Sample output from the Assembly Ingredient Cost Creep Analysis prompt in the Sonar AI Prompt Library, run against a NetSuite test account. Every name and number here is test data. Back to the post · The library

🌢️ Ingredient Cost Creep β€” Salsa Line

2025 vs 2026 assembly build costs Β· vendor bill pricing Β· margin impact  Β·  Generated 2026-07-27 by Sonar AI  Β·  Items & bills link directly into NetSuite

πŸ“‹ Executive Summary

πŸ” It wasn't creep β€” it was a step-change. Sole supplier FrisCo repriced Limes (SAL104) from $0.00105 β†’ $0.025 per lime (~24Γ—) on the September 2025 bill, and every bill since has been at the new rate. Yearly averages ("+32.4%") understate this badly β€” 2025 simply blended two cheap months with four expensive ones.

πŸ’° While jar cost rose +1.5%, the 12 oz Jar (SAL107) average selling price fell βˆ’4.9% ($1.776 β†’ $1.690). Net effect: gross margin 33.2% β†’ 28.7% (βˆ’4.5 pts), β‰ˆ $238 given up on 2026's 2,280 jars sold. The margin squeeze is two-sided: cost up, realized price down.

🚩 Anomaly worth investigating: the February 2026 bill reverted to the old price ($0.88 for 840 limes vs the $21.00 every neighboring month) β€” either a FrisCo billing error in your favor, or evidence the old price is still available if you ask. Every other 2026 bill is at the new rate.
Lime price step (Sep 2025)
~24Γ—
$0.00105 β†’ $0.025 / lime
Jar cost / unit
$1.204
β–² +1.5% vs 2025
Jar avg selling price
$1.690
β–Ό βˆ’4.9% vs 2025
Jar gross margin
28.7%
β–Ό βˆ’4.5 pts (was 33.2%)
Lime supply risk
1 vendor
FrisCo Β· 26 bills Β· no alternate ever

πŸ“ˆ Lime purchase price by month β€” the step, not the creep

Per-lime rate on each monthly FrisCo vendor bill. Hover any point for the bill detail. The Feb 2026 dip is the anomalous bill flagged above. Sourced from VendBill lines for item SAL104.

🧱 Cost waterfall β€” Bulk Mild Salsa, $/unit

How 2025's $1.4086 became 2026's $1.4416. Limes contribute ~46% of the increase; cilantro & jalapeΓ±o movement is usage/yield drift (their vendor prices were flat).

πŸ’° Margin squeeze β€” 12 oz Jar

Avg selling price from CustInvc lines (2,280 jars sold each year; 6 invoices in 2025, 11 in 2026 β€” smaller average deal size, lower realized price). Cost from assembly builds. The squeeze is two-sided: cost up, price down.

πŸŽ›οΈ What-if: lime price sensitivity

If FrisCo's lime price moves another 0% from today's $0.025/lime…
Lime price
$0.0250
Bulk salsa cost/unit
$1.4416
Jar cost/unit
$1.2040
Jar margin @ $1.690
28.7%
Annual impact @ 2026 vol
$0
Assumes constant recipe usage (2.24 limes per bulk unit, 0.75 bulk units per jar) and constant selling price. Drag negative to model renegotiating back toward the old price.

🧾 Component detail β€” Bulk Mild Salsa (SAL106)

IngredientVendor price '25β†’'26Cost/unit '25Cost/unit '26Ξ”Driver
πŸ… Tomato (SAL100)$0.80 β†’ $0.80$0.6063$0.6068+0.1%flat
πŸ§… Onion, Red (SAL101)$0.72 β†’ $0.72$0.2524$0.2537+0.5%flat
🌿 Cilantro (SAL102)$5.00 β†’ $5.00$0.2500$0.2569+2.8%usage ↑
🌢️ Pepper, JalapeΓ±o (SAL103)$4.80 β†’ $4.80$0.2667$0.2756+3.3%usage ↑
🟒 Limes (SAL104)$0.001 β†’ $0.025$0.0333$0.0485+45.7%price step β–²β–²
Total$1.4086$1.4416+2.34%

🏭 Vendor attribution β€” Limes

VendorBills (all-time)FirstLastStatus
FrisCo26Jul 2025Jul 2026sole source
No other vendor has ever billed or been sent a PO for limes. Combined with a unilateral 24Γ— repricing, this is a textbook single-source exposure. Recommended: request a quote from at least one alternate produce supplier, and ask FrisCo about the Feb 2026 price reversion.

🌐 External market check

unavailable  Public price series could not be fetched from inside NetSuite today (FRED timed out; BLS blocks server-side requests).

Directional context: even at the new $0.025/lime, FrisCo's price is far below typical wholesale lime pricing β€” the old $0.001 rate was almost certainly a placeholder or error being corrected, not a market move. The right question for FrisCo isn't "why did it go up?" but "is $0.025 the final rate, and why did Feb 2026 bill at the old one?"
To automate this properly, an integration with a produce-pricing API (e.g., USDA Market News) called from a scheduled script would work where ad-hoc fetches are blocked.

Scope & method

Of 24 assemblies built in 2026, only SAL106 and SAL107 also had 2025 builds β€” the only valid YoY comparisons. Component costs from Build transaction GL lines Γ· units built; vendor prices from VendBill lines; selling prices from CustInvc lines. Period: 2025-01-01 β†’ 2026-07-27.