Annie B$$s Homemade Ice Cream is an ice cream shop in Asheville, NC$.$ Annie's Homemade is deciding whether to make its own ice cream mix or buy it from a supplier. Ice cream mix, which includes ingredients such as milk, cream, sugar, and light corn syrup, is the foundational component of all ice cream flavors. The law requires that ice cream mix be pasteurized at a pre$-$specified temperature for a pre$-$specified period of time. Once the mix is pasteurized various ingredients, such as vanilla extract, chocolate chips, chocolate powder, brownies, peanut butter cups, and cookies can be added to this $$blank canvas$$ to create specific flavors.

A supplier has offered to sell Annie's pasteurized ice cream mix for a price of $$10$ per gallon. The minimum order size is $250$ gallons with an associated shipping cost of $$500$ per order. Due to limited temperature$-$controlled storage capacity, Annie's would need to restrict its order size to the supplier$$s minimum of $250$ gallons.

If Annie's makes its own ice cream mix, it would have to rent a pasteurization system for $$400$ per month. The company pays rent of $$3,000$ per month for its $1,500$ square$-$feet shop location$$of which $225$ square$-$feet would be occupied by the pasteurization system. Whether Annie's buys its ice cream mix from a supplier or makes and pasteurizes its own mix the overall square footage of the shop and the monthly rent will remain unchanged.

If Annie's makes its own mix the ingredient cost is $$9\mathrm{.}00$ per gallon. One salaried employee $($who is paid $$45,000$ per year$)$ would oversee Annie's production and pasteurization of its own mix. It would take this employee two hours to make and pasteurize $12\mathrm{.}5$ gallons of ice cream mix. For every hour the salaried employee works making and pasteurizing ice cream mix, the company would pay another employee $$15\mathrm{.}00$ per hour to step in and manage the shop$$s other concurrent operations.

Required:

What is the financial advantage $($disadvantage$)$ of buying $250$ gallons of ice cream mix per month from the supplier?

What is the financial advantage $($disadvantage$)$ of buying $500$ gallons of ice cream mix per month from the supplier?