How to Start a Food Kit Home Business

A baking mix is useful for a home food kit business.

It you have great meal ideas that you can translate into simple recipes and shelf-stable ingredients, a home food kit business might be a good option for you. The key to success in this kind of business is finding a kit format that is easy for you to assemble as a producer and also easy for the end user to create. At the same time, your home food kit ideas should not be so simple and commonplace that a customer can easily make them without a kit.

Things You'll Need

• Commercial kitchen

Instructions

1. Create recipes for your home food kit business. Include at least one unusual, shelf-stable ingredient that the typical consumer will not be able to find on a typical trip to the grocery store, such as corn husks for tamales or cheese powder for cheese popcorn. Use such an ingredient in each kit that you design, to give customers an added reason to buy your product.

2. Investigate health department regulations in your area regarding what types of food packaging you can legally do in your home, as well as the specific regulations detailing how you must set up and maintain your home food production area. If your city, state or county does not allow you to do any kind of commercial food handling in your regular home kitchen, learn about the requirements for a home commercial kitchen.

   If you are required to have a home commercial kitchen to package food in your home but cannot afford to build one, you may still be able to design food kits that do not require any food handling on your part. Look into prepackaged spice packets or contracting with someone who has a commercial kitchen to package your component ingredients.

3. Design packaging for your food kits. Find boxes that are appropriately sized and attractively showcase your ingredients. Select packaging for each of the individual components, such as small Ziploc bags or tiny containers. Choose a material to cushion your food kit ingredients, such as shredded color paper. Design a label that is attractive and informative, telling potential customers what they will find in the package, how much it will yield and what additional ingredients or equipment they will need.

4. Write recipes to include in your food kits. Break down the processes into simple steps. If possible, include variations on a basic recipe. Print your food kit recipes on attractive paper.

References

• Tee's Caribbean Recipe Kits
• Leeners: Root Beer Kits
• New England Cheesemaking Supply Co.: Cheesemaking Kit