Canned Food Business

Ready to start your own cottage food business? Looking for an affordable place to start? A great option for entrepreneurs is a small canned food business. The cottage business produces or packages canned food in a residential kitchen and has relatively small revenues. The food is sold directly to the consumer, at a farmer's market, at a nonprofit venue, or through an online site or marketplace. Cottage food businesses often succeed by finding a particular niche, such as organic, and creating a novel product within that niche.

The government regulates small canned food businesses through cottage food laws. These laws allow small producers to use appliances in their homes to bake, pickle, can, cook, or candy only those products on a state-developed canned food list. These foods typically carry a low risk of food-borne illness and do not need refrigeration. The laws also sometimes limit where producers may sell their products. Laws vary slightly from state to state. After deciding to become a cottage food producer, the first step is to ensure you know how to sell food from home legally.

How to Sell Canned Goods

If you are passionate about canning foods, building a cottage industry around that passion might intrigue you. However, canning for profit is slightly different from canning for your own private use. To succeed, you'll also need a business plan that delineates what you'll produce and shows costs and potential revenue. In consultation with tax advisers, you'll decide whether to be a sole proprietor or limited liability company. You'll also want to establish a business checking account to keep your business's financial resources separate from personal resources. The different accounts also will make tax preparation easier.

Cottage producers of canned goods also will often need to have a valid business license to operate in their state or locality, for example. They may also need an identification number. One of the first things a potential producer must do, then, after establishing the business, is to obtain the license.

You'll also want to be sure you understand the laws, including what you can produce, where you can sell it, and how you must label your products. You'll need to determine whether you are required to invest in commercial canning jars. You'll also likely need to complete a course that explains the canned food safety guidelines in your state. You'll also need to determine how much liability insurance you'll need.

If your state laws allow you to sell canned food online, you'll need to build a website that provides for e-commerce. Castiron is one resource for this. It enables you to have an e-commerce store with an appealing public face that also centralizes your orders, messages, payments, and fulfillment. It also allows you to manage your online marketing more efficiently.

Several cottage food organizations are popping up around the country that can serve as resources for helping you share your experiences with other cottage food producers and understand what you need to do to succeed. Forrager, which provides a podcast on the basics of starting a cottage food business, is one of the largest of these communities. Castiron's Kitchen community is another growing resource for cottage food operators.

Canned Food Business Plan

Having a solid business plan takes you from canning as a hobby to producing homemade canned goods for sale. In a canning business plan, you answer all the questions associated with your business. Some of these questions are:

• How much money do I need for the start-up?
• Where will that start-up money come from?
• What will I produce? Be sure to consult the list of allowable non-perishable foods in your state. Typically, this includes a list of low-acid canned foods and low moisture foods.
• How will I package and label my product?
• What's my brand identity?
• What price should I charge?
• Who are my customers?
• Where will I store my goods?
• Where will I sell my goods?
• What kind of online presence should I have?

You'll need to calculate the costs of producing your product and price home-canned goods so that you make a profit. Fortunately, you can generally find help in developing your business plan. Many retired business executives volunteer for organizations such as SCORE to mentor and empower small business owners. SCORE also may provide good business plan examples to help you develop your own.

Consumer interest in locally-produced cottage foods is increasing. If you have a good product and are passionate about it, now may be an opportune time to start your own canned food business.