What is a Unit?

A "unit" is an imaginary package size that keeps the simulation consistent across store types.

The simplest definition

A unit is a bundle of inventory in a bucket.
Refrigerated unit: a bundle of cold ingredients (cheese, meat, produce).
Ambient unit: a bundle of shelf-stable ingredients (flour, sauce base, spices).
Operating supply unit: a bundle of supplies (boxes, napkins, gloves).
You never sell "units." You sell products. Units are what you consume to produce products.

Without units, the simulation would need exact recipes, ingredient conversions, and dozens of real-world SKUs.
Units keep the math consistent across store types, easy to calculate/explain, and flexible for many scenarios.
Think of units like game pieces that represent inventory in a realistic way.

Each bucket has a "Goods per Unit" variable: how many products you can make from 1 unit in that bucket.
Example: if refrigerated goods per unit = 2.5, then 1 refrigerated unit supports 2.5 products.
To sell 1 pizza, you spend a fraction of a unit from each bucket (e.g., 1 / 2.5 = 0.4 refrigerated units per pizza).
This is why unit values in the ledger are often decimals.

Ledger inventory is tracked in units (by bucket): refrigeratedUnits, ambientUnits, notForResaleUnits.
Each week must satisfy: End Units = Begin Units + Received Units − Used Units − Waste Units (for each bucket).
That conservation rule is what makes units feel "real" inside the simulation.

A unit is not the same physical thing in every store type; it's sized to match that store's reality.
Best mental model: a unit is "one standard restocking bundle" for that store type.
Store types define the bundle via capacity units (storage), avg unit cost (price), and goods per unit (yield).

Food truck: small cooler-sized bundles; lower capacity means stockouts happen fast if you under-order.
Street cart: tiny bundles (cart-bin sized); refrigerated capacity is extremely tight.
Campus kiosk: standardized restock packs; ambient can be easier to store than refrigerated.
Bar and grill: larger pantry/fridge case-pack bundles; higher capacities (especially ambient).
Franchise location: consistent bulk bundles with better pricing; often slightly better yields from efficiency.
Fine dining: smaller, pricey bundles of premium ingredients; yields can be lower due to complexity/waste.
Upscale bistro: premium but practical bundles designed for steady service.
Festival vendor: big event-weekend bundles; operating supplies can become the limiter at high volume.

Assume: refrigerated goods per unit = 2.5, ambient goods per unit = 5, ops goods per unit = 12.
If you sell 80 products: refrigerated used = 80 / 2.5 = 32 units.
If you sell 80 products: ambient used = 80 / 5 = 16 units.
If you sell 80 products: ops used = 80 / 12 = 6.67 units.
This is why refrigerated is often the first bottleneck, and why ops can look small but still matter if capacity is low.

A unit is a store-type-sized bundle of inventory, and goods per unit tells you how many products that bundle can make.