A wholesale quote will offer the same product in several configurations, and the terminology is used inconsistently across the trade. Here is what each one means on ours, and how to work out which you want.
Retail pack
The unit a shopper takes off a shelf. For masalas that is usually 100g, for pulses 500g to 5kg, for oils 500ml to 5L, for atta 1kg to 10kg.
Retailers buy these to sell as they are. The pack size that moves best varies by territory more than most suppliers admit, which is why we keep several rather than pushing one.
Bulk pack
A sealed multiple of retail packs, written as 100g x10 or 50g x20. Ten or twenty retail units, banded together as one handling unit.
This is the working unit for most distributors: large enough to be efficient to move and store, small enough to break down for a small retailer without opening a carton.
Carton
A shipping case holding multiple bulk packs, written as 100g x10x8, meaning eight bulk packs of ten retail units, so eighty retail packs in the case.
Cartons are the unit of freight. If you are taking full-truck quantities you are counting cartons, not packs. For spices sold by weight rather than count we also run 15kg cartons.
Master bag
The flour equivalent of a carton, written as 10kg x5 or 5kg x5. Several retail bags inside one outer bag.
The distinction from a carton is material rather than function: flours ship in woven or laminated outer bags rather than corrugated cases, because the weight and handling suit it better.
Loose bulk
Unpacked product by weight, typically 20kg or 30kg. Two kinds of buyer take it: those filling their own branded packaging, and kitchens, canteens and halwais consuming it directly.
Loose bulk is normally specified by weight rather than pack count, which is why our pulse and besan bulk options read 30kg rather than a multiple.
Tins and jerry cans
Oils have their own vocabulary. A 15L tin is a single sealed container for kitchens buying in volume, whereas an oil carton is multiple bottles, written as 1L x12 or 5L x3.
Choosing the right one
The practical question is turnover, not price per kilo.
- Buy retail packs if you sell to walk-in customers and want no repacking.
- Buy bulk packs if you supply small retailers and need to break quantities down.
- Buy cartons or master bags if you move full loads and store centrally.
- Buy loose bulk if you pack under your own brand or consume the product directly.
The mistake worth avoiding is buying a bigger configuration than your turnover supports. Ground spices and freshly milled flours both lose condition over months, so a carton that takes a year to move is a false economy, whatever the rate.
Our configurations
Every product page lists its own sizes, since they differ by line. Most masalas run 100g with 100g x10 bulk packs and 100g x10x8 cartons. Faster-moving spices run 50g to 1kg with 15kg cartons. Flours run retail bags with master bags and loose bulk. Oils run bottles, 15L tins and distributor cartons. Pulses run 500g to 5kg plus loose bulk.
Browse the full range, or send us the products and volumes you need and we will quote against the configuration that fits.