What you bake
Pie Name Tags: 5 Fields, Label Size, and Cost per Dozen
Decide what goes on a pie tag, which size holds up, and what a dozen labels costs you.
On this page
There is no single right look for pie name tags, but there is a right amount of information. A tag that answers three buyer questions, what it is, how fresh it is, and who made it, saves you a phone call later. Everything else on the label is style.
What to remember
- Write the pie name the way a buyer would say it, not the way a cookbook does.
- Put the bake date and a use by date on the tag, not just the day you made it.
- Price the label into the pie before you set the pie price.
- Buy a small pack first and stick one on a real box before you order more.
What goes on a pie name tag
Five fields do the work, and each one answers a question a buyer would otherwise text you about. Keep them in the same order on every tag so you can check a whole batch in seconds.
Pick the pie name
Write it the way you say it at the table. Apple crumb is clearer than Harvest Orchard Crumble.
Add your shop name
Use the name you sell under, spelled the same way every time, so a repeat buyer can find you again.
Put the bake date on
Write the day the pie came out of the oven as a date, not as a day of the week.
Add a use by line
State the date you want the pie eaten by, and say whether it needs the fridge.
Add one way to reach you
A phone number or the address of your shop page. One is enough, because two crowd a small tag.
Which label size and paper hold up on a pie box
A pie leaves your kitchen in a box, a tin, or a dish with a lid, and each one takes a different tag. A round label on the lid is the easiest for a buyer to read across a market table. A tag tied through a handle works when the lid is already taped shut.
Test three tags before you order a pack. Put one on a box straight from the oven, one on a cold box, and one in the fridge overnight. If a corner lifts or the ink smears, change the paper, not the wording. A smudged date is worse than no date at all.
The formatting questions are the same ones that come up with cupcake name labels: what to print, what to leave off, and how many to buy. Read that one next if you sell more than one kind of baked good.
What pie name tags cost per dozen
Divide what you paid by the number of tags in the pack and you have the only label number that belongs in your pie price. A pack of 100 is not cheaper than a pack of 25 if 80 of them carry the wrong flavor name. Buy small, test, then buy the size you will actually use.
The math is the same one behind cinnamon roll name tags, where a bigger pack only wins after the wording is settled. Write your per tag cost in the same note as the box and the tin, so the label shows up in the pie price instead of your profit.
Worked example: one pie with the tag priced in
Use your own figures. The point is the columns, not the amounts below.
Say a 9 inch apple pie takes $6.10 in ingredients, 45 minutes of your time at $18 an hour ($13.50), and $2.40 in overhead. That overhead covers the box, the tin, one printed tag, and a share of the $20 a month Brevl plan. Total cost is $22.00. At a $30 price the margin is $8.00, about 27 percent.
Take the tag out of that $2.40 and the total barely moves. That is the point. A label is not where a pie loses money, and a cheaper tag will not rescue a thin margin. The fix is a higher price or faster hands, not a thinner sticker.
Mistakes that cost you money on pie labels
The third costly mistake is writing every date by hand at the market, in a rush, with the pies already loaded. Leave a blank line on the tag and fill it in once, at the counter, before the boxes go in the car. Then open one box at random and read it.
What to check before you order
Check your shop name against the spelling you use everywhere else. Check that the tag still reads at arm’s length, which is how a buyer sees it across a table. Check the flavor wording against what is in the box, including the size of the pie. The naming decisions are close cousins of the ones in muffin wrapper name, where one word changes what a buyer expects.
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Common questions
Do I need a different tag for every pie flavor?
Yes, if a buyer cannot tell the flavors apart by looking. Keep the layout and the font the same and change only the flavor line. That way one order covers every pie you bake, and you are not paying for a new design each time a flavor comes back.
Can I handwrite pie name tags instead of printing them?
Handwriting is fine when you bake a few pies a week and your hand stays steady. It falls apart on a Friday night with twenty boxes open. At that point printed tags cost less per pie, and the date is easier to read than a scribble at the market.
Where on the pie should the tag go?
Put it where the buyer looks first, which is the top of the closed box. If the pie goes out in a dish the buyer keeps, add a second tag on the dish so the date travels with it. Never put a tag on the crust.
How many tags should I order the first time?
Buy the smallest pack that covers about a month of sales, then stop. Stick one on a real box, carry it to the car, and leave it in the fridge overnight. If it still reads cleanly after that, order the bigger pack.
What should I do with leftover tags for a flavor I stopped baking?
Keep them in a labeled envelope instead of loose in a drawer. If the flavor returns for a holiday, the tags are ready. If it does not, you have lost one small pack rather than a whole order, and your drawer still closes.
General information, not legal or tax advice.