Fresh every night, frozen when there is room
The bakery started supplying part-baked baguettes and frozen croissants to pubs and hotels that do not want a daily delivery. Now there are a dozen customers on them. They order weekly, by email, and expect delivery on a set day. The frozen stock sits in the freezer, and the production of it is squeezed in when the ovens are free.
One week, the freezer is empty of baguettes on the morning a pub order is due. Another week, someone bakes a batch because the freezer looked low, when three cases were hidden behind the croissant dough.
Why frozen lines get muddled
A fresh bakery is built around a daily cycle: orders by cut-off, bake overnight, deliver in the morning. Frozen and part-baked lines work on stock: make in batches, hold, pick to order. Running them through the daily order book blurs the two, so nobody knows how much frozen stock there is or when to make more.
- Frozen orders are entered in the same book as fresh, on the wrong day.
- Freezer stock is counted by eye, if at all.
- Batch production is decided when someone remembers.
- Batch dates in the freezer are not tracked.
- Frozen deliveries go on whichever van has room.
What the muddle costs
Frozen customers are often the ones who chose you because they wanted fewer deliveries and less fuss, so a short frozen order hits harder than it looks. They have no daily delivery tomorrow to put it right.
Frozen orders missed or short. Batches made when not needed, taking oven time on a busy night. Stock at the back of the freezer that gets older than you would like. Customers who chose frozen for reliability getting the opposite.
A separate flow we build for frozen lines
- Frozen and part-baked products are set up as stock lines, separate from the daily fresh bake.
- Customers order them weekly through the same ordering page or email, with delivery on their set day and round.
- Freezer stock is recorded when a batch is made and when an order is picked, with the batch date on a label on each case.
- When stock is expected to fall below a level you set, based on orders coming up, the system suggests a batch, sized to your usual run, for a night with spare capacity.
- Picking lists tell the packer which batch date to take first, and frozen orders are added to the right round's packing sheet.
- A weekly freezer view shows stock by product and batch date, and any batch older than the limit you set.
| Fresh lines | Frozen and part-baked lines |
|---|---|
| Ordered daily by cut-off | Ordered weekly |
| Baked to order overnight | Made in batches when stock falls |
| No stock held | Held in freezer by batch date |
| Delivered next morning | Delivered on a set day |
What the bakery gets
You know what is in the freezer without moving everything to look. Batches are made when needed, on nights that suit the ovens. Frozen customers get reliable deliveries. And the frozen side can grow without disrupting the fresh bake.
The records also help you decide whether frozen lines are worth it. With orders, batch costs and freezer stock in one place, you can see which products earn their space in the freezer and which do not.
The night manager gains too. Frozen batches arrive on the plan as a planned job for a quiet night, with the quantity worked out, rather than as a request shouted across the bakehouse when someone notices the freezer looks empty.
Is your frozen range like this?
- Frozen orders are kept in the same book as fresh.
- Freezer stock is guessed rather than counted.
- Frozen orders have been short because stock ran out.
- Batches are made when someone remembers.
- You are not sure how old the stock at the back is.