From hobby to side job

Daliente

Daliente

Hi all!

I'm looking for some advice in selling hot sauce. I've got the recipe down, sweet labels, a loyal fan base, and a grocery store offering to carry it. All I need to do now is get into a professional kitchen and start making it en masse.

My question lies in the legal/health code aspects of the business. I went on the FDA website so I'm familiar with the label requirements, but I don't even know where to start with what permissions I need to sell it. Do I need insurance in case someone gets sick? Any advice from someone who's pulled it off would be a big help.

Thanks in advance,

Jimi
 
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I have seen on an American government site (probably FDA or something?) that they have something where you fill in your ingredients and the weight etc and then you can print out a nutritional label. We have one in Australia too. So that part shouldn't be too hard.
Good luck, I hope you do well. Just don't give up and research everything first!
 
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Daliente said:
Thanks CajunHeat! I'm exactly where you were about that 2 cases in 2 hours part. The part that's killing me is all of the sterilizing, I feel like it's 2 parts cleaning per 1 part making sauce.

You've got me thinking that I don't need to go straight to a copacker. I could probably start small in a kitchen (like at a grocery store) and do the bottling there so long as everything's up to code, right? Sounds like an easier way to start small and work out the issues before being committed to larger runs. It's not like I'm trying to make thousands of cases of the stuff (yet).
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check out this site...
http://www.midwestsupplies.com/

They sell supplies for brewing beer and wine. Most of my supplies, I purchased here. Everything to build my pot and sanitize my bottles. I use there beer tree, http://www.midwestsupplies.com/products/ProdByID.aspx?ProdID=7660, and this lil pump action thing, http://www.midwestsupplies.com/products/ProdByID.aspx?ProdID=7075.

I bottle everything in my home. Nothing special is needed besides an inspection. Searching for a co-packer is very time consuming. I suggest you keep looking, that way if you need to increase capacity, you already have someone standing by, ready to step in. In the meantime, do it yourself and have fun. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask.
 
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POTAWIE said:
I was under the impression that in most states/provinces you can't use your own kitchen, and must use a commercial one.
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things vary from state, city and even district.

I've seen some amish farms that produce crazy amount of products, like around 20,000+ jams, jellies and relishes per day and they have flies all around the building etc. You can get your basement permitted if it's done right sadly...
 
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POTAWIE said:
I was under the impression that in most states/provinces you can't use your own kitchen, and must use a commercial one.
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It really depends on what you're making. VA has no problem with me making hot sauce but I wouldn't be able to make jerky in my kitchen.
 
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With some of the reading I did in the past on using your own kitchen, In Minnesota anyway and it may vary from state to state, is that you can but it has to be inspected (I think by FDA) and pass to get a certificate that its ok to use that kitchen. The other thing I recall to is that you can look at local co packagers or centers that have kitchens in them and are already certified for use by anyone.
 
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Thanks guys, a lot of good insight today. Thanks for the links Cajun Heat - those little things could pay themselves back in the time-saved in no-time. I appreciate everyone's feedback - I really think this is possible and since I first posted a little over a week ago you've all helped me get a much more clear idea of what lies ahead.

I've looked around and yes, permits vary by location. I'm in Brooklyn and home kitchens are off-limits for selling here. But more importantly I need better equipment and space to work in, so getting into a facility that's already up to code seems like a two-for-one. I'm going to talk to some people and see if I can get in a real kitchen and if I need additional permits or to take health code classes (pretty sure I'll have to do both).
 
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Daliente,

Here's my take on what you are doing - the same works for me and what I hope to accomplish: I don't know if you will be successful or not if you try this. But I can guarantee you, with 100 percent certainty, that if you don't try it, you won't succeed.

From other threads, one place to look for a certified kitchen is a private school. For a donation, maybe a small one, they might agree to let you use their facility.

I wish you the best of luck and hope when you are filthy rich and world famous, you'll still post here!

Mike
 
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Thanks Mike. Not to sound cheesey but anything is possible if you set your mind to it. I'm taking my time before I try to set up a real company, because once I start I'll be all-in. So in the meantime I'm just perfecting the recipe and experimenting with new ones. When the time is right it's just a matter of connecting all the dots and jumping into it with no reservations.
 
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Think outside the box when looking for a place to process.

Community centers, grange halls, Eagles/Elks/VFW/Masonic lodges, churches, private schools (wordwiz's idea), a restaurant that's closed (probably have to pay for all utilities), a restaurant on a day it is closed, find another person who is making a product and ask them to use their kitchen, maybe even a firehall. Just take a drive through town and look at every building, you'll be amazed at how many kitchens you'll find. Then just start knocking on doors.

I found a lady who had a certified kitchen near our home, she made salad dressings. I asked if I could use her place. It never occurred to her to have others use her place but she was totally agreeable to the idea. I made salsa, so it was not a competing product to her stuff and I only needed to process one day every 2-3 weeks.

One piece of equipment you may want to invest in, especially if you're thinking about using a co-packer, is a good weigh scale. Transferring your recipe into grams will help keep it consistent and will allow it to scale up easily.


Farmer's markets are always a good place to start. Rules are different than for retail stores. Have Fun!
PS- Daliente,you did read that forum rule that everyone who replies to your post gets a free bottle of your sauce, didn't you??? I'll PM my address to you....JUST KIDDING!

Anyone found that nutritional labeling site that someone mentioned where you input the ingredients and it spits out the info?
 
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salsalady said:
Farmer's markets are always a good place to start. Rules are different than for retail stores. Have Fun!
PS- Daliente,you did read that forum rule that everyone who replies to your post gets a free bottle of your sauce, didn't you??? I'll PM my address to you....JUST KIDDING!

Anyone found that nutritional labeling site that someone mentioned where you input the ingredients and it spits out the info?
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Yes I agree you need someone to test your products :lol:

Here is the aussie site, you will just need to convert to your metric system probably
http://www.foodstandards.gov.au/foodstandards/nutritionpanelcalculator/
 
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