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Bringing my hot sauce to market

C

Carolineshotsauce

Hello all, I'm looking to bring my hot sauce to market here in San Diego and I was wondering if anyone had any insight on what are all of the licences and regulations I'll need to sell at farmers markets and to get into stores, restaurants, etc?

I've registered my business with the state of California and have a commercial kitchen I can use. The fda sent me about a 100 page packet with all different types of regulations, permits, and licences that may or may not apply to me. I also have looked into a co packer that will do smaller batches but still may be too big for me for someone just starting out
 
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Congrats on getting to this stage of the game, It's exciting!
 
I always suggest to start local.  There are different regs for different sales aspects, and your sauce recipe will dictate a lot of it.  If you haven't already, get your sauce(s) and recipe(s) to a process authority for review. Once you have their recommended/allowed process you can take that to the local AHJ.  THe local or state inspectors will enforce the processes set down by the PA, to make sure you're following the recommended process. 
 
That's not as bad as it sounds, my first 8 sauces were all low pH numbers and were authorized for the simple Hot Fill/Holdprocess with no issues. 
 
Good Luck and don't get discouraged.  Tons of folks have done this, it's not that bad.
 
Oh, and don't worry about the FDA unless you are selling across state lines such as on the interwhebz.  But you can start out and get your feet wet doing in-state sales and then launch the website, register with the FDA (again, not that big of a deal if you don't have any sauces containgin critical ingredients...) then you can sell all over. 
 
SL
 
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