How do you change the generic ingredient of a supplier item you've already associated in tspoonlab?
You can change the generic ingredient of a supplier item in tspoonlab if you associated it by mistake. Associate the item with the correct generic ingredient. Then update the purchases you've already received, so the stock, cost and price history end up under the correct generic ingredient.
This article is for anyone with permission to manage Ingredients, Suppliers and Purchases in tspoonlab.
A generic ingredient in tspoonlab can have supplier items from several suppliers associated with it. For example, the generic ingredient Plátano can have the item BANANA from the supplier Fructus associated with it. It can also have the item Platano EXTRA from another supplier. Sometimes one of those items ends up associated with the wrong generic ingredient. This can happen when you import a price list, or when you receive a delivery note with AI document scanning without reviewing the associations. When that happens, you can associate the item with the correct generic ingredient without affecting the other items. This process is also known as disassociating a supplier item or unmerging a generic ingredient.
The process has two parts. First, on the Supplier Page, you change the generic ingredient associated with the supplier item. Then you correct, one by one, the delivery notes you'd already received with the previous generic ingredient.
📢 Important: if the correct generic ingredient doesn't exist in your tspoonlab database yet, create it before you start. To find out how, see the article Ingredients: what they are and how to create them 🍎.
How do you associate a supplier item with a different generic ingredient in tspoonlab?
To associate a supplier item with a different generic ingredient in tspoonlab, first find the item on the Ingredient Page. Then edit it on the Supplier Page and select the correct generic ingredient.
Find the supplier item on the Ingredient Page
The supplier item you associated by mistake appears on the Ingredient Page of its current generic ingredient in tspoonlab, in the "Suppliers" section.
Go to "Offer" → "Ingredients".
Search for the generic ingredient you want to unmerge, for example, Plátano.
On its Ingredient Page, scroll down to the "Suppliers" section.
Locate the line of the supplier item you want to change, for example, the item BANANA from the supplier Fructus, with the code 95846.
Click the eye icon on that line. tspoonlab takes you to the Supplier Page, under "Management" → "Suppliers".
💡 Tip: if you already know which supplier the item comes from, go straight to "Management" → "Suppliers". Open the Supplier Page and edit the item in its "Items" section.
Change the generic ingredient associated with the supplier item
You change the generic ingredient by editing the supplier item in the "Items" section of the Supplier Page in tspoonlab.
In the "Items" section of the Supplier Page, use the section's search bar to find the supplier item.
Click the three dots on the item's line.
Select "Edit".
In the Fructus - Items pop-up window (its title shows your supplier's name), click the generic ingredient in the "Items" column, for example, Plátano.
In the generic ingredient search window that opens, type the name of the correct generic ingredient, for example, Banana.
If it doesn't appear, try similar names before you create a new one, so you don't duplicate ingredients.
Select it in the list.
Click "Select".
Check that the "Items" column shows the new generic ingredient.
Click "Ok". The supplier item is now associated with the new generic ingredient. In the "Items" section of the Supplier Page, it appears under its new name, for example, Banana 95846.
📢 Important: changing the generic ingredient of a supplier item only affects the purchases you receive from then on. Purchases you've already received stay under the previous generic ingredient until you correct their delivery notes using the item's "Purchase history" option.
How do you update a supplier item's purchase history with the new generic ingredient?
To move the purchases you've already received to the new generic ingredient in tspoonlab, open the supplier item's purchase history. Then correct its line on each delivery note, one by one.
Open the supplier item's purchase history
You open a supplier item's purchase history from the three-dot menu on its line, in the "Items" section of the Supplier Page in tspoonlab.
In the "Items" section of the Supplier Page, click the three dots on the supplier item's line again.
Select "Purchase history". The "Recent purchases" window opens with the purchases received for that item: Purchase Order, Cost Centre, person, date and amount.
Click "Edit" on the line of the purchase you want to correct. The "Edit delivery note" window for that purchase opens.
📌 Note: the purchase history only shows purchases from the Cost Centre you're working in. If you've bought the supplier item in several Cost Centres, switch Cost Centre in the tspoonlab top bar. Then repeat the delivery note corrections in each one.
Replace the generic ingredient on the delivery note line
In the "Edit delivery note" window in tspoonlab, the supplier item's line shows the previous generic ingredient crossed out. That's because the item is no longer associated with it.
Use the search bar at the top of the delivery note to find the supplier item's line, for example, by typing ban.
Click the previous generic ingredient, which appears crossed out, for example, Plátano 95846.
In the pop-up window that opens, delete the previous generic ingredient's name from the search bar.
Select the supplier item with the new generic ingredient, for example, Banana 95846.
Click "Select".
Check that the delivery note line shows the new generic ingredient.
Click "Ok" to save the delivery note.
Repeat these steps for each purchase in the "Recent purchases" window.
Click "Close" when you've finished. The generic ingredient is now unmerged: the supplier item is associated with the new generic ingredient, and all its past purchases appear under it.
Why do you also need to update the purchase history?
You also need to update the purchase history because of how tspoonlab records purchases. Every delivery note you receive adds stock to the generic ingredient on its line and records its purchase price, which feeds into your recipe costings. If you change a supplier item's generic ingredient but don't correct its delivery notes, the purchases you've already received stay with the previous generic ingredient. They keep counting towards its stock, cost and price history. When you correct each delivery note, its purchase moves to the correct generic ingredient, and both generic ingredients show their actual figures.
How is unmerging a generic ingredient different from merging duplicate ingredients?
Unmerging a generic ingredient in tspoonlab means associating a single supplier item with another generic ingredient and correcting its purchases. The other supplier items associated with the original generic ingredient don't change. Merging duplicate ingredients is the opposite process. You move all the suppliers and purchases from one generic ingredient to another with the "Move to another ingredient" option, and then delete the duplicate. If the two generic ingredients are actually the same, see the article Merge duplicate ingredients ♊.
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