Grocery consolidation and merging
Understand how Spiceful combines duplicate items, the difference between Basic and Smart Merge, and how to configure merge settings.
Grocery consolidation and merging
When you add ingredients from multiple recipes, Spiceful automatically combines duplicates so you don't buy the same item twice. This guide explains how consolidation works, the difference between Basic and Smart Merge, and how to configure your settings.
How grocery consolidation works
When you add ingredients from recipes to your grocery list, Spiceful detects duplicates and consolidates them into a single line item with the combined quantity.
What gets consolidated
Example:
- Recipe 1 needs "2 cups flour"
- Recipe 2 needs "1 cup flour"
- Your grocery list shows: "3 cups flour" (from 2 recipes)
What Spiceful does automatically
- Detects when you're adding an ingredient that's already on your list
- Combines the quantities intelligently
- Shows you which recipes the item came from
- Updates the merged item when you check it off or remove items
Why this matters
- Save time: No need to manually add up quantities
- Avoid over-buying: Don't accidentally buy duplicates
- Stay organized: See consolidated totals at a glance
Basic vs Smart Merge
Spiceful offers two levels of merge intelligence: Basic Merge (available to everyone) and Smart Merge (Premium feature).
Basic Merge (Free and Premium)
Basic Merge combines items that are exact matches or very close variants.
What it combines:
- "2 cups flour" + "1 cup flour" → "3 cups flour" ✓
- "olive oil" + "olive oil" → "olive oil" (listed once) ✓
What it doesn't combine:
- "flour" + "all-purpose flour" → Listed separately ✗
- "1 lb chicken breast" + "chicken breast" → Listed separately ✗
- "olive oil" + "extra virgin olive oil" → Listed separately ✗
How it works:
- Matches exact ingredient names
- Adds quantities when units match
- Case-insensitive (Flour = flour)
Smart Merge (Premium)
Smart Merge uses AI to understand that similar ingredients are the same thing, even when worded differently.
What it combines (in addition to Basic Merge):
- "flour" + "all-purpose flour" + "AP flour" → "flour" ✓
- "1 lb chicken breast" + "chicken breast" → "chicken breast" ✓
- "olive oil" + "extra virgin olive oil" + "EVOO" → "olive oil" ✓
- "2 cloves garlic" + "1 tsp garlic" → "2 cloves + 1 tsp garlic" ✓
How it works:
- AI recognizes synonyms and variations
- Understands ingredient relationships (e.g., "cheddar" is a type of "cheese")
- Keeps different unit types visible when they can't be converted (e.g., "2 cloves + 1 tsp")
Benefits:
- Fewer duplicate items on your list
- More accurate consolidated quantities
- Less manual cleanup needed
Smart Merge settings (Premium)
If you have Premium, you can configure how Smart Merge works.
Automatic vs Manual mode
Automatic (default):
- Smart Merge runs automatically when you add ingredients
- Items are consolidated instantly
- Best for most users
Manual (on demand):
- You control when Smart Merge runs
- Add all your ingredients first, then trigger merge
- Useful if you want to review items before they're combined
How to change Smart Merge settings
On web:
- Go to Settings → Grocery Settings
- Find Smart Merge section
- Choose your mode:
- Automatic — Merge runs automatically
- Manual — You trigger merge yourself
- Save changes
On mobile:
- Tap Settings tab
- Tap Grocery Settings
- Select Smart Merge mode
- Choose Automatic or Manual
Using Manual Smart Merge
If you've set Smart Merge to Manual mode:
- Add all your ingredients to the grocery list
- Go to your Grocery list
- Click/tap Run Smart Merge button
- Review the preview of what will be merged
- Click/tap Apply to accept the changes
Or use Optimize selected items to merge only specific items—see below.
Optimize selected items (Premium)
Manually select specific grocery items and run Smart Merge on just those items—with a preview before applying.
When you'd use this
- You want to merge some items but not others
- You're not sure if the AI will merge items correctly
- You want to see what will happen before committing
How it works
On web:
- Go to your Grocery list
- Check the boxes next to items you want to optimize
- Click Optimize Selected (appears when items are selected)
- Review the preview showing what will be merged
- Click Apply to accept, or Cancel to keep items as-is
On mobile:
- Tap the Grocery tab
- Long-press an item to enter selection mode
- Select the items you want to optimize
- Tap Optimize Selected
- Review and apply or cancel
Understanding merge banners
Spiceful shows banners on your grocery list to help you understand what's happening with merging.
Common banners and what they mean
"Basic Merge is ON"
- Your items are being consolidated using Basic Merge rules
- This is normal for all users
"Smart Merge is ON" (Premium)
- AI-powered merging is active
- Items are being intelligently combined
"Smart Merge available - Upgrade to Premium"
- You're on a Free account
- Banner advertises the Smart Merge feature
- Click to learn about Premium
"Run Smart Merge to consolidate items" (Premium, Manual mode)
- You have Smart Merge but it's in Manual mode
- Click the button to trigger merge
"X items can be merged"
- Suggests there are duplicate or similar items
- Click to review and merge them
What to do
Most banners are informational. If a banner suggests an action (like "Run Smart Merge"), you can click the button or ignore it based on your preference.
Common issues
Duplicate items not combining
- Basic Merge: Only combines exact matches. "Milk" and "2 cups milk" won't merge
- Solution: Use Smart Merge (Premium) or edit items to match exactly
Items merged incorrectly
- Smart Merge might occasionally combine items you want separate
- Solution: Use Manual mode to preview merges, or use "Optimize selected items" for control
"Smart Merge not working"
- Check that you're on a Premium account
- If in Manual mode, you need to click "Run Smart Merge"
- See Grocery list not merging as expected for more help
Quantities look wrong after merge
- Double-check the original recipes to confirm quantities are correct
- Smart Merge adds quantities when units match; incompatible units are listed together (e.g., "2 cloves + 1 tsp")
Items from different lists got merged (Premium with multiple lists)
- Each grocery list has its own merge scope. Items won't merge across different lists
Tips
- Include quantities when adding manual items for better consolidation (e.g., "2 lbs chicken" not just "chicken")
- Review your list after adding from meal plan to catch any items you already have
- Try Manual mode if you want more control over what gets merged
- Use tags from recipes to track why items are on your list