A couple comments-
Back around 1995, i was using the kitchen of a salad dressing maker. She made 3 vinaigrette type dressings and used a regional produce company for distribution. The dressing had a 6 month pull date. She had trouble with the produce company not delivering the dressings, leaving them in the cooler until expiry dates.
Basically, you are your best cheerleader.
What type of situation are you looking at? 3rd party to warehouse and distibute? You do the deliveries and stock management?
Maintaining 40+ stores is a lot. How 9ften would they need deliveries? Can you do deliveries and product manufacturing?
Aside from all that... it kind of depends on the store you are looking to get into. Most stores i have been in are privately owned even if part of a chain brand. Franchised, i guess. Each store had the autonomy to bring in independant products. Where the salsa started, there were a couple chains.... red apple, thrifty foods, hagen's... i was in a couple stores, not in all of them.
Right now, our local Hanks market (privately owned for 49 years) sold to a regional chain Rosauer's who have 24 grocery stores and a bunch more Huckleberry's which are the inland NW equivalent of Whole Foods.
I am in the one store in Twisp with salsa and bottled sauces. With the new owners, vendors have to have 1mil additional insured policies. Many local vendors-;honey, soap, bee balm hand cream-,dont have that and are no longer in the store.
What i am getting to is.... now that i am in with this one store, i could probably get into the other 24 stores plus the Huckleberries. The area of the stores from where I live is probably 600 miles by 400 miles.
Do I want to make 800 pints of salsa each week, drive a delivery route, promos, etc?: for how much profit? Nope. The salsa and sauces are a hobby.
Lucky Dog went full time. He uses a copacker and focuses on sales at FM and stores.
Sorry for the rambling, hopefully some information for you.
SL
PS- the salsa is fresh refrigerated with a 30 day expry. The bottled sauces are shelf stable, 24 months expiry.
PPS- as far as actually getting into the store, ya just gotta go in and ask. Stores have different policies.
