Guest post is provided by Food Trade Consultants, a consultation service offering seminars and packing of small orders to entrepreneurs in the food industry. Visit www.foodtradeconsultants.com for more information.
Many entrepreneurs in the food business are enjoying great success with their recipes. They may own a restaurant and customers are asking them where they can buy their special recipes. Dinners from Marie Calendars and Sauces from Lucille’s Barbeque can be found in stores all over the country. How can a small time start-up enjoy the same success as these franchised restaurants? Many entrepreneurs looking for the opportunity to start their own food business wonder how much money it will take to commercially produce their recipe. The amazing fact is that it doesn’t cost as much as you would think
Recipe costs will vary significantly depending on its specifications but you can find a ballpark estimate by considering the following information. Recipes with ingredients that don’t cost very much and products that require little cooking will not cost you very much to reproduce. Foods with perishable ingredients need to be stored in a cool place and require a higher overhead cost for refrigeration and freezing than foods that can be stored at room temperatures do. Purchasing small amounts of product is advised first, and as sales increase you can buy more in bulk over time to save money. But if you don’t know how much you are going to be able to sell buying in bulk will cost you more in the end.
You can apply this conservative mindset to selecting containers, packaging, labels and general administrative costs. Keeping your costs low help increase your profits after sales. You don’t want to sacrifice quality for quantity of course but there should be some balance to enable you to achieve success.