I would like help with selling chili from my house.

I started making some chili from scratch last year, and I love it.  I recently made some for my work “about 50 people”.  They licked it bone dry.  I was curious if I could start bottling it and selling it on the internet or local business near me? I’m not sure about the preservation aspect of this, or the legal side of it.  If someone could point me in the right direction it could really help.  I heard something about labeling it a certain way there’s a loop hole? Please let me know your thoughts.

You can't imagine how this screams FAIL.

You can't make a product in your kitchen for commercial purposes.

How much money are you willing to invest to bring your chili to the marketplace?

It could easily cost big bucks just to bring your kitchen up to local health department standards for a commercial kitchen, just so you could only sell to local businesses.  Federal standards are even stricter (and much more costly).  If you really have a recipe that is different (and better) than what is already on the market, you might be able to have some commercial food company manufacture and market it for you, but if you are going to go this route, you better contact a lawyer first, so they don't just take your recipe and leave you out in the cold.

Having a good recipe is the easiest part of the battle.  If you believe in your product, and more importantly, yourself, there is a Kitchen Incubator in Houston that exists to help culinary entrepreneurs.  Here's a link.  Best of luck!

http://www.kitchenincubator.com/

6star


It could easily cost big bucks just to bring your kitchen up to local health department standards for a commercial kitchen, just so you could only sell to local businesses.  Federal standards are even stricter (and much more costly).  If you really have a recipe that is different (and better) than what is already on the market, you might be able to have some commercial food company manufacture and market it for you, but if you are going to go this route, you better contact a lawyer first, so they don't just take your recipe and leave you out in the cold.

You can't sell across state lines unless you have an actual commissary.  The Feds will not let you sell food you made at your house, even if your local HD said yes.

franksrocks, I realize this. This is why I suggested to joeyhawk that he might want to explore the possibility of having some commercial food company manufacture and market his chili for him if he wanted to do more than just sell locally.

You can't sell LOCALLY as a food vendor without a commercial kitchen that has been approved by the local health district. You can't package and sell it intrastate unless the state DOH and state dept. of agriculture futher certify your kitchen. You can't sell it interstate without the proper certification by the USDA. Three levels of product sales requiring three increasingly complex inspections and certifications.

6star


franksrocks, I realize this. This is why I suggested to joeyhawk that he might want to explore the possibility of having some commercial food company manufacture and market his chili for him if he wanted to do more than just sell locally.

That would be the better option.  Dealing with the Fed would be a pain!

I you have a dream follow it. Find a commercial kitchen or incubator kitchen. State of Texas requires this.  Find someone from S.C.O.R.E. sit talk and plan. You are going to have to start small revise your recipe, it is  not  multiply the the recipe. Things change going to big batchs.
I'd try and sell locally and then expand. By the way this does not happen overnite. Do some chili cook- offs get the name out there.

contact your local board of health - which could be the city you live or it might be the county that does it - for more info about health requirements/standards.   

city law may also be a factor - there may be a specific law in your city that doesn't allow making something in your personal-use kitchen for sale (either in the city, state or across lines).

besides that other website that was provided, also go to the state website - you'll find links to the state agencies that you would need to deal with to get licenses and inspections.

before you do ANY of that, copywrite your recipe!!!!  then, if you can't do this on a small-scale out of your own kitchen, you'll be covered.  because,  once you have some local company make/bottle the stuff and it gets popular (which it will if it's as good as you say :) ), then, some big company is going to come calling wanting to buy it... 

joclyn




before you do ANY of that, copywrite your recipe!!!!  then, if you can't do this on a small-scale out of your own kitchen, you'll be covered.  because,  once you have some local company make/bottle the stuff and it gets popular (which it will if it's as good as you say :) ), then, some big company is going to come calling wanting to buy it... 

Recipes and formulas can be patented, but attaching a copyright to it is pretty much worthless.  It doesn't protect it from someone using it, but could protect it from someone using it in a cookbook.  Even if someone made the effort to protect their recipe or formula by way of patent, there are numerous reasons why the patent office would not issue a patent.  The costs to apply and receive this type of patent would be very high.

Yes, he can find a copacker to package his recipe, but it will still take additional recipe development to meet commercial requirements.  Making a pot of chili for family or friends, or even for a restaurant, is light years from making chili to be sold retail.

The idea that some big company will come calling is extremely remote. Maybe after years of successful distribution of 1-2 thousand cases a month, he might be able to approach a major producer.

The bottom line is that taking a product like chili and getting it into the marketplace, even in very modest numbers, is a high-priced crap shoot.  Development of an ingredient list that will meet the requirements of the FDA, and then the development of the market for the product is time consuming, and more importantly, dollar consuming.

Just as Curbside Grill suggested it should be entered in cook-offs and after winning many of awards, the opportunity to move forward could be realized.  If there is something truly unique about the chili, his best bet is to get a local restaurant to "adopt" it as their own, with some sort of legal agreement to protect his "secret".  Even then, the chances of moving it beyond that would be extremely remote.

I don't mean to put a damper on the idea of making one's fortune cooking and selling their "secret recipe",  but it does take something called money, lots of money, to move a chili product into that dream category. 

MikeinRI


Good responses. Very informative. Doesn't a product that goes to market have to have preservatives in it? That must change the taste.
I have a regular customer that let me try his homemade tomato relish and it's incredible!! He'd love to market it but is up against what the above posts indicate. So his neighbors, friends, family and occasionaly me, get to enjoy it.
Good luck

A relish is a different animal.  Your friend would have many more options with a relish than a chili maker would have.  Jeff Zeiders, a frequent poster here can offer some good info about that as he just recently went commercial on some sauces he uses in his concession business.  Also, I could hook him up with 2-3 Amish/Mennonite relish producers.

i'm sorry!!!  i meant to say patent the recipe...protect your ingredient list. 
 
although, copywriting it certainly wouldn't hurt either.  before marlboro stopped doing such promo's they put out a recipe book that was strictly chili recipe's and they did send notices out for people to send in their recipes a year or so beforehand. 
 
preservatives are not necessarily needed when bottling/jarring something for mass marketing.  bottling procedure would need to be modified to accomodate not having preservatives and shelf life would be lessened a bit, i think.
 
pairing up with a local restaurant is a good idea and so is entering competitions.
 
actually, competitions are probably your best bet - especially something sponsored by one of the shows on the food channel. 
 
there was something,  last year? i think,  with guy fieri and tgifridays and the winner's recipe was to be added to their menu.  rachel ray does competitions - usually more general in nature rather than a specific item, although she has done them - good morning america does contest things, too.
 
anything that will get you in contact with the 'big wigs' in the business is probably the fastest way to success/mass market.  if your stuff is tasty enough and unique enough and catches someone's interest, that is.
 
good luck with it!!

joeyhawk31


I started making some chili from scratch last year, and I love it.  I recently made some for my work “about 50 people”.  They licked it bone dry.  I was curious if I could start bottling it and selling it on the internet or local business near me? I’m not sure about the preservation aspect of this, or the legal side of it.  If someone could point me in the right direction it could really help.  I heard something about labeling it a certain way there’s a loop hole? Please let me know your thoughts.

sometimes you can lease a church kitchen that is approved by the board of health