Hi! Amateur hot sauce maker here trying to 'go legal' with my homemade recipe! I've been selling my homemade recipe to friends and family and due to all the positive feedback and fun I am having with it, I have figured I'd like to go a little more 'pro'. I want to be able to sell it legally online to the worldwide market, as well as sell at farmers markets and small local shops.
SO - I have been doing research the last few weeks and I have been told these are the thigns I need to get done (from the rep at the department of agriculture i talked to on the phone).
By the way, I know laws and regulations change from state to state, but I live in Oregon.
1) Take a 2 day acidified class course. I am signed up to take this this weekend. It cost me $420.
2) Get my sauce tested at a laboratory to certify it is safe to sell. Can anyone tell me what I can expect to pay for this service? I was quoted 3,000 online, but I SURE HOPE that was a mistake or an error, because that is quite costly.
3) Get my home kitchen licensed for cooking acidified foods OR rent out a commercial kitchen to cook in (about $16 an hour). These commercial kitchens need me to have a food handlers license, which I dont have. I believe that license and training is as low as $10.
4) Register my food product with the FDA. I am not sure how much this will cost, if anything?
I would ABSOLUTELY LOVE to hear some feedback from established sales people on startup costs and steps they needed to do to become 'legit' and begin selling to strangers / larger markets.
THANKS!!!!!!!!!!
By the way, my sauce is called Newk's (a play of my last name Newcomb) and you can check out my page here : www.facebook.com/newkshotsauce
SO - I have been doing research the last few weeks and I have been told these are the thigns I need to get done (from the rep at the department of agriculture i talked to on the phone).
By the way, I know laws and regulations change from state to state, but I live in Oregon.
1) Take a 2 day acidified class course. I am signed up to take this this weekend. It cost me $420.
2) Get my sauce tested at a laboratory to certify it is safe to sell. Can anyone tell me what I can expect to pay for this service? I was quoted 3,000 online, but I SURE HOPE that was a mistake or an error, because that is quite costly.
3) Get my home kitchen licensed for cooking acidified foods OR rent out a commercial kitchen to cook in (about $16 an hour). These commercial kitchens need me to have a food handlers license, which I dont have. I believe that license and training is as low as $10.
4) Register my food product with the FDA. I am not sure how much this will cost, if anything?
I would ABSOLUTELY LOVE to hear some feedback from established sales people on startup costs and steps they needed to do to become 'legit' and begin selling to strangers / larger markets.
THANKS!!!!!!!!!!
By the way, my sauce is called Newk's (a play of my last name Newcomb) and you can check out my page here : www.facebook.com/newkshotsauce
