[I <3 Vodka]

I love Heintz brand ketchup but I just don't use it in a great quantity. I buy the cheapest size, which usually isn't the smallest and I almost always throw it out with over 3/4 of the contents left, because it goes stale and I can't stand oxidized ketchup.

Unless you go through an entire bottle of ketchup every month, yours is going stale too. When you break out a new bottle of the same kind ketchup, compare the smell and taste between the two. They're clearly different.

Going by the expiration date on the bottles, unopened ketchup has a shelf life of over a year at room temperature. Most condiments don't require refrigeration before being opened. If they were sold in pressurized dispenser like the Kraft Easy Cheese(piston propelled) or Bag-On-Valve Lindal Group type dispensing system, the contents remain under positive pressure at all times and air/germ won't enter the container, so opened or not, it would last the full shelf life printed on the container and can be stored at room temperature.

Can you go through an entire bottle of 20-32oz ketchup in a month or less?

[shipscook]

I buy the 14oz size for guests. probably toss a 3/4 to full bottle once year. I honestly do have guests, but guess we just don't need it?

Nan

[KYHeirloomer]

I think your first step isn't to worry about how stuff is packaged. It's to learn basic cost accounting.

You are buying the cheapest bottle (which usually means the largest), but throwing away 3/4 of it.

How does that compare to the cost per usuable ounce of buying the smallest bottle?

Here's a gross example to show what I mean.

20 oz bottle at $2.00= 10 cents per contents ounce.
14 oz bottle at $1.89= 13.5 cents per contents ounce

You use 10 ounces and toss the rest. With the large bottle you have thown away a buck. But with the small bottle you have only wasted 54 cents. Subtract the 11 cents you saved on the purchase price, and your net wastage is only 43 cents.

In short, by purchasing the more expensive bottle you actually cut your waste by more than half.

But even without going through that exercise, the fact is if you are not finishing even a 14 oz bottle, then buying that size has saved you money just on the purchase price.

[I <3 Vodka]

Originally Posted by KYHeirloomer

I think your first step isn't to worry about how stuff is packaged. It's to learn basic cost accounting.

You are buying the cheapest bottle (which usually means the largest), but throwing away 3/4 of it.

How does that compare to the cost per usuable ounce of buying the smallest bottle?

I didn't say cheapest per unit I meant cheapest, upfront. You misunderstood me.

For example, I just purchased a 32 oz clean-lid type at Winco, because it was on sale for $1.53. The smallest Heinz they had was an 18 or 20 oz, which was $1.93.

Even if I use an ounce and toss, the 32 oz size still comes out cheaper, because I'm walking out the door for 40 cents less for the bottle.

If they offered 12oz ketchup in a pressurized canister, I'd be better off even if it costs $5, it would still be economical for me because the contents won't be exposed to oxygen eliminating the need to toss monthly due to oxidation. It would last me up to the unopened shelf life or I use up the contents, whichever comes first.

[I <3 Vodka]

Originally Posted by KYHeirloomer

20 oz bottle at $2.00= 10 cents per contents ounce.
14 oz bottle at $1.89= 13.5 cents per contents ounce

You use 10 ounces and toss the rest. With the large bottle you have thown away a buck. But with the small bottle you have only wasted 54 cents. Subtract the 11 cents you saved on the purchase price, and your net wastage is only 43 cents.

In short, by purchasing the more expensive bottle you actually cut your waste by more than half.

It doesn't make too much sense to me. Even in the scenario where ketchup are priced as yours, the sunk cost per period is only different by 11 cents and thats really what matters. If you only use 10 ozs and buying a 10 oz package and 10 lb package and they both cost exactly $2/container and have a shelf life of a month, your monthly cost is still $2 even though you can present the data to have 0% waste with the 10oz size and over 90% waste with the 10lbs.

[DC Sunshine]

I have teenagers and a husband who (blecccch!) puts sauce on most any dinner I make -yeah we go thru that easily in a month. I've started buying the 3 litre bottles to make it affordable. No palates - I don't touch the stuff - ok well except for putting it into some stews and things when I don't have the tomato concentrated puree.

Could you freeze it? I've no idea if that's possible and retain its integrity and taste......

[foodpump]

Actually the 5$ scenerio might just be about right if you factor in the fancy packaging, the nitrous oxide, and all of the rest of the razz-ma-tazz needed to launch the same product in a different set of clothes.

Ketchup..... The worlds largest consumer of (the spice) cloves is Indonasia. They smoke them... The second largest consumer of cloves is N. America, it goes into our ketchup.....

[boar_d_laze]

Your best option is to buy a box of single-serve size packets or to just save them from your visits to fast food restaurants.

BDL

[izbnso]

Five kids means I go through a 32 oz bottle of ketchup in a week.
I joke that in my house it is considered not a condiment, but a beverage.
Ketchup goes with: eggs, hot dogs, bologna, fries, tater tots, potato chips, and my 8 year old (the ketchup queen) likes it with cheese curls, pop corn and slices of extra sharp cheddar.

Not really about storage, but an interesting article on ketchup:

Taste Technologies: The Ketchup Conundrum: The New Yorker