Most products you buy don't come as loose mass — they come in containers. A 1kg bag of coffee beans. A 750ml bottle of wine. A case of 24 cans. A box of 12 muffins.

For Stash to convert recipe units (like grams or millilitres) into your storage units (bags, bottles, cases), it needs to know how much is inside one container. That's what Each [container] contains is for.

Get this right once per item, and Blueprints, POS deductions, and stock counts all just work.

The Each [container] contains field appears on an item's setup form whenever you select a packaging unit (Bag, Bottle, Box, Can, Case, Carton, Jar, Sachet, etc.). It doesn't appear for plain weight, volume, or count units — those don't need it. See Understanding units of measurement.

The field name changes based on your unit. If your item is stored in Bag, the field reads Each Bag contains. If it's Box, it reads Each Box contains. Same logic for every packaging unit.

Use this when the container holds something measurable — beans, liquid, powder.

Examples:

Available content units: Gram, Kilogram, Ounce, Pound, Milliliter, Liter, Fluid Ounce, Piece.

Use this when the container holds a fixed number of identical items.

Examples:

Pack size is set by selecting Piece as the content unit and entering the count.

When a Blueprint deducts a component, Stash takes the recipe quantity, looks up the container info, and divides:

Example 1 — measurable content:

Example 2 — pack size:

If you sell 100 Cappuccinos, you've used 1.8 bags of beans. Stash tracks this exactly.

If your item uses a packaging unit but Each container contains is empty, Blueprint deduction can't work. The deduction preview will warn you with: "Set content info on [item] to enable automatic deduction." Open the item, fill it in, and the warning clears. See Why my Blueprint isn't deducting stock.

Stash tracks fractional containers correctly — your stock might show 0.7 Bag after a few hundred sales. When that drops below your threshold, Stash alerts you. When you receive a new bag (1 Bag), stock becomes 1.7 Bag.

If a box contains different things (e.g., a gift basket with a candle, a notebook, and a chocolate bar), don't model it as a packaging item. Use a Blueprint instead — each item stays in its own inventory entry, and the Blueprint deducts the right components when the box sells. See Creating your first Blueprint.

If your supplier changes pack size or content (e.g., bottle now 700ml instead of 750ml), update Each container contains on the item. Existing stock isn't recalculated, but all future deductions use the new value.

Check the content quantity matches reality. A common mistake: typing 1 Kilogram instead of 1000 Gram (or vice versa) — both work, but the rest of your Blueprint must use the same family.

You probably switched from a packaging unit to a non-packaging one (e.g., from Bag to Kilogram). The field only shows for packaging units. If you switch back, the field returns and you'll need to re-enter the value.