How to Start a Food Products Business
If you enjoy working with food and you have an aptitude for business, a food product company might be a good option for you. A successful food product company requires an appealing recipe that customers will buy repeatedly, as well as attractive, functional packaging and a solid marketing plan to educate and entice potential customers. You should begin developing products based on recipes you like or items you prepare especially well, and then build on this foundation as you learn more about what customers like and need.
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Things You'll Need
- Business license
- Commercial kitchen
- Ingredients
- Labels
- Packaging materials
Instructions
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Contact your state and local revenue departments and inquire about licenses and fees for starting a business. Call your local health department and ask about the licensing and permitting process for a commercial kitchen. If you plan to hire employees for your food products business, also register with your state's industrial and unemployment insurance agencies, and with the federal government as an employer.
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Develop recipes for your food products. Create a line of related products, rather than a single item. Taste them yourself and feed them to friends, relatives and any credible person willing to offer you an opinion. Adjust your recipes in accordance with their feedback. Whenever possible, use inexpensive ingredients that won't compromise the quality of your product.
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Develop packaging for your food products. Experiment with different types of wrapping and containers to find an option that showcases your product attractively, keeps it fresh and is available at a cost that you can easily incorporate into the price of your product.
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Pack several examples of your finished recipe into the packaging that you have chosen and let them sit in the refrigerator for a refrigerated product, the freezer for a frozen product or at room temperature for a dry grocery item. Check these prototypes at regular intervals to determine whether they still taste good and they show any evidence of spoilage, such as mold or foul odors. Determine the shelf life of your product by assessing the point at which your food product is no longer safe or appealing.
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Design and print a label for your food product. Create an attractive layout that includes the required information, such as company name, company location, weight or volume, ingredients, nutritional information, allergen information and storage requirements or recommendations.
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Contact store representatives and buyers who work for distributors about selling your food product. Bring them samples and price lists. Offer introductory discounts to stores who will carry your products and schedule product demonstrations to familiarize customers with your offerings.
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