this?: the kinds offered at sign-up, or Not sure. Pick Acidified Sauces, Salsas, and Pickles and the product type gets the Standard Operating Procedure steps described below.
    • Requires Fermentation Tracking: on for fermented products. Batch forms then show the fermentation fields: start date, duration, earliest package date, and actively fermenting. Off, and those fields are hidden and the start date is labeled Production Date.
    • Tracks pH: on when batches of this type record a pH reading. Off, and open and new batches stop recording a pH. A batch that was already packaged keeps its pH.
    • Minimum Duration (Optional), with its Duration Unit (minutes, hours, or days). FourFoxes adds this to a batch's start date to compute the earliest package date. You can also set a Maximum Duration (Optional).
    • Shelf Life in Days (Optional): packaged lots get an expiration date of packaging date plus shelf life.
  3. Click Create Product Type.

New accounts can skip this step: the starter setup on the Today dashboard asks what you make and stages a product type for you to confirm, edit, or dismiss.

If you answered Acidified Sauces, Salsas, and Pickles, the product type it creates shows a Standard Operating Procedure card on its page with the seven 21 CFR Part 114 steps, including the acidify step under 114.80(a)(1). If you also add the starter pH check with a limit of pH 4.6 or lower, the acidify step shows Monitored against that check. A product type you add or edit yourself gets the same steps when you choose Acidified Sauces, Salsas, and Pickles under What kind of product is this? and it has no steps yet. Changing the kind later leaves existing steps as they are.

Products

  1. Open Products and click Add product. With no products yet, the button reads Add your first product.
  2. Enter the Product Name, pick its Product Type, and check its Food Safety Checks (CCPs). Those checks are what appear on the packaging screen for the product's batches.
  3. Click Create Product.

Deactivating a product or product type is soft: it disappears from pickers for new work, but nothing historical is touched, and existing batches keep their records.

Product types are available on every plan. Admins and owners can open a product type's post-packaging stages from its Stage Workflow button.

Add New Product Type form The Add New Product Type form with the product type name, minimum and maximum duration with a duration unit, the Requires Fermentation Tracking and Tracks pH checkboxes, shelf life in days, and the Create Product Type button. Add New Product Type Product Type Name * Fermented Hot Sauce Minimum Duration (Optional) 14 Maximum Duration (Optional) 28 Duration Unit Days Requires Fermentation Tracking Batch forms for this type show the fermentation tracking fields: start date, duration, earliest package date, and actively fermenting. Tracks pH Batches of this type record a pH reading. Shelf Life in Days (Optional) Enter default shelf life in days (optional) Create Product Type Cancel 2 3 Description and Active fields not shown.
The product type carries the process defaults every batch of its products inherits.
Duration lives on the type, not the product

There is no per-product duration override. If two products ferment for different lengths, give them different product types.

Related