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Parent Category Classifications

Menu Location: Products > Settings > Parent Category Classifications

Last Updated: 2026-07-27

Overview

Parent Category Classifications are the top-level groupings your products are classified under, for example "Fruit" or "Veggies." Every product classification in your catalog can have a parent (top-level categories have parent = 0), and this page manages those top-level entries.

These parent categories aren't a storefront navigation/menu builder. They drive how your business packs and reports on products:

Primary Functions:

  • Set the pack order categories are processed in
  • Flag categories that are packed separately from the sealed box (e.g. cooler items)
  • Flag categories whose products are packed into a bag (if your account uses bag packing)
  • Show/hide a category on the customer Love/Hate preferences page
  • Flag a category as produce for the Non-Produce Cost Report
  • Keep private, internal-only notes about a category

Category Edit Form

Editing a parent category shows these fields, grouped as follows:

Category Details

  • Name - The category name customers see, e.g. "Fruit."
  • Default Pack Order - Order this category is packed in (lower numbers pack first). 0 = unset.

Packing

  • Special Pack - Items in this category are packed separately from the sealed box (e.g. the driver grabs milk from the cooler to deliver alongside the sealed dry-goods box). They show as a special pack on labels and the driver sheet.
  • Product Use Bag - This category's products are packed into a bag. This field only appears if your account has bag packing enabled.

Customer Display

  • Display in Love/Hate - Show this category on the customer Love/Hate preferences page.

Reporting

  • Is Produce - This is a produce category (fruit, vegetables, herbs, etc.). Products under it count as produce; everything else counts as non-produce on the Non-Produce Cost Report. Leave off for grocery categories like dairy, bakery, eggs, coffee.

Private Description

  • Private Description - Internal notes about this category. Not shown to customers.

Creating a Parent Category

Steps:

  1. Click "Add New"
  2. Enter the category Name
  3. Set Default Pack Order if this category needs a specific pack sequence
  4. Turn on Special Pack if items in this category are handed to the driver separately from the sealed box
  5. Turn on Product Use Bag if this category's products should be bagged (only shown when bag packing is enabled for your account)
  6. Turn on Display in Love/Hate if customers should be able to set preferences for this category
  7. Turn on Is Produce if this is a produce category, so it's counted correctly on the Non-Produce Cost Report
  8. Add any Private Description notes for your own team
  9. Save

Common Use Cases

Use Case 1: Add a New Top-Level Category

Goal: Introduce a new top-level grouping, e.g. "Meal Kits," under which products or subcategories will be added.

Steps:

  1. Click "Add New"
  2. Name: "Meal Kits"
  3. Set Default Pack Order to control where it falls in the packing sequence
  4. Leave Special Pack / Product Use Bag off unless this category is handled differently in the warehouse
  5. Turn on Display in Love/Hate if customers should be able to indicate preferences for meal kit items
  6. Save
  7. Add subcategories or products under the new parent from the Master Product Classifications or Products pages

Use Case 2: Mark a Category as Produce for Reporting

Goal: Make sure a fruit/vegetable category is counted correctly on the Non-Produce Cost Report.

Steps:

  1. Edit the parent category (e.g. "Produce")
  2. Turn on Is Produce
  3. Save
  4. Leave grocery categories (dairy, bakery, eggs, coffee) with Is Produce off

Use Case 3: Flag a Cooler Item Category as Special Pack

Goal: Items in a category like "Dairy" need to be grabbed from the cooler and handed to the driver separately from the sealed box, rather than packed inside it.

Steps:

  1. Edit the parent category
  2. Turn on Special Pack
  3. Save
  4. Confirm the category now shows as a special pack on labels and the driver sheet

Troubleshooting

Product Use Bag field is missing

This field only appears when bag packing is enabled for your account. If you need bag packing, that's an account-level setting, not something toggled per category.

Category doesn't show on the Love/Hate page

Confirm Display in Love/Hate is turned on for the category.

Non-Produce Cost Report looks wrong

Check the Is Produce flag on each top-level parent category. Products inherit produce-ness from their top-level ancestor category, so a mismarked parent throws off every product beneath it.

  • Master Product Classifications - full category hierarchy for all your products
  • Products - assign products to categories

Quick Reference Card

Task Action/Location
Create parent category Click "Add New"
Set pack sequence Default Pack Order field
Mark as packed separately from sealed box Special Pack toggle
Mark as bagged (if enabled) Product Use Bag toggle
Show on customer preferences page Display in Love/Hate toggle
Mark as produce for reporting Is Produce toggle
Add internal-only notes Private Description field

FAQs

What is a "parent" category vs a regular classification?

Every product classification (category or product) can have a parent. A parent category has parent = 0 and represents a top-level grouping like "Fruit" or "Veggies." This page manages only those top-level entries; use Master Product Classifications to manage the full hierarchy underneath them.

Does Default Pack Order control anything customer-facing?

No. It controls the order categories are processed in during packing/warehouse operations, not the order categories appear to customers.

What happens if I turn off Is Produce for a fruit/vegetable category by mistake?

Products under that category will be counted as non-produce (grocery) on the Non-Produce Cost Report until you correct the flag.

End of Documentation

For additional help, contact your system administrator or Kiva Logic support.