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Ingredient Verification & Merging

How to consolidate duplicate ingredients and build a clean master ingredient library using the Merging feature.

This article explains how to use the Ingredient Merging feature to clean up duplicate ingredients in your library and build a well-structured master ingredient catalogue.

Why this feature matters: building a clean ingredient library

If you work with multiple integrated suppliers, you've likely run into this: the same physical product — say, a 1kg bag of flour — appears in your library multiple times because each supplier integration creates its own ingredient entry. Over time, this leads to a fragmented library where the same product lives under several names, making reporting, stock management, and procurement harder to manage.

Ingredient Merging is how you fix that — and keep it clean going forward.

The recommended approach for multi-supplier setups is:

  1. Create one generic "master" ingredient per product in your library (e.g. Flour 1kg). This is your canonical ingredient — the one used in recipes, tracked in stock, and reported on.
  2. Use Ingredient Merging to fold all supplier-specific duplicate entries into that master. Their packages, supplier articles, GTINs, and stock history all move across.
  3. Going forward, whenever a supplier integration creates a new duplicate article, simply merge it into the existing master.

The result is a library where each ingredient represents a real product concept, and all the sourcing and supplier details live as packages under that single ingredient.

Ingredient Merging vs. Stock Variants

You may be wondering how this differs from Stock Variants, which also lets you manage multiple versions of an ingredient.

  Ingredient Merging Stock Variants
Purpose Permanently consolidate duplicates into one master Manage genuinely different but interchangeable products
Outcome One ingredient remains; the source is archived Both ingredients remain active in the library
Use case Same product entered twice (e.g. from two integrations), or similar products you want to track as one  Different products that can substitute each other (e.g. Sunflower Oil / Olive Oil) 
Recipes All references update automatically to the master Recipe can reference either; system auto-substitutes based on stock
Reversible? Yes — can be undone at any time Yes — simply remove the variant relationship

In short: use Stock Variants when two genuinely different products are interchangeable in your kitchen. Use Ingredient Merging when two entries in your library actually represent the same product.

Stock Variants are not supported in all modules or functionalities of the software (e.g. the financial tab and bills of materials).

How to merge an ingredient

From the ingredient list
  1. Open the ingredient detail list page and search for the ingredients you would like to remove (source).
  2. Select the source ingredients to be merged. 
  3. Click the selection dropdown in the top toolbar and select "Verify and Merge Selection".
  4. Search for and select the ingredient you want to keep (the target / master).
  5. Review the comparison view, which shows key differences between the two ingredients: recipes, allergens, packages, GTINs, and supplier articles.
  6. Confirm the merge.
From a single ingredient
  1. Open the ingredient and click the Tools menu.
  2. Click Merge Ingredient Into Another.
    The ingredient toolbar with the Tools menu open, showing the option Merge Ingredient Into Another
  3. Search for the ingredient you want to keep, review the comparison view and confirm, as in the steps above.

You need the Edit permission for ingredients to see this option and Verify and Merge Selection. The option is not shown for an archived ingredient, or for one that is part of a merge that has not been undone.

In bulk from the Ingredient list view

You can also merge multiple ingredients at once directly from the list view:

  1. Apply the Verified for production filter, set to No, to surface all unverified ingredients in your library.
  2. Select the ingredients you want to merge.
  3. Under Selection, choose Verify and Merge.

After merging, Apicbase will:

  • Transfer all packages (stock items) from the source to the target
  • Update all recipes referencing the source to point to the target ingredient — quantities, waste %, and recipe-level supplier preferences are preserved
  • Consolidate GTINs and supplier articles
  • Archive the source ingredient so it no longer appears in your active library

Note: The target ingredient's allergens, nutritional values, and name are never overwritten. Always check the comparison view for any differences you may want to manually reconcile afterwards.

Note: A merge never copies allergens, dietary information or nutritional values from the source. If the source declared an allergen that the target does not, add it to the target yourself. Allergen suggestions from suppliers do move to the target, and they wait there for you to review them.

Note: A merge is blocked when two stock items of the same size are both portion articles, or when one is a portion article and the other has supplier packages. Click Compare before you merge: the comparison shows this in advance in the red Is portion article? row. Choose a different pair or contact support.

After a merge, the order screens can take a little while to show the change. Finish open stock counts before you merge.

Verify, archive or skip ingredients

The screen that opens after Verify and Merge Selection is called Verify & Merge. It takes you through your selected ingredients one by one. For each ingredient you choose one of four cards:

  • Verify & Merge it into another ingredient: merge it into the ingredient you keep.
  • Archive it: hide the ingredient from stock and keep it out of new recipes.
  • Mark it as Verified For Production: keep the ingredient as it is and mark it verified.
  • Skip it: leave it for later.
    The Verify & Merge screen with the four cards: Verify & Merge it into another ingredient, Archive it, Mark it as Verified For Production and Skip it

When you are done, Merge Review lists every ingredient with its status: Pending, Merged into, Archived, Marked as Verified For Production or Skipped. Click Check Again on a skipped ingredient to pick it up again. You can select up to 50 ingredients at a time.

How to undo a merge

Every merge can be fully reverted. Open the target ingredient, go to the Info & Categories tab and click the link next to Received merge from under Historical Details. In the Ingredients merged from window, find the merge and click Undo Merge. Choose Undo Merge & Unarchive to make the duplicate active again as well. Undo Merge alone separates the ingredients and moves the recipes back to the duplicate, but the duplicate stays archived, so those recipes then use an archived ingredient. In most cases, choose Undo Merge & Unarchive. You can also start from the duplicate: the link next to Merged into opens the Ingredients merged into window with the same button. In the Verify & Merge screen, click Undo Merge next to a merged ingredient in Merge Review. This also makes the duplicate active again.

When the duplicate becomes active again, its Allowed in Production setting is switched on. Check that setting after the undo. Unarchiving the duplicate by hand does not undo the merge: its packages stay on the ingredient you kept. Use Undo Merge & Unarchive instead.

The Ingredients merged from window listing each merge with its date, whether it was reverted and the Undo Merge button

Note: stock movements made after the merge (counts, deliveries, waste against the target) are not rolled back when you undo the merge. Recipe and ingredient data are restored, but stock stays as-is.

Rules and restrictions

  • You can merge multiple source ingredients into the same master, one by one.
  • You cannot merge a target (master) ingredient into yet another ingredient. Once an ingredient has been used as a merge target, it cannot become a source in a new merge. This restriction exists to keep the revert chain intact and predictable.
  • You cannot merge archived ingredients as a source.

Known limitations 

PAR levels, MIN quantities, and storage locations These are kept from the target ingredient only. Review and update them manually after merging if needed.

Order templates Order templates that used a package of the source keep working. Apicbase points them to the matching package on the target.

Stock variants on the source ingredient Variant relationships are not migrated to the target during a merge. If the source you are merging has stock variants attached, those links remain on the archived source after the merge. After merging, manually re-link or merge any variants you want to keep associated with the new target.

Need help?

If something doesn't look right after a merge, contact your Customer Success Manager or reach out via in-app support. It helps to include the names of the source and target ingredients and the approximate time the merge took place.